Tap Handle #811: Lake of the Woods

November 17, 2023

Tap Handle #811: Lake of the Woods - Sultana Gold

Tap size: 12"

Rarity: 10 or less seen, hand-made

Mounting: 3/8" ferrule on 5/16" anchor bolt

In my previous post for Lake of the Woods Forgotten Lake Blueberry Ale (profile #790), I mentioned there were 2 other taps from Lake of the Woods to be profiled; Sultana Gold is the first of those 2 and is probably my favorite of all of the brewery's taps. Right away you'll notice something different on this one. Although it has a small figural sculpting on top like other LOTW taps have (this one is a mine car full of gold), it does not have the 3-sided base that the other taps have. Instead, there are rail car tracks down the front with the name of the beer in sculpted letters between the rails, while the sides are sculpted to resemble rock embedded with chunks of gold, and the work "gold" is appears in sculpted script lettering. The base is the brewery's standard round red base with their name also in sculpted lettering. The back is similar to the front but has large letter "X" sculpts running between the rails that resemble a boarded up mineshaft. It's just an awesome tap! Like the Forgotten Lake Blueberry Ale, it doesn't appear on the secondary often - I've only seen one - and it sold for over $150. However, you can pick one up directly from the brewery for less.

The Sultana Gold Mine is one of the most famous gold mines on the Lake of the Woods. The original claim was staked in November 1888 by Henry Bulmer, who sold the 27 acre property to a group of fifteen men who called themselves the Ontario Mining Company. This group, who did not even bother to register the claim, hired a prospector and a mining engineer from New York to assay their purchase. Unfortunately this ‘expert’ wrote an adverse report in the summer of 1889 and because of this document, a third party named John F. Caldwell of Winnipeg managed to pick up the claim for a very reasonable price. He ignored the expert. He had visited the site himself and truly believed there was gold in the greenbelt quartz - and he was right.

Mining operations commenced in the summer of 1892 when three small veins were discovered in the rock. Caldwell must have found enormous profit in his first six months, as he soon spent $30,000 erecting a five stamp mill on the island. This was a steam powered machine that crushed quartz to release gold nuggets from the ore. The machinery was imported from Chicago and its assembly was completed just before Christmas. The stamps weighed 850 pounds each, and were dropped eight inches 92 times a minute in the standard order, namely 1,5,2,4,3.

In December 1899, Caldwell sold the mine – he’d made his fortune and was probably aware that further mining would not produce more bullion than he’d already liberated from the island. The new owners kept the staff; 12 miners, 1 blacksmith, 5 mill men, and 2 cooks were each employed at $3.00 day. The Sultana mine had been very profitable for many years and the new management was eager to maintain production – perhaps a bit too eager. When the gold seams faded away into the rock a few months later, the organization hired explosive experts and ferried a mass of low grade dynamite to the site. As the TNT was lowered down into the pit there was an accident. History doesn’t record exactly what happened, but it does detail the deaths of four miners in 1901. Two men were buried in the rock at the bottom of the tunnel - it took a week’s digging to recover the bodies.

After the incident, the mine was rife with incidents that speak to supernatural phenomenon. On two occasions there were dynamite boxes mysteriously emptied of all explosive material before they could be deployed. Equipment that was lowered into the pit was found broken though no mishap had occurred during the lowering. Many new miners reported hearing voices calling out to them, begging for help. The Sultana Gold Mines shut down in 1906 and reopened again in the 1930s for a brief stint, only to close again, but for a few golden years, it was one of the biggest gold producers in the province.

Sultana information courtesy of Dumpdiggers and Kenora Miner and News.

For more about Lake of the Woods Brewing, see this post.

Sultana Gold is a clean, crisp, sessionable golden/blonde ale, naturally carbonated using an old world brewing technique called Kräusening. Named after a legendary local gold mine, Sultana contains malted wheat, pilsner and pale malts. The aroma is of bread, biscuit, mild fruit, with a medium body, medium carbonation and smooth mouthfeel. Hop flavor is low to moderate; this is a malt-forward beer. A remarkably tasty Northern brew.