The East Coast brew pub tour.

Thirsty travellers looking for the best in East Coast beers can follow the Atlantic brew pub circuit from Fredericton to Yarmouth and from St. John's to Charlottetown. A tour of the region's dozen brew pubs offers a delicious sampling of the best East Coast food and culture-washed down with some of the finest pints made anywhere.

The tour starts in Fredericton where Picaroons presents its British-style ales like Winter Warmer Strong and Maple Cream (made with New Brunswick maple syrup) at the Garrison District Ale House.
Down the Trans-Canada Highway in Moncton, visitors can sample the suds at Shaun Fraser's Pump House Brewery and Barnyard BBQ. Fraser moonlights as Captain of the Moncton Fire Department-thus the name of his brewery and of beers like Fire Chief's Red Ale.

Beer has been a lifelong passion for Oland Shaun Fraser. A collector of beer labels as a kid, his first name is a nod to the famous Halifax brewing family that created Keith's India Pale Ale. As an adult, he worked as an installer of microbrewery equipment all over the world-Israel, Ireland, Palestine, England-before opening his own brewery.

Pump House Special Old Bitter, Scotch Ale, Red Ale and signature Blueberry Ale have all been multiple award winners at North American competitions, with all but the Blueberry taking gold medals. Two German brewers-Jonas Kohberger and Andy Bierger-now prepare all the Pump House brews.

From Moncton, it's across the Confederation Bridge (at almost three kilometres, the world's longest bridge over water that freezes) to Prince Edward Island's only brew pub, the Gahan House in Charlottetown. Here, a wise choice is the sample tray, a slab of wood that holds small glasses of seven house beers. The tray includes the luscious and dark Sydney Street Stout-which offers complex coffee and toast flavours, long tannins, and a creamy mouth feel.

Then it's back across the Northumberland Strait on the ferry from Wood Island, PEI, and on to Sydney to catch the ferry to St. John's, NL, where the Duke of Duckworth serves The Duke's Own-formerly brewed on the premises, but now brewed locally by Storm Brewing. Also in St. John's, the YellowBelly Brewery and Public House serves its own suds. YellowBelly owner Craig Flynn dug into the history of his building to discover that a gang of Irish immigrants once hung out there wearing yellow sashes to identify themselves in fights with rival gangs.

Back on mainland Nova Scotia, it's on to the little town of Guysborough, the site of Atlantic Canada's first commercial brewing operation, established in 1659. Located in the Rare Bird Pub and Eatery (open mid-May to mid-October), the Chedabucto Bay Brewing Company offers up a small but quaffable menu of Hummingbird Lite, Rare Bird Pale and Red Hawk.

Down the highway in Halifax, the region's largest city, three brewpubs are situated within walking distance of one another in the downtown. Rogues Roost offers a refreshing Raspberry Wheat Ale, and a solid but seasonal Oatmeal Stout, among others. Just up Spring Garden Road, Rockbottom Brewery boasts a full selection. At the Hart and Thistle Gastropub and Brewery at Halifax's Historic Properties, the beer menu is always changing, and the harbour view from a table at the end of the wharf on a summer's day is unbeatable.

Heading out of Halifax on Highway 101 to the Annapolis Valley, travellers will find Paddy's Pub locations in Wolfville and Kentville; they'll also find the Sea Level Brewing Company in Port Williams. All three are within a 15-minute drive of one another. A few hours' drive to Yarmouth, at the southern tip of Nova Scotia, and it's one last stop at Rudder's Seafood Restaurant and Brew Pub. A single brewer, Randy Lawrence, developed the beers at all four of these locations. After designing and building the brewery at Paddy's, which today offers Chimney Swift Stout, Raven Ale and Gaspereau Pilsner, along with Paddy's flagship Annapolis Valley Ale, the owners of Rudder's called him. His favourite there is the Yarmouth Town Brown, which Lawrence calls robust. "I punched the chocolate up in it. It has a nice roll off the tongue."

Like Shaun Fraser at Pump House, beer has fascinated Lawrence for most of his life. Even while he was working as a finish carpenter, he was designing award-winning brews for microbreweries and brew pubs, growing his own hops and experimenting in his basement with creating beers that contained maple sap from his own trees. Three years ago, Lawrence finally went into business for himself when he founded Sea Level Brewing, where he partners with the adjoining Port Pub. There, he has developed new East Coast favourites like the smooth Port in the Storm Porter and Blue Heron Extra Special Bitter, made with four varieties of hops. Port in the Storm is a key ingredient in the pub's Porter and Cheddar Soup, and in the barbecue sauce on the ribs and pulled pork, while the Blue Heron flavours the steamed mussels.

It's time to head for home. Travellers from points afar can have their designated drivers backtrack an hour from Yarmouth to catch the ferry from Digby to New Brunswick, then carry on to the Trans-Canada or to the US via St. Stephen, fully satisfied with both their thorough tour of Atlantic Canada and its rich and varied brew pub scene. 

Maritime Brewpub Circuit

New Brunswick:
Fredericton - Garrison District Alehouse
Moncton - Pump House Brewery

Prince Edward Island:
Charlottetown - Gahan House

Newfoundland:
St. John's - YellowBelly Brewery
St. John's - Duke of Duckworth

Nova Scotia:
Guysborough - Rare Bird Pub
Halifax - Rogues Roost
Halifax - Rockbottom Brewery
Halifax - Hart and Thistle
Wolfville & Kentville - Paddy's Pub
Port Williams - Sea Level Brewery
Yarmouth - Rudder's