From Nova Scotia with Love
December 1, 2020
Brewed in collaboration with Big Spruce Brewing, From Nova Scotia with Love is a beer brewed to celebrate the support, kindness, and quick response the City of Boston and its citizens provided after two military ships SS Imo and SS Mont-Blanc collided in the narrows of Halifax Harbor explosion in 1917. To show their gratitude, the people of Nova Scotia have since sent the people of Boston a tree which is lit in the Boston Common.
An abbey-style ale with Oak and Cherrywood smoked malts, a touch of spruce tips, and an extended conditioning in Glen Breton Single Malt Whiskey barrels from Cape Breton Island, From Nova Scotia with Love is both layered and complex with notes of dried fruit, vanilla, wood smoke, and caramel. Click here to learn more.
To mark the occasion, our very own Charlie Storey wrote an epic poem inspired by The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, and we also produced a short video to tell the story of the longtime tradition as well as celebrate the release of this special collaboration.
‘Twas the morning of December 6th, and across the Northeast,
A blizzard was soon to rent its inhabitants’ peace.
But the wind and the snow that would soon come their way,
Were nothing to the looming disaster afloat in the bay.
It was 1917 and in Nova Scotia’s Halifax port,
The joy of Christmas would soon be cut tragically short.
The SS Mont Blanc, bound for Europe and war
Collided with the Imo, and through the city tore
A horrible explosion, stoked by powder and fuel
Bringing upon Halifax a fate inhumanely cruel.
Far off in Boston, news of the tragedy spread,
Stirring it citizens to action, shocked by the horror and dread
They loaded a train with doctors, nurses, and supplies
And by 10 that night it steamed north to our allies!
Also unleashed was yet another fierce blast
A storm hit the region, and the snow drifts amassed.
Despite the blizzard and cold that faced the Boston crew
To the aid of Halifax the brave heroes came through.
Halifax and its people were deeply harmed but unbroken,
And in gratitude more powerful than words could be spoken,
Felled a mighty spruce and prepared it to send
To the citizens of Boston, forever their friends.
Just before each Christmas, from Nova Scotia comes the tree
A wondrous symbol that inspires holiday glee.
Which sparked a conversation along the Atlantic coast
Between brewers who believed this was an occasion to toast
With a beer! A beer brewed in the spirit of caring,
So Harpoon and Big Spruce Brewery got busy sharing.
What about an abby ale, brewed with spruce tips of course
Aged in Glen Breton barrels…? A Canadian American tour de force!
Flavors complex and layered, with notes of dried fruit they proclaim
The abundance of malts, so many we must call them by name:
Now Bonlander! Now Melanoidin! Now Caramunich and Pale!
On Roasted Barley! On Wheat! Oak and Cherrywood smoked… what an ale!
While nothing will erase the loss of that December
We raise a glass to the holidays and will always remember
To give thanks to the friendship we’re reminded of
By the tree and the beer: From Nova Scotia with Love!
From Nova Scotia with Love is available for purchase at our breweries in Boston, MA and Windsor, VT as well as local retailers in New England. Click here to find it near you.
