Unique Muskoka August

Muskoka Brewery founder Gary McMullen, owner Bob Macdonald and Todd Lewin, vice-president of sales and marketing, raise a glass outside their
Bracebridge facility.
says Smith. “Those types of events can be a
great way to gauge people’s reaction to new
beer styles that are coming out.”
Sawdust City Brewing Company in
Gravenhurst is becoming well-known for
combining good brews and live music on a
weekly basis. The brewery hosts live music
events every Thursday, Friday and Saturday
in addition to bingo nights, trivia nights
and more.
“We’ve had a great reception from the
locals, the visitors to Gravenhurst and the
cottagers, as well,” says Corbeil, who started
the brewery five years ago before moving it
home to his Muskoka roots in 2014. “It has
been fantastic.”
Corbeil mentions Sawdust City’s Funkfest
event, which was held on the Canada Day
weekend, as an example of how the craft
brewers came together to support each other.
It brought together brewers from Ottawa,
the Kitchener-Waterloo area, Toronto,
Sudbury and more to share their concoctions
alongside live funk bands, food trucks and a
juice bar.
“It’s not about us selling lots of beer. It’s
about showing off the great beer Ontario is
producing,” he says.
McMullen says part of the support comes
from the fact the beer industry is, at its
essence, a social industry.
“There was a propensity to band together
for protection against the big brewers,” says
McMullen.
“To this day, craft breweries in Ontario
represent only seven or eight per- cent of
the market . . . It makes a lot of sense for us
to co-operate together to grow craft beer as a
space and a mindset among consumers as
opposed to fighting with each other.”
Craft brewers are continually creating
new flavours and collaborating locally and
beyond to spread good cheer to beer
aficionados everywhere – and giving people
another reason to love Muskoka.
August 2016 UNIQUE MUSKOKA 55