Last year when I was in Halifax, I wrote – and not flatteringly – about the Rock Bottom Brewpub (read the review here). Quite simply, it didn’t offer real beer made locally, and it showed. They shipped wort from B.C. and tried to pass it off as locally made beer. I was pissed off at their half-assed attempt to create a beer place.

What a difference a year can make.

I am back in Halifax for a few weeks, and the biggest change in town is the beer at the Rock Bottom. The reason is that last fall the owners of the RB realized that their faux-brewpub approach wasn’t working (I can’t say if my scathing review was a part of their decision, but I can only hope). So, they decided to hire Greg Nash, most recently of Hart and Thistle (where he still works) but generally Atlantic Canada’s gypsy genius brewer. They purchased some real brewing equipment and asked Nash to design some beer that would make them a real beer destination.

They didn’t know what they had gotten themselves into. Because Nash doesn’t do anything half-way. The new beer line-up has absolutely no relation to the embarrassment I witnessed last year. Plus he has instituted some admirable beer events, including a weekly cask ale (tapped Saturday at 1:00), and a rotating line of seasonal offerings. They don’t promote the cask ale as an event, and as a result you can buy it many hours after it is tapped. This is unfortunate . It might go better if they moved it back a couple hours and then promoted it as a “get it quick or miss it”, which would create the kind of buzz we see with cask events elsewhere. However, it is still a good effort.

There are some accessible – but well brewed – beer. They have an American Wheat (Deadwood Wheat) which presents a classic American wheat profile, clean but with an earthy graininess and a bit of fruit ester. Their Big Water Brown is nothing to write home about, but is a decent brown ale. They offer a stout (Jack Tar Stout) that is not afraid to bring out the coffee roast. The body is a bit thin and it doesn’t finish the way I would like, but it is a an admirable attempt at a stout.

But the highlights, as you would expect from Nash, are the bolder beer. On the regular list is Fathom IPA, which has all of Nash’s signatures – leafy, fruity hop aroma and flavour, a big citrusy bitterness, and generally a fresh hop feel that mere mortals cannot achieve.

At the moment my favourite beer on tap is their seasonal, a smoked Baltic Porter called Balticus. It starts with a strong smoky aroma and a rich caramel malt. The flavour is a bit more balanced with a rich malt character that is contrasted with a moderate smokiness to create a multi-layered beer. The smoke is dominant, but not overpowering, and the porter character of the beer still finds a way to shine through. It is almost like a blend of an English Old Ale and a Rauchbier. Fascinating.

Also on tap this week is Ultimate White IPA, a collaboration with the local homebrew club. It is a Witbier with the hopping level of a pale ale. A fascinating beer. I am still deciding whether I like it, but there is no escaping that it is both original and well made. Sharp piney hops dominate the front but a citrus angle inserts itself somehow. A hearty wheat malt blends with a citrusy hop character. The beer finishes incredibly dry, with some fruit and a noticeable hop linger. It is one of those beer where you nod your head at the first pint for how well it is made. The issue is whether you want a second pint. My choice was “no” as I moved to another Balticus.

What is important here is that, despite some imperfect beer offerings, the Rock Bottom has become a regular stopping point for me. In part because it is more conveniently situated than the Hart and Thistle (for a guy on a bike, like me – the H&T is right down at the harbour, and it is a long way up after a pint or two), but also because I know I can get a decent pint.

At the moment the Rock Bottom does not surpass the quality of a nice pint of Propeller, Garrison or St. Ambroise (all of which are easily accessed in Halifax), but it is on its way. I look forward to sampling its wares in another year.