Lone Pine Tap Takeover at Sawdust

1000th Brew Celebration Lone Prime and Lone Pine One-offs

Sawdust City Brewing Company

Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
   

Independent Microbrewery Established 2012
Flavoured IPA &
Original IPA
ABV 6.5 %  
Draught Samples 4 and 14 oz
Various Prices (Canadian) At The Brewery

 @sawdustcitybeer


Recently, Sawdust brewed their 1000th batch of beer at their permanent location in Gravenhurst. Prior to this, they were first experimenting in a kitchen where the original recipe for their wildly popular beer Lone Pine was first created. When they first started brewing commercially they contracted space out of Black Oak Brewery in Etobicoke near Toronto. It was here where Lone pine morphed into its final form. To commemorate this thousandth brew. Sawdust went back to its kitchen roots, dusted off their original recipe and brewed it up for us to compare and contrast.

In addition to the main event, they brewed up some one-off kegs to celebrate IPA in a few unusual ways. The following 5 beers were started on a base of current recipe Lone Pine IPA and then were augmented with the flavours noted.


Onto the samples:

Beer # 372

Lone Shark

Lone Shark Peach and Nectarine milkshake IPA 

Flavoured With Peach and Nectarine Juices with Added Lactose for creaminess Lone Pine Base 6.5% ABV 4 oz

pours a cloudy gold with a very short head aroma is bright pine and tropical fruit. mild lactose creaminess. hints of strawberry citrus and nuts. hints of vanilla. Aeration brings out some wood and a touch of caramel.

Not bad, but I think this was a trial run for their upcoming beer which is a Strawberry Milkshake IPA.

Beer # 373

Keep Calm and Cherry On

Keep Calm and Cherry on Sour Cherry IPA  

Flavoured With Sour Cherries 
Lone Pine Base 6.5% ABV 4 oz

Pours a cloudy reddish off brown with a short head made up of tiny white bubbles. Aroma is a tropical hoppy mix with bright red fruit. First sip is fruity IPA followed by a spike of cherry pie filling... Some residual sweetness and stickiness like when I eat cherry pie filling straight from the can ( don't judge). Aeration gives us some sugar more fruit. 

Fruity and sweet and not much else.

Beer # 374

Nothing Comes to Mind

Nothing Comes to Mind... Blueberry Pink Guava IPA 

Flavoured With Blueberries and Guava 
Lone Pine Base 6.5% ABV 4 oz

Pours a muddy pink/purple with an off-white head made up of tiny bubbles. Nose is a little more muted than the other but still has hints of pine. First sip is a very sweet explosion of blueberry with hints of sweet Guava. Aeration gives us some creamy sweetness and some raw white sugar. lips are left sticky.

Also quite sweet.

Beer # 375

Electric IPA

Szechuan Jalapeno Electric IPA 

Flavoured With Jalapenos (and Szechuan sauce? Not sure.) 
Lone Pine Base 6.5% ABV 4 oz

pours a light clear gold with a thin head. Aroma is pine and hot peppers first sip is like a stir fry with mild spice and a little jalapeno burn. Aeration brings out some fruity pepper notes and hints of soy sauce.

Zingy and warm, this one was my favourite.

Chai-chai-chai-changes

Beer # 376

Chai-chai-chai-changes Chai IPA  

Flavoured With Chai Spice and Black Tea 
Lone Pine Base 6.5% ABV 4 oz

Pours the colour of milky chai the beer is viscous and has a texture like a Guinness frozen in time. Baking spices fill the nose cinnamon cardamom and heavy clove. First sip is milky and sweet then the spices hit. clove is a tad overpowering but the cinnamon is balanced. cardamom is just barely present. Finish is black tea with hints of pine and a mild fruitiness. Aeration is clove intensity and reminds me of air freshener a bit. 

This one was a close second. Were this to be balanced better I would like to see it as a regular seasonal.

