BASIL BEACH ~ SAWDUST CITY

Basil Beach is Sawdust City’s Golden Beach Pale ale brewed with fresh basil. It is a limited edition one-off. It was sampled on Sawdust City’s massive tap (25 taps and 5 kegs) takeover at the Only Cafe in Toronto. Sampled a pint, drawn from one of the kegs. The beer pours a hazy bright sunny gold with a small bubbly head. The nose contains citrusy lemon, grass, basil and floral hops. Taste follows as expected: citrusy and herbal hops, a little orchard, fruit, grass and a light basil, which became a little more pronounced as the beer warmed.The finish is a little astringent and bitter. The carbonation is active and lively.  

5% from Gravenhurst, Ontario IBU 25

WATER: pure Muskoka water
BARLEY /MALT: Canadian 2-row barley, wheat
HOPS: galaxy, mosaic, Sorachi ace, summit
YEAST California ale
OTHER: Basil

GOLDEN BEACH ~ SAWDUST CITY 

Sampled on draught this beer pours sunshine yellow with a little cloudiness due to the fact it is unfiltered. The frothy head lasted and left some nice lacing. The beer is made from 50% wheat and appeared somewhat like a wit beer, but had more opacity. The nose was full of fruity hoppiness, with tropical fruit and citrus and pine in the back. The taste contains lots of fruitiness, with citrus and citrus peel, mild malt in the middle and resiny pine hoppiness at the end. This hopped up wheat beer left a crisp bitterness, but retained a little of the wheat sweetness. An excellent beer, with lots of complexity from the hops, very drinkable, I will be returning to this one!
4.5% from Gravenhurst, Ontario 25 IBU
Barley: Canadian 2 row barley, wheat
Hops: galaxy, mosaic, sorachi ace, summit
Yeast : California Ale