Propeller Brewing

It snuck up on me.

On a trip to Halifax in April, there was no visit to see my mom and dad as they had just packed up and moved to New Brunswick days before my arrival. The trip also marked a full two years since I moved away from my old hometown. Lots changes in that amount of time and I couldn’t shake it that Halifax had started to feel a bit foreign.

Not that foreign is a bad thing. In one respect, it gave me an opportunity to sample from Atlantic Canadian breweries that weren’t even in existence when I last called the city home. Sober Island, Roof Hound Brewing, Saltbox Brewing, Trailway Brewing… these were all recommendations from Jason at Bishop’s Cellar (who made me feel at home and like I had never moved away… oh, how I miss my old wine and beer store on the waterfront), and were all worth my time. The Hu Jon Hops by Trailway (green can) and the session IPA by Roof Hound (far right) were my personal favourites.

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I’ve written here a few times how much I miss the craft beer scene back in Nova Scotia. I don’t drink a huge quantity of beer, but when I do have a pint or two, I like to try “new to me” beers and while I was living in Nova Scotia I never ran out of something new to sample. Fast forward about a year and a half, and when I got back to Halifax, I had a lot of catching up to do.

Not only was I excited in trying some new beers, but I was also thrilled to get a beautiful spring day to visit a place that had materialized since my move. The Stillwell Beergarden on Spring Garden Road is something that I wish someone here in Saskatoon would replicate just off Broadway. A very simple menu of grilled food, ten taps of Atlantic Canadian beer, and what I can imagine would be a lovely evening spot with the overhead patio lanterns – this is my kind of place. I sampled two beers on my lunchtime visit – the “Malternate Reality” from North Brewing (probably my favourite Halifax brewery) and “Dunder” an Australian pale ale from Trailway Brewing in Fredericton.