GRAVENHURST, ON – Just over a year after it was launched in Norway, a beer co-created by Ontario’s Sawdust City Brewing and Norway’s Arendals Bryggeri will soon be making its Canadian debut.
Little Norway Pale Lager is a 4.5% lager described as “a crisp, dry, light beer with a very pleasant Saaz hop kick.”
Originally commissioned by Scandza, a company that works with various manufacturers to create food and drink products that it markets throughout the Nordic countries, Little Norway was developed in the summer of 2013 when Sawdust City brewmaster Sam Corbeil and owner Rob Engman visited Arendals, and the result was launched in Norwegian grocery stores in early 2014.
Corbeil explains that the name of the beer comes from a connection between Canada and Norway that dates back to World War II:
During WWII Norway sent their Air Force over to Canada to train. They started in Toronto, but after a crash in the city, they moved them up to Gravenhurst to avoid a major catastrophe. They trained there for a few years and now Gravenhurst has a memorial museum at the local airport called “Little Norway”. The King of Norway has actually visited the site and has his name singed in a rock there. This was completely serendipitous. I’d lived in Muskoka my whole life and hadn’t heard this story. Seriously, it just worked out.
Little Norway Pale Lager will be available through the summer in pints and growlers at the Sawdust City Saloon, in 473 ml cans in the brewery retail store, and on tap at select bars and restaurants in the Muskoka region.