Howdy Y'all, so it's been quite sometime since I done rapped at y'all but as you've been able to see through our Facebook and Twitter feeds, we've been pretty dang busy. Unfortunately this here post, my first in a few months, brings with it some bad news. We've decided to recall our latest batch of Lone Pine IPA from the LCBO (bottled Oct 25) and dispose of the remaining product in the brite tank.
After tasting the product and with much scrutiny, back and forth and wall punching we just felt that the beer was not up to our quality standards and as such could not be sold. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't our Lone Pine IPA. We have the utmost respect for our beer drinking public and we just felt that if you were to receive this beer that you wouldn't be happy with it...cause we weren't.
This certainly wasn't an easy decision for us to make as we had already bottled the product and shipped it to the LCBO before we made the call. In the short term, this was a total financial boondoggle. As a new start up company, on the brink of opening our new facility in Gravenhurst, ON, this could not have come at a worse time. But in the long run, we felt that if we were to let this go to market and you were to have tried this batch, then maybe you would've lost some degree of trust in us...we didn't want that.
Quality is as important to us as it is to you and we only want to sell you beer of the highest quality. So unfortunately there will be no draught Lone Pine going out to any of our loyal licensees for at least another few weeks and what ever stock is still available at the LCBO (I assure you, all other batches have met our rigorous quality standards) is all that we will be available for the same time period.
We hope that you understand our decision and decide to continue to purchase Lone Pine IPA when we do have it back on the LCBO shelves and in the bars.
Dag, that was a bummer. But thank fully we do have some good news to share with you too... our brew house is all but complete! Rob and I just came back from a trip to Charlottetown, PEI and the DME production plant and we've seen it with our own two eyes. Here it is, all piped together and almost ready to go -
We're hoping to start work on our brew house floors in the next week. This means we can have our brew house shipped to us in about three weeks. We can see the light folks! Keep your eyes on this here website and I'll be keeping you updated more frequently on the progress of Sawdust City.
We also want to let y'all know that our "Long, Dark Voyage to Uranus" is finally on the LCBO shelves. After 52 days of waiting in the bowels of the LCBO Durham warehouse, our Uranal Imperial Stout finally made it's way onto the shelves last week and we couldn't be happier. Big roasty malts with rich notes of espresso, bitter dark chocolate, anise, licorice and a big hop kick to boot, this is one bad ass beer. We really hope y'all like it. For all y'all wonderin' what a Uranual Imperial Stout looks like, here it is in all it's glory -
Now you've seen it, now go out and taste it! There was only a limited amount released to the LCBO, so it won't be around for ever! So go out and get your hands on Uranus today!
We also want to let you all know that our next seasonal "Red Rocket" spiced stout will be hitting bars and restaurants across the province this week. Spiced with coffee from our good pals at Toronto's Red Rocket Coffee along with Cinnamon, Vanilla and a healthy dose of cayenne pepper, this bold beauty is sure to warm the coldest of heart cockles. This year we're sending it out to bars from as far East as Ottawa & Kingston to as far West as London & KW. So ask for it soon at a kick ass beer bar near you. And as an added bonus, for those of you who are part of Amazing Clubs, "Beer of the Month Club" we will be bottling a limited amount of Red Rocket and sending it out as part of their home delivery. We're dropping it off on Friday so you should be receiving it some time soon. Here's what you should be lookin' for -
Lastly, we gots a few events comin' up that we'd like to share with y'all.
This Thursday, on Halloween night we'll be pouring two special one off beers at BarHops Black & Orange Halloween party. One beer is our Smoked Pumpkin Chai Roggenbier, "The XTC Version was BetterER" a beer I brewed with my good buddy Noddini. We had it at this same party last year, we just made it betterER this time around. More smoke, more chai, more rye and more betterER!
The other beer was a collab that we did with the good lads at BarHop, "The Blood of Cthulhu". An Imperial Stout aged on raspberries, sour cherries and cranberries, its a wallop of chocolate goodness and tart, fruity bad assiness. There ain't much of either two of these beers, so get it while you can. Along with a whole slew of other great craft beer from some other great Ontario breweries, our Long, Dark Voyage to Uranus and our Red Rocket Stout will also be available on draught. It's gonna be a fun night. Peep the poster for more details -
Just a few days later, on 11.05.13, those same good lads at BarHop are gonna host another party for us. This time it's with our good friend Ryan Morrow, Brewmaster at Nickelbrook Breweries. We're gonna be releasin' our very special Birthday Barrel Aged Barley Wine. Brewed on 11.05.12 this spiced barley wine was aged for 10 months in second use bourbon barrels givin' it a wonderful balanced oakiness, with hints of citrus, vanilla and rich caramel malts. Coming in at 11.05% this is certainly a sipper, so to make sure y'all can make it through the night, we decided to bring a total of 11 beers to drink as well! A mini-tap takeover if you will. So come on out and help us celebrate our collective birthdays and our brand new beer. Remember, remember, the 5th of November...but it you can't, peep the poster for more details -
Lastly, we are gonna be pourin' at one of Toronto's largest food and drink shows, The Gourmet Food & Wine Expo. From November 14th til the 17th we will be at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, North Building serving along side 1,500 other wines, beers & spirits from all over the world. Packed with 45,000 visitors over the three days, this is certainly one fantastic event. So get gussied up and come out to sample some Sawdust. Peep the website for more details - http://www.foodandwineexpo.ca/sitepages/?cid=341
So there you have y'all, that's what's happenin' right now and fer the next few weeks. We're gonna be doin' lots of work on our building in the coming weeks, so keep checkin' back here for more up to date information and pics. And like I said, we are truly sorry for not havin' any Lone Pine IPA available at the moment, but we don't want to give our loyal fans anything but the highest quality beer.
Anyhoo, that just about does it for now. Until next time, keep the beer in your mugs and the Sawdust beneath your feet.