The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 10: The Griffin Gastropub Maple Buttertart Ale

Beer # 258 Maple Buttertart Ale


Collaboration with The Griffin Gastropub, The Township of Midland and Sam Corbiel of Sawdust City Brewery

Sweetgrass Brewing Company
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent Brewery
Flavoured Altbier 5.0% ABV 
Aluminium Can 473 ml.
$3.25 (Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @SweetgrassBeer


Tonight's beer was thought up at the Griffin Session Toronto this year where they asked communities to suggest a collaboration brew. The Township of Midland was the winning suggestion and hence we got the Maple Buttertart Beer. What could be more Canadian? We invented buttertarts and we certainly do know our beer. The beer was a collaboration between Sam Corbiel of Sawdust City, the Griffin Gastropub, and Sweetgrass Brewery which handled the actual brewing.

Let's try some buttertarts...

Pours a dark amber with an off-white head made of small bubbles. Aroma is strong with rum extract. First sip is slightly tart with a creamy mouthfeel. Slightly sticky, some caramel, sugars. Malt in the back ground. some vanilla. Aeration gives us some maple and a bitter aftertaste.


Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 



Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 3/6 SO-SO
Re-Order:  1/6 FAIL
Experience:  3/6 SO-SO
Christmas Cheer:  3/6 SO-SO

Final Thoughts:

I was so excited for this beer. I thought it was a great idea, however, the execution left something to be desired. The extracts used were way to powerful and detracted from the actual taste of the beer. Everything felt artificial. I was not really reminded of buttertarts, and the butter rum extract wiped out any notion of maple or vanilla in the background. I hope they do this beer again and this time use real maple syrup and real vanilla, perhaps some lactose to give a sweet creamy feeling. For now... avoid.

Cheers
CJT


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Sun Comes up it's Tuesday Morning

A Range of Samples from Sawdust City and Lake of Bays

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 Ale

Lake 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

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

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

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

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The 2-4 Beers of Christmas: Day 22 and 23: White and Red Session

Beer # 186 White Session

Beer # 187 Red Session

Collaboration with "The Local 7*

Sweetgrass Brewing Company
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Independent
Barrel Aged, Flavoured Belgian Saison 7.5% 
ABV Brown Glass Bottle 750 ml.
$19.95  (for both)(Canadian) At the LCBO

Twitter: @SweetgrassBeer

 If you are a regular follower of my blog you will remember I spent the day in Toronto for OCB Week this past June.The Ontario Craft Brewers Week is a celebration of some of the most dazzling brewers in our province. It begins each Father's Day weekend (well... Dads like beer...) with The Session Toronto. I was hoping to make it down for this one but work schedules intervened and I went slightly later in the week. Session is sort of like fight club for brewers... There is only one rule... there are no rules. And you SHOULD talk about Session... So it's not like Fight Club... but somehow I wanted to use that analogy. Brewers are encouraged to bring out the inner artist and paint a pallete of beer. (Ok that's a slightly better analogy). Brewers try to "One Up" each other in a friendly (hehe check out what I did) kind of way. Sweetgrass Brewery and the so called "Local 7" a group of craft beer bars that included The Only Cafe, The Griffin Gastropub, Bar Volo, Wvrst, C'est What, The Auld Spot, Barhop, and Bryden's (kind of like the Group of 7 But Craft Beer Bars... instead of painters) all collaborated on a brew... or two. The result was a Lemon Verbena, and Raspberry flavoured Belgian Saison, that was split into two batches, and one was aged in chardonnay barrels (White), and one Cabernet Sauvignon Barrels (Red). Each was aged for ten months and the result was released in December of 2014 to the LCBO. Sadly, I have been sitting on these bottles because of my cold... I was hoping to get this post out sooner. I am quite certain that all of the bottles of these are gone. So if you didn't get to try these beers... sorry... email or twitter @sweetgrassbeer and maybe they will make more (if we are really, really good...)

Well I have a Litre and a half of beer on my desk... Onto the tasting...


White

Colour is a slightly hazy clear gold with a bright white head made of small bubbles. Aroma is woody and grapey. Definitely a white wine nose. Hints of green floral citrus from the lemon verbena. Oaky vanilla and light caramel. First sip gives us a lot of chardonnay qualities, grapey, oaky and citrus. Hints of malo-lactic fermentation, creamy, buttery, vanilla and caramel. The elements of the Belgian style saison are deep within, under the chardonnay window dressing. Aeration brings out the beer, a bready, citrus clean Belgian saison.


Red

Colour is almost Identical to the white in every way, except that I would say this is slightly lighter in colour. (Strangely).  Nose is very mossy, woody, like a autumn walk through the woods. Oaky, smoky, and dark red wine. First sip is very oaky, and sweet, lots of caramel and vanilla. Tastes not unlike a heavily oaked chardonnay more than a Cabernet sauvignon. Slightly more effervescent than it's white counterpart. Fresh cut oak overwhelms the beer a bit. Aeration gives us sweet smoky oak, some breadiness, a touch more caramel and a lingering vanilla.


Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


White                                       Red 

Cost: 5/6 PASS                           Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS                        Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL     Beer Style: 6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL      Re-Order:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL   Experience:  6/6 EXCEPTIONAL
Christmas Spirit 5/6 PASS           Christmas Spirit 5/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:


Two most excellent beers and two excellent examples of how a barrel can change the way a beverage tastes. So much happens inside those little wooden envelopes... so much so that scientists haven't even figured out all of the processes, and chemical interactions. It is one area though where we don't need TOO much science... just let your tongue be the experimenter. Enjoy the reaction of all the woody elements that lend so much to these beers.


Cheers And Beery Christmas


CJT


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