The Main Event (Old vs New)

Lone Pine on left "Lone Prime" on right

Lone Prime vs Lone Pine

Beer # 377

Lone Prime

Original recipe of Lone Pine
6.5% ABV

Pours a rich mahogany with an off-tan head made up of small bubbles Nose is intense pine and malt with hints pineapple. First sip is dark toasty malt with a hint of molasses. hints of coffee and deep tones of barley, liquorice, and horse feed. Slightly woodsy and piney with sparks of roasted pineapple, hints of passion fruit and a touch of caramel vanilla. Aeration brings out more piney hops

Lone Pine

Lighter and more golden in colour with a brighter off-white head made up of small bubbles. Pine and tropical fruit are intense on the nose first sip is not quite as malt forward, but the malts are still there. Pine and fruit is far more intense but more emphasis on the lighter fruits passion fruit citrus hints of orange and less pineapple. Aeration gives us some light caramel and vanilla with a woodsy background and more pine

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: 6/6 Exceptional


Final Thoughts:

As I sat sipping my pint, I tried hard to remember my first taste of Lone Pine. I do remember it was at "The Only Cafe" on the Danforth in Toronto. It was $5 dollar pint night so it was Sunday. And this, this wasn't quite right. This "Lone Prime" is maltier, headier, The one I remember was crisper with more pine and lots of tropical fruit, mainly pineapple. So I feel I have seen the beginning the middle and the end (so far) of Lone pine, It's nice to complete that journey. It is fun to sample a beer as it grows up. As for this limited edition version? it's very, very good. you should give it a shot. Try it out with a regular can of Lone pine beside it to get the full picture.


Cheers

CJT

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Twin Pines IIPA Sawdust City

# 226 Twin Pines IIPA

Sawdust City Brewing Company

Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada

Independent Microbrewery
Double IPA 
8.8 % ABV 10 oz Draft (296 ml.)
$6.50 (Canadian) At the brewery

Twitter: @sawdustcitybeer

When this Brew House hits 88 Brews you're going to see some serious shit...

I have been trying to get this post up for over a week. I always seem to be tasting this beer last and by the time I hit it my taste buds are in shock and don't want to co-operate (Bring on the light spring summer beers please!!) But finally I am getting around to finishing it. I have enjoyed it and I hope you do too.

So there is a story behind this beer, and it proves that the brewers at Sawdust city are my kinda people. (Beer brewin', beer swillin', movie nerds and I'm okay with that!) They named their original IPA Lone pine I assume to evoke some thoughts of the ruggedly handsome Muskoka region where they now have built their brewery. But it also happens to have a connection with one of the most beloved sci fi movies of all time, "Back to the Future."

As you can see (*Spoiler alert*) before Marty McFly goes back in time, the mall he meets Doc Brown at is called "Twin Pines" (picture right) and when he returns the mall is called "Lone Pine." Why? Because, when the time machine goes into the past, it runs over over one of the "Twin Pines" leaving just the one for the mall to be named after.

It was one of the first (in my memory) of little Easter eggs that directors started putting in movies to see if you were paying attention. There are others but this one was sort of a secret handshake for true movie buffs for a long time (then the Internet happened...). But the significance of that movie to the naming of our brew does not end there. Not only is the beer 8.8% ABV it is the 88th brew at the new brewery in Gravenhurst. And as all of us true movie nerds know... You need to be travelling 88 mph for the flux capacitor to work... and that's when the real shit happens.

Ok, so they know their movies... but do they know their beers, let's find out. Put on your headphones, set the time circuits for 1985, and turn on some Huey Lewis and the news:

Where we are going... we don't need roads... but maybe a pint glass...


Pours a dark peach colour with a fluffy white head made of small bubbles with massive lacing. Aroma is grainy with a deep background of tropical hops. Some grapefruit, some passionfruit. First sip is a light, bright, citrus and tropical fruit infused brew. Some effervescence on the tongue with some light malt and caramel towards the end. Incredibly smooth, alcohol is evident through the middle, slightly hot on the tongue. Plenty of green herbal hops some pine and a little resin. Aeration brings out a sweet caramel, with deep medicinal hops and some grilled pineapple.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 

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

Final Thoughts:

This beer has become a favourite here at Pint Jockey Headquarters. There may be great sadness if they decide to stop brewing this one. All around a fantastic beer, and a beautiful compliment to it's sister brew the Lone Pine. (also a favourite here) Get it while you can, but remember... it's 8.8% too many and you may want to go back in time to fix whatever mistakes you made...

Cheers


CJT



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