Lake City Cider & Brightwood Brewery
Lake City Cider & Brightwood Brewery - September 14, 2018
Growing up in rural Nova Scotia, pretty much everyone I knew was a Dartmouth hater. It's too dirty, dangerous, boring, blah blah blah. As a result, to those not living in Dartmouth, it earned the unfair nickname the "Darkside." Even to this day my parents think they'll get mugged even if they visit the Mic Mac Mall in the middle of the day. And unfortunately up until the last few months, before we moved to Dartmouth (from Victoria BC), I have to admit that I shared similar sentiments about Halifax's shady brother across the harbour (well maybe not the same feelings my parents have, but not great). Well you know what?...I was wrong. The city of Dartmouth, that I live in now, is beautiful, vibrant, and yes....safe. In fact, Downtown Dartmouth is not just up and coming, it's turning into a destination that has people turning up from all over the HRM to be at. Two new spots that have helped put Dartmouth's nightlife on the map, are Lake City Cider and Brightwood Brewery....and these are my reviews in his blog entry. (For those of you who are wondering why I'm reviewing two places in the same blog, Lake City Cider and Brightwood Brewery share the same venue at 35 Portland Street.)
After grabbing a quick pint of Guinness at the Celtic Corner, Nasil and I, having heard that Brightwood Brewery was now opened, decided to head around the corner to check out the beer there and also to sample a few tasters of Lake City Cider. Compared to a couple of the local pubs on Portland St. the venue for these two establishments is refreshingly bright, casual and welcoming. We especially liked how the large windows in front, slide away to create an open-air concept that keeps the two taprooms fresh, in a number of ways. Although both places have have a good number tables and seats available for patrons, the place was packed when we arrived and people kept streaming in the whole time we were there. Luckily for us, as we walked into Brightwood, two people at the bar where just leaving so we bellied-up and ordered some tasting flights.
Brightwood's brewmasters Ian Lawson and Matt McGrail have been serving up some tasty suds for quite a while now as they were popular mainstays at Alderney Landing Farmer's Market before expanding to open up their taproom on Portland in August. On Friday, when we arrived Brightwood Brewery had a number of their own beers on tap, a couple of guest beers, and the first on-tap kombucha that I've ever seen. They also had a couple wine choices, for those who aren't fond of beer....but that definitely wasn't us. Since we were there, we thought it was only fitting to try the Brightwood Brewery beers. We both got flights of the same 4 beers, so we could compare notes. I guess we could have just gotten 1 flight to share, since the beers were the same, but what's the fun in that? So, on our flights were Smokey the Bear, Voice of Doggos (Saison), The Little Lift (Sessional IPA) and the Made Me Blush (Rosé IPA). Here's what we thought of the beers:
1.Smokey the Bear (5.3% ABV / 37 IBUs) - This smokey honey ale, may be some people's choice in beverage, but definitely wasn't ours. A over-powering smokey flavor turned the two of us off.
2. Voice of Doggos - Saison (5.0 ABV brewed with rye and sweetfern) was probably my fave of the four. This hazy beer delivered a balanced fruity and sour flavor that was quite a nice contrast to the Smokey the Bear.
3. The Little Lift- Sessional IPA (5.5 ABV) - A very refreshing and easy to drink IPA that is not too hoppy and has a bit of citrus taste to it.
4. Made Me Blush Rosé IPA (6.8% ABV) -Seemed a bit like a hybrid between an IPA and Belgium style beer, this was Nasil's favorite. Strong strawberry flavor and aroma that would be ideal on a hot summer day on the patio.
Overall, we were pretty satisfied with our beers (minus the Smokey the Bear) and we really enjoyed the atmosphere of the taproom. Seems like a great spot to hit on a Friday afternoon after work to relax and unwind. Now on to the Cider....
Lake City Cider (conveniently located about 20 steps from Brightwood Brewery) also opened up this summer and is the labor of love of Poet Comeau. Comeau, who is a proud Dartmouthian (and who is also gluten intolerant and cannot drink beer), apparently fell in love with cider after visiting the UK many years ago. The decor and atmosphere in Lake City Cider is pretty much the same as its neighbor. Bright, clean and friendly. Initially we were going to skip the cidery and come back another day, but $8 flights really caught our attention. We decided to share a flight and got all four of the ciders that were on tap that night; Darkside Dry, Nieforth Original, District 5 and The Red Head. Nasil and I are not what you'd call cider connoisseurs, but here are our thoughts on the 4 ciders:
1. Darkside Dry (7.5% ABV) - Like its name says, this one is dry, but a little flat on the finish.
2. Nieforth Original (6.8 ABV) - Both of our favorites. An off-dry cider that wasn't too sweet and had a nice zest to it.
3, District 5 (6.0% ABV) - Classic off-dry cider. Also very refreshing, however a little too sweet for our liking.
4. The Red Head (7.8% ABV) -SWEEEETTTT! Very distinctive and unique cider, but too rich for me.
If you're into ciders, I'd say this place is absolutely worth a try. 8 dollars for a flight is a great deal, and the take home options bottles ($11 - 12) or growler fills ( $9 - 12) seem in line with competitor ciders.
