Twitter @SawdustCityBeer @LB_brewing
I've been on the mend lately. An early spring cold has put me out of commision for quite some time. That and I have been working some ridiculous hours. So I decided to hop into the local and do a bit of an omnibus tasting, as they had a few new ones I had not tried. Enjoy these and expect some new tastings shortly
CJT
Beer # 229 Cheli's Pale AleLake of Bays Brewing Company
Baysville, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
Dry Hopped Barrel Aged Pale Ale
7.0 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.00 (Canadian) At the brewery
This is the newest beer in the NHL Alumni Series and it is named for Chris Chelios the 20 plus year, right handed defenceman who played for six years with The Montreal Canadiens and almost a decade each with the Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Red Wings. This is the first Time I have seen the Alumni Series in draft form and was curious... If I get a bottle of this I will repost it in a more detailed form.
Pours a lovely clear gold with an off-white head made up of small bubbles. Nose is sweet and slightly woody, notes of malt and vanilla caramel. First sip is very refreshing clear and crisp. Very fresh tasting oak sets in later almost saplike but no too sweet. Good profile of an English pale ale with tons of fresh fruit some apples and a nice drying and slightly bitter finish. All through the beer you get a hazy woodiness, that is like a forest on a fall day or the distant smoke of a maple sugar shack.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Final Thoughts: Very good beer, sadly only a perfunctory look, would love to get this in a bottle and slowly savour it.
Beer # 230 So it Gose
Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Dry Hopped Barrel Aged Pale Ale
7.0 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.00 (Canadian) At the brewery
This is the newest beer in the NHL Alumni Series and it is named for Chris Chelios the 20 plus year, right handed defenceman who played for six years with The Montreal Canadiens and almost a decade each with the Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Red Wings. This is the first Time I have seen the Alumni Series in draft form and was curious... If I get a bottle of this I will repost it in a more detailed form.
Pours a lovely clear gold with an off-white head made up of small bubbles. Nose is sweet and slightly woody, notes of malt and vanilla caramel. First sip is very refreshing clear and crisp. Very fresh tasting oak sets in later almost saplike but no too sweet. Good profile of an English pale ale with tons of fresh fruit some apples and a nice drying and slightly bitter finish. All through the beer you get a hazy woodiness, that is like a forest on a fall day or the distant smoke of a maple sugar shack.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Final Thoughts: Very good beer, sadly only a perfunctory look, would love to get this in a bottle and slowly savour it.
Beer # 230 So it Gose
Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
Flavoured Gose
4.1 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery
This new offering by Sawdust is a lacto-bacillus soured wheat beer, with sea salt and coriander
Pours a hazy tinny gold, with a thin off-white head made up of tiny bubbles. Mildly sour on the nose with hints of wheat, and an almost sea like brininess. First sip gives us a tart brew with salt tones. The salt is evident, you taste it but it does not leave you thirsty. There are hints of citrus, coriander. The salt amps up your taste-buds and leaves you wanting more. There is a subtle fruitiness mixed in with the overall minerality of the salt. The strangest thing about the beer is the three main components the salt, the fruit-herb and the wheat all play exceedingly well with each other. one will surge ahead while the others wait their turn creating a flavour palate that is intriguing and ever-changing
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Final Thoughts: I was told this is the love it or hate it beer... I am obviously one of the former. This beer is an excellent example of Gose and how minerals can change the flavour of beer.The only other Gose I have blogged about was Beau's here and I can safely say this one is better. This is definitely not some kid adding salt to his Canadian to make it taste less like skunk. This is a carefully crafted and balanced beer. Try it, you will be surprised.
Beer # 231 Original Jorden
Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Flavoured Gose
4.1 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery
This new offering by Sawdust is a lacto-bacillus soured wheat beer, with sea salt and coriander
Pours a hazy tinny gold, with a thin off-white head made up of tiny bubbles. Mildly sour on the nose with hints of wheat, and an almost sea like brininess. First sip gives us a tart brew with salt tones. The salt is evident, you taste it but it does not leave you thirsty. There are hints of citrus, coriander. The salt amps up your taste-buds and leaves you wanting more. There is a subtle fruitiness mixed in with the overall minerality of the salt. The strangest thing about the beer is the three main components the salt, the fruit-herb and the wheat all play exceedingly well with each other. one will surge ahead while the others wait their turn creating a flavour palate that is intriguing and ever-changing
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Final Thoughts: I was told this is the love it or hate it beer... I am obviously one of the former. This beer is an excellent example of Gose and how minerals can change the flavour of beer.The only other Gose I have blogged about was Beau's here and I can safely say this one is better. This is definitely not some kid adding salt to his Canadian to make it taste less like skunk. This is a carefully crafted and balanced beer. Try it, you will be surprised.
Beer # 231 Original Jorden
Sawdust City Brewing CompanyGravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
APA
5.0 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery
This one was brewed for the Griffin Gastropub in Bracebridge, Ontario.
