Sagemehl Stadt
Sawdust City Brewing Co.

 

 

Poured a 3473ml can into a pint glass. A two finger tan head on a dark clear copper. The head diminishes to a thin layer. Some lacing.
Slightly spicy malts in the nose.
Robust malts up front. Crackers. Grain. Sweet. Very slight hop finish.
Medium body and carbonation.
A fine Marzen. Smooth and well balanced.

 

Frm a 473ml can from the LCBO. Pours a clear mid amber with an off white head that settles to a thin foam that leaves minimal lacing. Aroma: bready / biscuity malts, some light herbal hop - not intrusive. Flavour biscuit malts, some honey, light but persisten bitterness. Medium light body, good carbonation.

 

 

Can from LCBO - poured a light amber, clear, small white cap. Aroma was faint - bready, malt sweetness, some herbal tones. Flavor was malty-caramel with some woody noble hops but the finish does not dry out like a Marzen should. It's also too light on the palate for a Oktoberfestbier. I have never been disappointed in this brewer but this is the first time - not a very authentic fest marzen and it was not lagered long enough to get rid of some green beer tastes..........maybe my mistake was sampling this after an Ayinger Oktoberfest Marzen.

 

 

 

473ml can served cold into a pint glass. Another LCBO purchase for $3.25 CDN. This can might be elderly as it's a September 2, 2016 canning date. This edition advertised as 5.0% ABV.

Appearance- pours a semi clear dark amber coloured beer. A fine finger of white head is poured and lingers for quite a bit. Minimal traces of lacing stick around.

Smell - grainy with some caramel sweetness and hints of fall spices. Has that damp fall aroma bringing thoughts of falling leaves, pumpkins and chillier temperatures.

Taste - clean with plenty of grain and some sweetness. Caramel is dialed back some but corn sweetness permeates. A little thinner on taste than many of the other examples.

Mouthfeel - good carbonation, with a lighter than average body, above average carbonation and a certain thinness to the feel. I tend to prefer a heavier bodied beer in the style but it's not bad.

Overall - a perfectly serviceable if not exemplary rendition of the style. Would enjoy again, but I think better and more German options exist for the same price.

 

Can from the lcbo for around $3.

 

Tallboy can from the LCBO; dated Sept 2 2016 and served slightly chilled.

Pours a clear, effervescent orange-amber colour, tossing up roughly one finger of frothy, off white-coloured head in the process. It wilts and disappears within a minute or two, leaving behind a modest collar and a smooth, even layer of thin foam. Bready, doughy malts and light caramel sweetness on the nose, with a touch of biscuit and grassy, spicy noble hops.

Very nice, quaffable German amber lager - not too sweet, or too dry, and definitely not bland. Plenty of clean pale malt goodness; grainy, doughy and nutty, and perhaps just a tad biscuity, with restrained caramelized sugar sweetness patrolling the background throughout the sip. Noble hops start to come through on the back end, with grassy, herbal hops imparting a slight bitterness that doesn't quite manage to fully balance the somewhat saccharine bent of the malt bill. Light-bodied, with relatively mild carbonation levels that mange to meekly prickle the palate with each sip; the mouthfeel is smooth and slightly slick. Bonus points for being ridiculously easy to drink - and the low abv actually makes this a better session option than a lot of the märzens/festbiers out there.

Final Grade: 3.94, a B+. Sawdust City doesn't put out all that many lagers - but this Sägemehl Stadt Festbier of theirs suggests that they're still quite capable of producing respectable ones, when they want to. It's not exactly perfect - this festbier's just a little too sweet for me - which may repel some BAs, and in general sort of muffles and distracts from the hops. Still, its drinkability is top-notch, which is evident from the fact that the glass was empty within 20 minutes of being poured. Worth a try, and something I'll probably return to, but a little too pricey to become a fall staple.

 

 

 

Jan 29 2023