Garrison Brewing Company

Klingon Warnog Roggen Dunkel Ale

Also picked this up at the Halifax airport. I totally didn't realize this was a Star Trek thing. I also read "Warnog" as "Warhog".  

I like the cap. :D 

First thoughts: what is this headless beer I am drinking? Dark and opaque, it looks like Asian hot pot plum juice. Tastes slightly fruity with a slightly bitter/clove aftertaste. It was okay, but I probably wouldn't get it again. 

I just wanted to know what victory tastes like. Spicy? I didn't notice that.

Upstreet Craft Brewing

Upstreet Craft Brewing (41 Allen St, Charlottetown, PEI)
902-894-0543
Hours: 12 - 12 daily.
cheers@upstreetcraftbrewing.com

What's a trip to the East coast without some craft beer? We walked into an empty place at around 10-something p.m. on a Sunday night. Our bartender was really chill in true Maritime fashion. 

Settled in with our flights of beer

I think Jo and I agreed that the favourite was the Rhuby Social. It was fruity? I can't remember now. I also liked the Top Stamp honey brown lager and the Barnone IPA. I thought it was pretty cool that they had a tap dedicated to featuring other brewery's beer. Craft beer seems like such a friendly scene.

Board games

That's a lot of Catan. Giant Jenga!

Would I return? Sure. None of the beers were amazing, but there was a couple I liked. The vibe is cool in that it seems real laid back, and there are things to entertain you e.g. board games, pinball machine. Our bartender seemed to have no problem with us playing Jenga at the bar. They also have pretty decent hours.

Total damage: approximately $24-something for two flights of beers.

Cow's

Cow's (397 Capital Drive, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island)

902-628-3614

Hours: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. daily.

Before travelling to Charlottetown, there was a lot of hype about Cow's ice cream. I was planning on only eating lobster, but figured if multiple people suggested it, maybe local ice cream couldn't hurt. There were multiple locations on the island, and there are other locations in Canada as well.

New York Moosecake

The ice cream flavour names generally have some sort of cow pun. The ice cream was good, as ice cream usually is. I guess the texture might've been creamier than lesser ice creams. I wasn't blown away, but it was good.

After Jo arrived to town, we had to go again so that she could see what all the hype was about.

 Cookie dough.

Would I return? Sure, I wouldn't mind. Ice cream is rarely a bad idea in the summertime. They have fun flavours, and merchandise includes cow-ified pop culture t-shirts. Oh, and they make cheese. Don't have a picture, but we bought their applewood smoked cheese at a Superstore in Truro, and daaaaaamn. The cheese almost tastes like bacon in the best possible way. Would definitely eat that cheese again. I think I might like the cheese more than their ice cream.

Total damage: about $5 per cone.

Edit: Found a pic of the cheese!

World's Best at WCC Cheese 2014!!!

This appletree smoked cheese was so delicious, I had to get Monique to bring me back some more in her cooler. Seriously delicious. So smokey and super flavourful. I am craving some now.

Dave's Lobster

Dave's Lobster (6 Prince Street, Charlottetown, PEI)
Hours: 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. daily

My first dinner after landing in Charlottetown had to be lobster. I was going to make it my mission on this trip to gorge on lobster at every chance. The popular Water Prince restaurant didn't have room for us, and we were hungry for lobster, so we strolled down the block to Dave's Lobster.

Some Fancy

It's basically my favourite version of the lobster roll: buttered lobster with lemon in bread/bun. Bonus: chives. As far as lobster rolls go, I like the hot, non-mayo version because I really like to taste the ocean on the lobster without other ingredients getting in the way. The large lobster chunks were very exciting. And so yummy. I wanted to eat two. My dinner mates were slightly less enthused with the lobster taco, but praised the half hot half cold lobster roll. The half and half is basically half warm buttered lobster roll, and half cold mayo lobster roll. 

Staff was friendly and mentioned that they were just opening new locations in and about the Canadian East coast e.g. Halifax.

Would I return? Yes. I like the giant lobster meat; it tastes so good. Not the cheapest lobster roll on the island, but definitely high on my list of good eats.

Total damage: approximately $20 for the lobster roll and bag of chips.

North Brewing Company

Farmhouse Ale (Halifax Nova Scotia)
7.5% ABV

 Picked this up at the Halifax airport, and it is pretty delicious. Darker in colour than I thought it'd be, it tastes a whole lot less bitter than I imagined as well. The bitter comes a bit after, but not in abundance. I like the deep colour. Hold it up to the light, and you'll see the reddish glow that looks pretty nice. The head is quite pouffy.

There's an unexpected fruitiness to it as well. Goes down easy, and high alcohol content (not noticeable in taste) for a beer. It is a bit creamy-tasting. Ingredients are simple, and look at that: "fair traide organic raw sugar"! If that doesn't immediately make you feel better about drinking it, then you're not a hipster. 

Would I purchase again? Yes. It's quite nice overall with simple ingredients that are listed. High alcohol content is a plus for me. Good job, Halifax.

Total damage: Around $6-something for 650 mL? 

Alberta Premium Dark Horse

The colour is absolutely lovely, first off. Dark, liquid gold, I say.

It's sweet, and has a bit of a burnt wood taste to me. Initially purchased for its colour and 45% alcohol content (versus the usual 40% - hey, I'm all about value), I've been consistently turning to this for my whisky needs. Well, this and Wiser's hopped whisky, which I still believe is magic. Sometimes, I drink it on the rocks, sometimes I drink it neat; mostly, I drink it with sweetened green tea.