SUDBURY -- Sudbury’s Stack Brewery was rewarded with a ‘gold medal’ Saturday evening at the Canadian Brewing Awards.
Claiming victory in the American Style Black Ale category, their ‘Black Rock’ India Pale Ale, brought home the title.
Owner and President Shawn Mailloux said he was thrilled with the win.
“You can’t put it into words.”
“This has been a hard year for small businesses, and that’s kind of hard to put into words too, what small businesses go through in a year like this. And to win a gold medal in the Canadian Brewing Awards, you know, it’s hard to come by.”
Black Rock IPA is a dark beer, brewed with roasted and chocolate malt. The beer is heavy on hops, with an IPA spin that makes it slightly bitter and aromatic.
This year’s awards had over 1500 entries from 236 different breweries with 55 different categories that breweries can enter into.
Certified beer judges took just over three weeks to decide which brewery would win each award.
“We judge everything from experimental beers, to sours, there are 55 different beer categories,” said President of the Canadian Brewers Association Rob Engman.
Stack staff named ‘Black Rock’ after the plenty of black rock you see in the region.
“Drive around Sudbury, you see a lot of black rocks,” said Mailloux.
“Not all names we have for our beers come from local geology and local history, but we do try to represent the area and represent Sudbury.”
Stacks head Brewer, Brenden MacDonald, is currently brewing the “Gold Medal” batch of Black Rock, as staff assume those in the Sudbury area and the LCBO will sell a good amount of this award winning Indiana Pale Ale.
