FREE Halifax Walking BEER TOUR

[chiapet]

For all you beer geeks out there, a few of us visited Halifax last year and we planned our own FREE self-guided walking "Beer Tour" starting (& hopefully ending) at the ship pier. The actual pints of beer did cost, but were worth it.

 

1) GARRISON BREWING CO. (1149 Marginal Rd ... 902-453-5343) http://www.garrisonbrewing.com

They used to come to the Halifax Farmer's Market on Saturdays. However, they didn't show the day we went. But now, they have a new brewery right across from the cruise pier.

 

2) ALEXANDER KEITH'S BREWERY (1496 Lower Water St) http://www.keiths.ca/

Walk up Marginal Rd which runs into Lower Water St. We did the 1 hr tour ($15) and sampled their beers in the Stag's Head Tavern at the end. The tour was semi-enjoyable with their costumed actors/guides, but if you just want to try their main-stream beers ... go to the pub that's next door in the same building.

 

3) JOHN SHIPPEY'S (1869 Upper Water St ... 902-423-7386) http://www.splitcrow.com/shippeys/index.htm

Continue along the water up Lower Water St which turns into Upper Water St. They're located inside the Harbourside Historic Properties all the way at the end where the food court is. We sat near the water and had a nice lunch there. The brewer was present and chatted with us for a while, letting us taste a few and even pointed us in the right direction of our next stop.

 

4) PROPELLER BREWING CO. (2011 Gottingen St ... 902-422-7767) http://www.drinkpropeller.ca/

Cross Upper Water St and continue up on Cogswell St for 2-3 blocks until you reach Gottingen St and make a right. Pretty much just a tasting room, but they were very friendly. Saw the brewer in the basement when I went to the rest room, but didn't get a chance to chat with him. Bought a growler of the porter and we're off again.

 

5) GRANITE BREWERY (1662 Barrington St ... 902-422-4954) http://www.granitebrewery.ca/

Take Gottingen St back until it ends, make a left at Rainnie Dr, then a right onto Brunswick St (with a nice view of the Citadel), left onto Prince St, and final right onto Barrington. This brewpub w/ cask-conditioned ales will be on your right. I tried the tasting flights and enjoyed all of them, but definitely get whatever's in the cask . We also enjoyed speaking with the brewer, or was it the brewer's father/uncle or some other relative. By that time, it was hard to remember ;)

 

We had so much fun at Granite that we never made it to our last stop - Maxwell’s Plum (1600 Grafton St ... 902-423-5090)

 

It took me a while to submit this, so hopefully everything's still the same and others can enjoy their "beer" drinking day in Halifax as much as we did!!

[tazlina3]

Hey, Zackamo,

Thanks for the info -- we're looking forward to trying the tour next week!

[chiapet]

Great!

 

Please let us know how you do ... and how Garrison Brewing Co.'s new building is. We're hoping to make it up there on another cruise to check it out.

 

Have Fun!

[losercruiser]

perfect timing, sounds good for 10/16/06. so what's a growler for us newbies?

[chiapet]

perfect timing, sounds good for 10/16/06. so what's a growler for us newbies?

 

A growler is a large (usually) glass jug that you can fill with your favorite beer that's on tap. Most micro-breweries and brew pubs have a version with their logo on it. We like to collect them, in addition to pint glasses. And yes ... we were able to get it back on board the ship, even with the beer in it.

 

I'll try to attach a picture of the one we picked up at Propeller when we were there in Halifax.

[losercruiser]

That's what i was guessing. Don't know if Princess will let us on with it but we'll give it a try.

[Nectarologist]

A great post. Thanks for the info!

[hvsteve1]

Too bad you missed Maxwell's Plum, which is the only one on the list not really a brewery. But, they do have 120 beers on tap. I spent a week there this July trying to work my way through all of them. I usually grabbed the table next to the barrel of peanuts so I didn't have to bother with a basket.

