Tanner and Co. Brewing Sauvage Nova Scotian Ale. Currently available at the brewery, $4.65/473ml

Jeff Pinhey rolls through towards Winnipeg with talk of stereos and Stillwell and beer for me to try, and tells me about Tanner down at Bar Volo where we run into some acquaintances and split a bottle of Tilquin. 

Tanner is down in the Chester Basin, which is a part of the world that I’ve not thought about since university. Dan Tanner is ex-culinary and in some ways the story is familiar. After a certain amount of time he transitioned to brewing and had to scale up pretty quickly while retaining that chef’s instinct toward ingredients. As part of the emerging genre of Canadian farm breweries, Tanner uses local ingredients to create new flavour profiles.

For example, there’s a Saison with lavender, lemon, and ginger.  There’s a reference to Cottbuss in their honey wheat, which has barley, wheat, oats, honey, and molasses. Tradition is held dearly, but only to the extent that it informs the starting point. The brewery is defined by the geography in the way a good restaurant might be. This comes at a time when it’s finally possible to get excited about the quality of the brewing ingredients and not just their story.

Sauvage is billed as a Nova Scotian Ale, brewed with barley from Shoreline Malting in PEI. The yeast is a local culture harvested from berry patches by Big Spruce in Cape Breton and maintained by Escarpment Labs in Guelph. The label doesn’t mention a hop variety, but suggests that you’ll find pineapple, mango, and lemon rind on the finish. 

The yeast comes across distinctly Belgian, comparable, I think, to Halve Maan. It reminds me of Brugse Zot. The ripe banana takes a backseat to the clove which is almost certainly a pure yeast expression and the juicy fruit that is some combination of ester and hop character. The malt comes through slightly honeyed and in this opaque liquid which takes on a creamed honey hue in the glass, that should be no surprise.

The balance does this credit as the hops just barely pat the palate dry, allowing for some respite from a body fuller than you might expect. There’s ripe pineapple and ataulfo mango, and while I struggle with lemon there’s a touch of acid that is more like nectarine. I feel it may be a touch warmer than the signposted 6.0%. You’d struggle to think of it as an expression of Nova Scotian terroir, but here we are. It explains why Jeff thought it worth carrying in his luggage. I think if this brewery were in Ontario, it’d be a hype magnet. 

Did You Buy This Beer?: Nah. Big Jeff. 

Knowing What You Know Now, Would You Buy This Beer?: Yeah. And I’d try everything else they make. 

Did You Finish It?:   Yes, and not just because it’s been a long day.