Sawdust City Brewing Co. - Gravenhurst, ON - Coming Soon

*Up front disclosure. The following post features an update about a new brewery in which my employer has ties to. Please note that my intention when posting the material below is only meant as news, nothing more.*

It's official - the lovely region north of Toronto, affectionely known as Muskoka, is set to get another brewery with Sawdust City Brewing Co. close to breaking ground in Gravenhurst, ON. The brewery, with plans to be open to the public on Gravenhurst's Wharf in late spring 2012, will join other northern breweries like Muskoka Brewery and Lake of Bays Brewery.

Sawdust City Brewing, baring the original name of Gravenhurst (known as a logging village), will be situated right on the shores of the Gravenhurst Wharf and will be operated as a tied-house, producing beers with names like Skinny Dippin' Stout, Lone Pine IPA, Golden Beach Wheat and more.

Rob Engman, President of TAPS Media, and Sam Corbeil, formerly of Mill Street Brewery, are the two founders of the brewing company, with Corbeil handling all the brewing duties. A graduate of VLB Berlin, Corbeil has worked for a number of Ontario craft breweries before connecting with Engman to bring Gravenhurst their first craft brewery.

The two men are getting set to break ground this fall, with a projected opening date in the spring, but they've been busy contract brewing at the Niagara College Teaching Brewery at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus. You might remember hearing about a beer that they recently debuted that was brewed in collaboration with the college, Great Weiss North, which was featured at the Craft Beer Garden at Toronto's CNE where it received positive response from the public. The beer, as I posted on this blog back in August, is brewed with an ingredient from each Canadian province and territory, making it a unique offering.

The brewery has received their manufacturer's licence and will soon be brewing enough product to get out to select pubs and restaurants in the north and some will be made available in GTA. Their first 'commercial' brew day is fast approaching.

You can follow the progress of Sawdust City as they have an active blog where they'll be sharing stories about getting up and running - Sawdustcitybeer.blogspot.com

Here is a little video about the Great Weiss North

Great Weiss North at the C.N.E. Summer 2011 from DMJHodge on Vimeo.