A Dust Storm is Picking Up!

It's been a big few weeks in the life of the Sawdust City Brewing Co., a lot has transpired since we last spoke dear Readers.

Firstly, we had a few beers showcased at the Griffin Pub up in Bracebridge, Ontraio; Ol'Woody Alt, which will be one of our regular products available at the brewpub when it opens next year and "I swear Sugarpants, it Was Your Idea", a lactose brown ale brewed with Masala spices.  The latter, was a latte inspired one-off beer that we brewed specifically for Volo CaskDays which will be held this Sunday at the Hart House in Toronto.  I happened to have a few extra kegs left over so my good brother Jed (kudos to him for supporting us in basically all that we've done...it helps to have a great and supportive brother in bar business, it really does) put them on tap at the Griffin and a few lucky souls got an advanced look at what Sawdust City is going to be about.  Take a look at the logo for "Sugarpants", another great job done by Shannon.
While there sampling some of our creations, I got to talk to a few of the Griffin patrons about our beer and it was great to see the enthusiasm they had for not only our beer, but craft beer in general.  People were genuinely interested in how the beer was made and the process we used to brew it.
The tides are changing dear readers, the tides are changing!

After that uplifting weekend we were buoyed again with the news that the LCBO analysis on our beers was completed and the results were in.  As the next step in our ongoing process to get our manufacturers license, we sent in 4 brands to the LCBO to be analysed in their labs.  And I'm glad to report that there is exactly 0 poison in any of our beers!  Good news if I ever did hear it.  So now that we have the official reports back, we've sent them off to the AGCO and hopefully in the very near future we will have the final go ahead on our Manufacturer's License and we can then sell beer to the public.

This of course was extremely welcomed news and all of us at Sawdust City were glad to hear it, so to celebrate, we brewed our first "official" beer.  I'd like you all to welcome to the world our little bouncing baby beer, Golden Beach Pale Wheat, born Oct 26th at 4:07pm, weighing in at 11 Plato and just over 6hl in size.

It was a group effort with many of the students at Niagara College pitching in and helping to deliver our little bundle of joy.  Being the proud parent that I am, I couldn't help but snap a few photos.  I know it's tacky to show off the pictures of your baby, everyone thinks their's is the cutest, but seriously just look at these photos.  They'll just melt your heart, I swear it.
Ahhh, look at this first shot....still in labour here, but working hard.

More labour shots.  Don't let anyone tell you birthing is easy!

First "blood test"....every thing checks our okay!

We had to spank his bottom a few times and whack him with a few wallops of hops

But in the end, he finally let out that first bellowing cry and here it is living and breathing easy.  *sniffle*, oh geez, I promised myself I wouldn't cry....

So now that we have our first one in and bubbling away, it won't be long before you see Sawdust City Brewing Co., at a beer pub near you.  We do have a few accounts lined up already and at this point it's just the waiting...which as they say is the hardest part.  So please be patient with us dear Readers, it's still a few weeks off, but soon enough you'll be able to sample our wares.  Keep an eye on this hear blog, our facebook page and now on the Twitters (yes, I've broken through the event horizon and entered the Twitter-verse) and once we have an official release date and bars in which we will be available I will be posting them there just as fast as my little chubby fingers will allow me.
So yeah, it's been a busy few weeks, but it's about to get busier....and I couldn't be happier.
Well, that's about it for now.  Until next time, keep the beer in your mugs and the sawdust beneath your feet.