Impact Altbier - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury)

Impact Altbier - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury) 5.2%

A deep amber in a glass. Quite a sweet aroma with some crusty bread and toasty malt tones and a hint of fruitiness and light molasses.

The flavour is certainly more sweet than bitter but it is not overly sweet and not even as sweet as it smelled. The crusty bread and toastiness are there, the hint of fruitiness is still subtle and there is a bit of hop bitterness, just a bit herbal, not strong but balancing some of the malt. In fact the hops character blends nicely with the toasty, caramelized though not-quite-roasty malt body and the touch of fruitiness. This is a very pleasant altbier.

Smoke 'n Oak - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury)

Smoke 'n Oak - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury) 5.5%

A crystal clear burnt amber colour in a glass with an off-white head of soda like foam. A smoky, maple aroma that made me say "Mmm!" outloud to myself. Oak tones as well and the smoke aroma is quite strong, just on the tasty side of acrid; which is exactly what I would expect from a smoked ale that even has smoke in the name.

A sweet flavour, oak and smoke;  that list is roughly in the order of flavour strength. The smoke and oak in Smoke 'n Oak really comes across as a flavour you could imagine being from fresh cut oak boards that were toasted just long enough for some of those wood sugars to caramelize without very much charring. Also, that could be exactly what it's from. Smoke 'n Oak is a tasty smoked beer that is a bit on the sweet side and makes good use of oak.

Saturday Night - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury)

Saturday Night - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury) 5.3%

A yummy cream ale. There a few mild fruit esters and a bit of a bitter bite at first which fits with a British style Cream Ale, and then a creamy mouthfeel supplemented with a strong nutty malt flavour, a bit like sunflower seeds, that I find extremely appetizing. This beer is fairly light, refreshing but with a satisfying malty body. A good ale on a summer day: pairs easily with all kinds of foods, thirst quenching, tasty and lends itself to big gulps.

4 x 4 - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury)

4 x 4 - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury) 5.2%

This a nicely, subtly hopped lager with a nice amount of bitterness as well as a malty body that is a bit complicated but without any flavours that don't belong there. Very tasty.

Angry Moose - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury)

Angry Moose - Stack Brewing (Canada - Ontario - Sudbury) 9.0%

A crystal clear amber gold in a glass. A sweet and somewhat peachy aroma mixed in with all those hops! Cedar, resin and citrus. As it warms there is a bit of toffee

Bitter flavour with lots of evergreen flavours a mix of cedar, pine and ... well that's just about all the evergreen trees I know. Oh wait, spruce! A caramelized sweetness that reminds me of the way burning sap smells which is exactly where some sweeter barrel tones come from as the charring on the inside of barrels before their use in aging beer or spirits brings out and caramelizes the sap and sugars in the wood. This beer is really amazingly balanced and it really conceal its alcohol content well. If they can produce this beer consistently to this high quality, and consistency can be a problem for new microbrews as they start up, I can see this Imperial IPA bringing home some awards for Stack Brewing.