Day 10 - Battle of the Brews
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Halifax has more than its share of charisma to lure casual and serious travellers alike. Along its historic waterfront, warehouses have been converted to picturesque shops and restaurants, and the streets abound with well-preserved Victorian facades.
But for these particular travellers, the highlight of visiting Halifax isn’t in any tour of the historic waterfront area or the Halifax Citadel – an impressive fort that gives great views over the city even if it never saw a sneeze of military action – but is the eating and drinking that commences once our tour leaves us off outside of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and we take a stroll up Upper Water Street to begin the afternoon.
With visits to two competing microbreweries in the afternoon, we begin with lunch at Salty’s – a Halifax institution that sits at the edge of Privateer’s Wharf, originally built in the 1800s. Downstairs at Salty’s has a bar atmosphere, but the upstairs has enormous windows overlooking the harbour and a menu chock full of fresh Canadian seafood, from crab cakes made purely from snow crab to a seafood chowder loaded with lobster, salmon, and haddock. Even if we’re stuffed to the gills at this point (no pun intended), the waiter insists that we give their famous Cadix dessert a try. We decide that Cadix, a chocolate mousse layered over a tasty praline crust, is much easier to eat than to pronounce.
After fortification with a bountiful seafood lunch, we’re off to explore two of Halifax’s newer players on the beer scene – Propeller Brewing Company and Garrison Brewing Company, both in business for a little more than a decade. They are “newer” to the Halifax brewing scene because breweries in Halifax go back to the 1700s; one of the more commercial breweries in town, Alexander Keith’s, has been consistently brewing the same India Pale Ale since 1820.
Propeller Brewing Company is our first stop, so we hike uphill from the waterfront to its location on Gottingen St. Don Harms is the Brew Master here; he’s a high energy, fast-talking beer lover who moved to Halifax with his family to head up Propeller’s brewing operations. We head downstairs to see the production of Propeller’s goods, and Don tells us that they’re running at full steam ahead, so to speak. Propeller currently produces five beers – a bitter, a London-style porter, a pale ale, a honey-wheat, and an IPA. They’ve eschewed any silly names and stuck with the moniker of the brewery as the brand of the beers. Propeller Pale Ale, one of the original two brews made by the company, is slightly spicy and perfectly bitter. Don tells us that it’s the “gangbuster” as far as sales are concerned. The Propeller IPA is likewise delightful. It packs a two-part punch of bitterness and strong alcohol content; we must not be the only ones who like it, as it won gold medals in both 2006 and 2007 in Chicago at the World Beer Championships.
Propeller is the kind of place where one could idle away a Halifax afternoon, especially with Don’s stories and knowledge on the brewery’s history and beers in general, but we’re still scheduled to head down to Garrison, close to the docks, for our last Halifax sight of the day. While the atmosphere at Propeller had been relaxed and unhurried, with a chance to sit down with Don just as the shop was opening, things at Garrison are in full-swing, and with its location close to the docks, more than a few cruise passengers are clamouring to taste Garrison’s beers.
Where Propeller is more of a “real ale” style purist, perfecting bitters and pale ales, Garrison doesn’t back away from the risks, including a Jalapeño Ale and seasonal beers including Blueberry and Raspberry Wheats. Much like Propeller, Garrison is going at full tilt, stocking bars across Nova Scotia with their brews and developing a following across Canada. Though Propeller and Garrison might be competitors, the Canadian beer market clearly has room for both of them, as they are both hitting record levels of popularity.
Garrison’s original beer, Irish Red, continues to be a top seller, and the Tall Ship Amber, a traditional, accessible brew with a hoppy body, is Garrison’s “most popular party keg,” we learn from Todd Johns, Garrison’s sales manager, and Julie Meredith, who is expertly pouring our samples for a beer flight through Garrison’s list. The seasonal wheats are barely sweet, contrasting with the heavy and occasionally cloying taste of some mainstream flavoured wheat beers, and are peppery and subtle instead. Garrison Nut Brown, another one of their more popular brews, is a malty, smoky ale with a dark and robust colour. The kicker, though, is the Jalapeño Ale, completely surprising and yet completely drinkable, despite its hints of Jalapeño, Habanero, Scotch Bonnet, and Jamaican Hot Peppers. According to Todd, it’s been toned down a bit since the first try, when it was literally to hot to drink.
After an afternoon of tasting, we head back to the Norwegian Jewel –only a few steps and stumbles from Garrison’s brewery and store, once again laden with a few cases of our new favourites from the competing Halifax microbreweries. Luckily, with these two competitors in town, the beer drinkers of Halifax can all be winners.
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Read the other articles:
Day 12 - Air vs Sea
Day 12 - Homecoming
Day 10 - Battle of the Brews (you are here)
Day 10 - A Taste of Halifax
Day 10 - Halifax: Ghosts and Breweries
Day 9 - The Cultural CV
Day 8 - Bird's Eye View
Day 8 – A Very Special Privilege
Day 8 – Quidi Vidi Brewery – Beer, with a side of history
Day 8 - Signal Hill and the Village of Quidi Vidi
Day 8 - North America's Far East
Day 8 - New Found Land
Day 8 – Land! Land! St. John’s, Newfoundland
Day 7 – You Have Permission to Enter the Bridge
A Peak at the Inner Workings of the Norwegian Jewel
How to Pour Champagne in a Moving Vehicle
Days 5-6 Shetlands to Iceland
Days 0-4 Dover to the Shetlands
Useful links
Garrison Brewing Company
Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Propeller Brewery
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