St. John's, Newfoundland

[Cass]

I tried to do a search and came across random ancient threads, so I thought I'd make an executive decision to create a new one

I'm heading to St. John's NFLD for the first time in my life this weekend with a bunch of guys who were/are participants or lurkers on the forum.

Any particularly noteworthy recommendations that we should check out? Very excited to finally be heading out to the Rock.

[seangm]

My mom and sister went to Nfld last summer and brought back a couple beers. It was probably already on the radar, but the stuff from Quidi Vidi was solid. They make the gimmicky Iceberg beer, but they've got a lot more than that. Also the location looks absolutely stunning.

Tried one from Dildo Brewing as well. It was ok, but I figure it might be worth it for the lols. Also like pretty much everywhere in Newfoundland, the surrounding scenery is gorgeous.

[JerCraigs]

Sent you an email with notes from my 2019 trip. Let me know if you didn't get it. Landwash was great. We drank a decent amount of Quidi Vidi Day Boil while we were in Newfoundland.
Craft beer prices at the liquor store in NFLD (and the maritimes in general) skewed higher in my experience. Decent selection of NB and NS out of province beers at the liquor store when i was there but check freshness days on the out of province stuff.

[Cass]

Sent you an email with notes from my 2019 trip. Let me know if you didn't get it. Landwash was great. We drank a decent amount of Quidi Vidi Day Boil while we were in Newfoundland.
Craft beer prices at the liquor store in NFLD (and the maritimes in general) skewed higher in my experience. Decent selection of NB and NS out of province beers at the liquor store when i was there but check freshness days on the out of province stuff.

Thanks a ton for that @JerCraigs! Very helpful information. We were chatting about if Landwash would be work the small trek and I think it is for sure.

Will report back any findings!

[MatttthewGeorge]

Landwash is the original Folly Brewery owners/brewers.

[Cass]

Landwash is the original Folly Brewery owners/brewers.

Yup, thanks. I had pieced that together as I was reading about the beer scene. I remember they had moved out there but couldn't remember the name or where they were. Looks like a short cab ride from downtown so it's definitely on the list.

Chris was a BarTowel participant back in the day, perhaps I can convince him to come back and visit

[Cass]

Well St. John's was just awesome. Such a fun town w/ lots of bars & nightlife and incredible cliff & ocean views (and whales!) that are all "right there". Everyone was friendly and wanted to know who we were and what we were up to in town. Lots of bartenders shared locals recommendations which helped us find some new spots to visit.

Some quick highlights:

Bannerman: the best beer locally, IMO. Really interesting beer lineup (porter with blueberries, DIPA with raspberries) and an airy space (it was old firehall). Very hipster-y (not in a bad way) and a popular locals spot day and night (it’s a coffee shop in the morning) so a nice place to settle in .

Brewdock: a taproom right across the street from Bannerman. About 20 taps featuring the local micros (Quidi Vidi, Port Rexton, Banished, Iron Rock, etc.) Nice spot to pair with Bannerman.

Toslow: Really cool spot that’s a blend of cafe, bar and funky, casual hangout. Super friendly staff with a few beers on tap plus house cider Mauzy. Great sandwiches during the day and a Cajun menu at night thanks to their chef who’s from Louisiana. Top notch vibe and we went multiple times. Just a couple of doors down from Bannerman.

Yellow Belly: old school brewpub right on the edge of George St. We sat in the basement “Underbelly” which was a cozy, rough-rock walled space.

Many of the other bars in St. John’s usually feature some kind of local option like QV Day Boil or Iceberg. There’s also the macro brands that are exclusive to NFLD (India Beer, Black Horse, etc.)

Of the downtown places, the standouts were The Ship and Erin’s, which were off George St. and seemed to have a bit more a locals vibe. Live music at both locations regularly.

Other spots we visited - O’Reilly’s (a bit more of a normal pub vibe on the George strip), Celtic Hearth (nothing to write home about, but stays open 24hs a day for food), Blue on Water (decent place in the lobby of a boutique hotel) & Duke of Duckworth (cozy British style pub known for fish & chips).

And then there’s Quidi Vidi Brewing, which is one of the most uniquely scenic breweries I’ve been to. Right on the water in the Quidi Vidi harbour facing the cliffs. There’s an upper and lower patios on the water which I highly recommend if the weather is nice. An awesome spot. It's about a 10 min drive or 30ish minute walk from the northwest part of downtown (where Bannerman is).

While you’re in QV it’s worth checking out Mallard Cottage for some food, which is a really cozy resto in a historic building. Evidently they have gone through some ownership issues and were closed for a little bit, but opened up again and the staff said they did a “reset”. Regardless, the food was excellent and a couple of beers in can & bottle available.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it to Landwash, our group was 7 guys and it was kind of challenging to coordinate cabs and timing.

St. John’s is a great visit and highly recommend it. A fun & unique place that we don’t have to leave our borders for. Worth it big time!

[Cass]

Some beer pics...

[El Pinguino]

Was also in Newfoundland earlier this summer, and echo that Bannerman seemed tops.
Our hotel was right across from them, and the Brewdock bar, so that was convenient

I made it out to Port Rexton Brewery, past Trinity on the way to Elliston, and really enjoyed the small-town country vibe there, with live music.

The NLLC (their version of LCBO) had a location not far from there that had a good selection of local craft single cans. Ninepenny, Landwash, Dildo, Baccalieu, Boomstick, Bootleg and Banished all had brews at the NLLC so makes sense visiting the shop.

Most breweries had limited hours on Sunday, the day I had to explore more, so didn't make it beyond the downtown ones (aside from Port Rexton).

[groulxsome]

Chris was a BarTowel participant back in the day, perhaps I can convince him to come back and visit

I am both back on BarTowel and working/living in Ontario now. You never know when you will end up, I guess!

And, related to this thread, BrewDock shutdown in December 2024. A sad day for craft beer in Newfoundland. Most of the breweries are still here though - including Landwash which is still doing well. Folly, I guess, not so much.

[Cass]

Chris was a BarTowel participant back in the day, perhaps I can convince him to come back and visit

I am both back on BarTowel and working/living in Ontario now. You never know when you will end up, I guess!

Welcome back, @groulxsome!