Pours a cloudy green-yellow with an off-white head made of small bubbles. Very light grapefruit and passion fruit on the nose with hints of pine and some vegetation. First sip is very light and fruity with some underlying greenness. Some medicinal hops and pine. nice bitterness on the finish with plenty of grainy malt.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Final Thoughts: Not the best APA I have ever had but a nice fruity patio sipper.
Beer # 232 Balmoral's Outrage Rye Saison
Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
APA
5.0 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery
This one was brewed for the Griffin Gastropub in Bracebridge, Ontario.
Pours a cloudy green-yellow with an off-white head made of small bubbles. Very light grapefruit and passion fruit on the nose with hints of pine and some vegetation. First sip is very light and fruity with some underlying greenness. Some medicinal hops and pine. nice bitterness on the finish with plenty of grainy malt.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Final Thoughts: Not the best APA I have ever had but a nice fruity patio sipper.
Beer # 232 Balmoral's Outrage Rye Saison
Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
Barrel Aged Flavoured Rye APA Saison
5.0 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery
The most interesting brew of the day was definitely this one. Balmoral's Outrage. I can't offer any opinion on the name... but the beer? Whoa!
Pours a coppery gold with an off-white head made up of small bubbles. Nose is woody with lots of medicinal herbaceousness. The beer is slightly tart with some oak and smoke. There is leather and cedar followed by a dried fruit sweetness, some spices, like ginger clove and curry. There is a definite turmeric and coriander, cumin, Indian sweet masala going on. This beer was described as "Christmas Cake" to me, and the dried fruit and spicy sweetness does back that up, but I get a nice fruity curry from this, a gentle Northern Indian curry with raisins and potatoes. The beer is infused with Juniper and Angelica root, which should give it a more gin-like or even a Drambuie feel, but I lean more towards the food. I would be thrilled to drink this with a nice spicy curry, (or for that matter bake it into a Christmas Cake.)
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Final Thoughts: This beer is why the craft market is doing so well. It is not about Why?... it is about Why Not? This is a fantastically delicious beer that I am afraid not enough people will get to taste (or understand). Sometimes the ripest fruit is found far out on the limb...
Beer # 233 The Princess Wears Hotpants
Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent Microbrewery
Cask Conditioned
5.0 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery
Flavoured with some citric acid and jalapenos this beer is designed to spice up your life.
pours a cloudy off-gold with very thin off-white head. First sip is light an fruity with a follow-up attack of hot jalapenos. tangy and zingy, with a nice fruity hit of capsicum.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Final Thoughts: not my favourite incarnation of the princess, but I like the heat. A nice tasty brew good for summer sipping, or spicy food. try some if you can find it... it pops up erratically.
Cheers
CJT
Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
Like me on Facebook: Pint Jockey Online
Barrel Aged Flavoured Rye APA Saison
5.0 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery
The most interesting brew of the day was definitely this one. Balmoral's Outrage. I can't offer any opinion on the name... but the beer? Whoa!
Pours a coppery gold with an off-white head made up of small bubbles. Nose is woody with lots of medicinal herbaceousness. The beer is slightly tart with some oak and smoke. There is leather and cedar followed by a dried fruit sweetness, some spices, like ginger clove and curry. There is a definite turmeric and coriander, cumin, Indian sweet masala going on. This beer was described as "Christmas Cake" to me, and the dried fruit and spicy sweetness does back that up, but I get a nice fruity curry from this, a gentle Northern Indian curry with raisins and potatoes. The beer is infused with Juniper and Angelica root, which should give it a more gin-like or even a Drambuie feel, but I lean more towards the food. I would be thrilled to drink this with a nice spicy curry, (or for that matter bake it into a Christmas Cake.)
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Final Thoughts: This beer is why the craft market is doing so well. It is not about Why?... it is about Why Not? This is a fantastically delicious beer that I am afraid not enough people will get to taste (or understand). Sometimes the ripest fruit is found far out on the limb...
Beer # 233 The Princess Wears Hotpants
Sawdust City Brewing Company
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Independent MicrobreweryCask Conditioned
5.0 % ABV 20 oz Draft (592 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery
Flavoured with some citric acid and jalapenos this beer is designed to spice up your life.
pours a cloudy off-gold with very thin off-white head. First sip is light an fruity with a follow-up attack of hot jalapenos. tangy and zingy, with a nice fruity hit of capsicum.
Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 5/6 PASS
Re-Order: 5/6 PASS
Experience: 5/6 PASS
Final Thoughts: not my favourite incarnation of the princess, but I like the heat. A nice tasty brew good for summer sipping, or spicy food. try some if you can find it... it pops up erratically.
Cheers
CJT
Follow me on Twitter: @pintjockey
Like me on Facebook: Pint Jockey Online
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