As a side note to this review, I gotta get back to pumping the tires of Dartmouth, particularly the downtown area. When you include these two spots with Battery Park, Celtic Corner, Canteen, and The Watch That Ends The Night you can see that Dartmouth has a lot to offer in terms of nightlife. My wife and I had a long talk about how we think this is only going to be the start of things to come, on this side of the HRM, and we're very excited to be living here and to be trying out future restaurants and bars in the area.
Growing up in rural Nova Scotia, pretty much everyone I knew was a Dartmouth hater. It's too dirty, dangerous, boring, blah blah blah. As a result, to those not living in Dartmouth, it earned the unfair nickname the "Darkside." Even to this day my parents think they'll get mugged even if they visit the Mic Mac Mall in the middle of the day. And unfortunately up until the last few months, before we moved to Dartmouth (from Victoria BC), I have to admit that I shared similar sentiments about Halifax's shady brother across the harbour (well maybe not the same feelings my parents have, but not great). Well you know what?...I was wrong. The city of Dartmouth, that I live in now, is beautiful, vibrant, and yes....safe. In fact, Downtown Dartmouth is not just up and coming, it's turning into a destination that has people turning up from all over the HRM to be at. Two new spots that have helped put Dartmouth's nightlife on the map, are Lake City Cider and Brightwood Brewery....and these are my reviews in his blog entry. (For those of you who are wondering why I'm reviewing two places in the same blog, Lake City Cider and Brightwood Brewery share the same venue at 35 Portland Street.)
Brightwood's brewmasters Ian Lawson and Matt McGrail have been serving up some tasty suds for quite a while now as they were popular mainstays at Alderney Landing Farmer's Market before expanding to open up their taproom on Portland in August. On Friday, when we arrived Brightwood Brewery had a number of their own beers on tap, a couple of guest beers, and the first on-tap kombucha that I've ever seen. They also had a couple wine choices, for those who aren't fond of beer....but that definitely wasn't us. Since we were there, we thought it was only fitting to try the Brightwood Brewery beers. We both got flights of the same 4 beers, so we could compare notes. I guess we could have just gotten 1 flight to share, since the beers were the same, but what's the fun in that? So, on our flights were Smokey the Bear, Voice of Doggos (Saison), The Little Lift (Sessional IPA) and the Made Me Blush (Rosé IPA). Here's what we thought of the beers:1.Smokey the Bear (5.3% ABV / 37 IBUs) - This smokey honey ale, may be some people's choice in beverage, but definitely wasn't ours. A over-powering smokey flavor turned the two of us off.
2. Voice of Doggos - Saison (5.0 ABV brewed with rye and sweetfern) was probably my fave of the four. This hazy beer delivered a balanced fruity and sour flavor that was quite a nice contrast to the Smokey the Bear.
3. The Little Lift- Sessional IPA (5.5 ABV) - A very refreshing and easy to drink IPA that is not too hoppy and has a bit of citrus taste to it.
4. Made Me Blush Rosé IPA (6.8% ABV) -Seemed a bit like a hybrid between an IPA and Belgium style beer, this was Nasil's favorite. Strong strawberry flavor and aroma that would be ideal on a hot summer day on the patio.
Overall, we were pretty satisfied with our beers (minus the Smokey the Bear) and we really enjoyed the atmosphere of the taproom. Seems like a great spot to hit on a Friday afternoon after work to relax and unwind. Now on to the Cider....Lake City Cider (conveniently located about 20 steps from Brightwood Brewery) also opened up this summer and is the labor of love of Poet Comeau. Comeau, who is a proud Dartmouthian (and who is also gluten intolerant and cannot drink beer), apparently fell in love with cider after visiting the UK many years ago. The decor and atmosphere in Lake City Cider is pretty much the same as its neighbor. Bright, clean and friendly. Initially we were going to skip the cidery and come back another day, but $8 flights really caught our attention. We decided to share a flight and got all four of the ciders that were on tap that night; Darkside Dry, Nieforth Original, District 5 and The Red Head. Nasil and I are not what you'd call cider connoisseurs, but here are our thoughts on the 4 ciders:
1. Darkside Dry (7.5% ABV) - Like its name says, this one is dry, but a little flat on the finish.2. Nieforth Original (6.8 ABV) - Both of our favorites. An off-dry cider that wasn't too sweet and had a nice zest to it.
3, District 5 (6.0% ABV) - Classic off-dry cider. Also very refreshing, however a little too sweet for our liking.
4. The Red Head (7.8% ABV) -SWEEEETTTT! Very distinctive and unique cider, but too rich for me.
If you're into ciders, I'd say this place is absolutely worth a try. 8 dollars for a flight is a great deal, and the take home options bottles ($11 - 12) or growler fills ( $9 - 12) seem in line with competitor ciders.
As a side note to this review, I gotta get back to pumping the tires of Dartmouth, particularly the downtown area. When you include these two spots with Battery Park, Celtic Corner, Canteen, and The Watch That Ends The Night you can see that Dartmouth has a lot to offer in terms of nightlife. My wife and I had a long talk about how we think this is only going to be the start of things to come, on this side of the HRM, and we're very excited to be living here and to be trying out future restaurants and bars in the area.
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