 

My other favority pub was Halifax Alehouse across from the Citadel. But that was only because I spent a night there with a pub full of drunken Welshmen singing up a storm.

 

I've never hit Halifax on a cruise. I wouldn't know where to start with only 12 hours to spend.

[chiapet]

hvsteve1 ... yes, we had heard really good things about Maxwell's Plum as well. We'll have to make sure we check it out, when we get back there. Just wondering about their "120 beers on tap" ... do they have a good selection? Are they primarily American micros (East/West Coast)? Do they have any nice Belgians? How about their selection of Canadian micros? I also can't seem to find their website; found numerous "other" posts/reviews about them but not their "official" website. Please let me know if anyone has any info on that.

 

We've been to Halifax quite a few times on cruises, but the first time we there ... we had missed the beer festival at the CC by 1 day. That would have been a real treat. You mentioned that you wouldn't know where to start w/ only 12 hrs. Could you recommend some things "off-the-beaten path"? We've done most of the "touristy" things and would welcome any suggestions ... besides going to Maxwell's Plum, of course ;)

 

Thanks!

[hvsteve1]

Actually, my recollection was a little faulty (couldn't have been all that beer).:confused: The 100 plus number is for the bottled beer selection. The on tap is more like 60. They give you a beer menu to help you choose. It is heavily toward Canadian beers on tap with a lot of the microbrews you probably found on your tour. They also have some of their own brews, which are made by one of the locals. As one of my favorite foods is blueberry pie, I was happy to find a blueberry beer that actually had blueberry flavor.

[chiapet]

I like blueberry pie (probably more than most people), but I don't know about blueberry beer. In what style is the beer .... maybe a wheat/weisse? I prefer stouts & porters, and DH is a hophead ... so I know he definitely wouldn't like any kind of "fruit" beer. But it does sound interesting ... local home-brews, that is. From the pics, the place actually reminds me a little of KClingers out near Harrisburg, PA. If you're ever out that way, it's a must stop.

[Nectarologist]

Boston Beer Works (in Boston Ma of course) brews (among many other beers) blueberry ale which my DW said is delicious. I had the watermelon ale and it was great. It had just a hint of watermelon; quite refreshing on a hot day. Zacamo, KCLinger's looks great (I looked at their web site) I'll have to make it a point to stop at one on my next trip to PA. Or maybe both locations :D

[chiapet]

We've only been to the Etters locations, but the other locations looks great too. If you do go to Etters, try to make it to their lower level. There are more taps down there and the atmosphere is awesome ... stone walls ... more intimiate ... like a "beer" cellar :p

[tazlina3]

Just got back from our cruise and, alas, we only had time for one beer stop (our morning tour ran longer than expected). We went to the Keith's brewery and were a bit disappointed in their "pale ale" which tasted too sweet and more like a lager to me. One of our party tried the "red ale" which looked more like what I'd been expecting with the pale ale. I'm sure there are some better beers over there -- I've really only explored B.C. but I know Vancouver has a number of fine microbrews (I'm a bit partial to the Granville Island pale ale myself).

[chiapet]

tazlina3 ...

It's a shame that you only had time for 1 brewery ... and it was Keith's. They had the nicest tour, but their beers were probably the ones we liked the least. And you're right about their pale ale ...

 

I'm also still interested in hearing about Garrison Brewing Co.'s new place if anyone has been there recently.

[losercruiser]

Thanks Zackamo, started by looking for J Shippey's, found where it was, but now it is gone, as confirmed at Granite Brewery. Good selections there with the best Irish Stout of the day, too bad it was our first stop. We were directed a few blocks up & over and tried a flight @ Rogue's Roost ( I think that's the name). Most seemed ok but nothing special. Back down towards the pier, tried Garrisons, better here except the Jalopena ale or something. Found another good Stout, not as good as Granite, but took a 4pack back on the boat without question.( Star Princess). Again thanks,coupled with perfect weather this was a fun excursion.

[Avril]

For all you beer geeks out there, a few of us visited Halifax last year and we planned our own FREE self-guided walking "Beer Tour" starting (& hopefully ending) at the ship pier. The actual pints of beer did cost, but were worth it.

 

1) GARRISON BREWING CO. (1149 Marginal Rd ... 902-453-5343) http://www.garrisonbrewing.com

They used to come to the Halifax Farmer's Market on Saturdays. However, they didn't show the day we went. But now, they have a new brewery right across from the cruise pier.

 

2) ALEXANDER KEITH'S BREWERY (1496 Lower Water St) http://www.keiths.ca/

Walk up Marginal Rd which runs into Lower Water St. We did the 1 hr tour ($15) and sampled their beers in the Stag's Head Tavern at the end. The tour was semi-enjoyable with their costumed actors/guides, but if you just want to try their main-stream beers ... go to the pub that's next door in the same building.

 

3) JOHN SHIPPEY'S (1869 Upper Water St ... 902-423-7386) http://www.splitcrow.com/shippeys/index.htm

Continue along the water up Lower Water St which turns into Upper Water St. They're located inside the Harbourside Historic Properties all the way at the end where the food court is. We sat near the water and had a nice lunch there. The brewer was present and chatted with us for a while, letting us taste a few and even pointed us in the right direction of our next stop.

 

4) PROPELLER BREWING CO. (2011 Gottingen St ... 902-422-7767) http://www.drinkpropeller.ca/

Cross Upper Water St and continue up on Cogswell St for 2-3 blocks until you reach Gottingen St and make a right. Pretty much just a tasting room, but they were very friendly. Saw the brewer in the basement when I went to the rest room, but didn't get a chance to chat with him. Bought a growler of the porter and we're off again.

 

5) GRANITE BREWERY (1662 Barrington St ... 902-422-4954) http://www.granitebrewery.ca/

Take Gottingen St back until it ends, make a left at Rainnie Dr, then a right onto Brunswick St (with a nice view of the Citadel), left onto Prince St, and final right onto Barrington. This brewpub w/ cask-conditioned ales will be on your right. I tried the tasting flights and enjoyed all of them, but definitely get whatever's in the cask . We also enjoyed speaking with the brewer, or was it the brewer's father/uncle or some other relative. By that time, it was hard to remember ;)

 

We had so much fun at Granite that we never made it to our last stop - Maxwell’s Plum (1600 Grafton St ... 902-423-5090)

 

It took me a while to submit this, so hopefully everything's still the same and others can enjoy their "beer" drinking day in Halifax as much as we did!!

 

How long did this take you and how much did all the beer cost? I'd love to visit New England/Canada by ship (I've done it by car) and I enjoy trying different kinds of beer. We visited Alexander Keith's when we were there but that was a few years ago, prices might have changed.

 

Thanks a lot:D

[chiapet]

LOSERCRUISER ...

I'm glad you enjoyed your day beer drinking;) Thanks for the info on John Shippey's. Their website doesn't mention anything about them closing or moving.

.

AVRIL ...

I believe that it took us about 5-6 hours, but it all depends on how fast you walk, drink & hang out at each place. The beers were about $3-5 each, but again it all depends on the type of beer and if you prefer sampling flights ... also how many beers you drink at each place. And if you only have time for 1 place to stop at ... I would definitely recommend Granite.

[mom2cats]

There may be a group beer-themed cruise on the Carnival Victory this summer, but I don't have any more info yet. It sounds like there's a lot to do!

[BabySis]

hvsteve1, You mentioned that you wouldn't know where to start w/ only 12 hrs. Could you recommend some things "off-the-beaten path"? ... I'm anxiously awaiting your response to this question!!

[chiapet]

There may be a group beer-themed cruise on the Carnival Victory this summer, but I don't have any more info yet. It sounds like there's a lot to do!

 

 

MOM2CATS ... do you have any more info on this beer-themed cruise? It sounds like a lot of fun!