Black Oak Pale Ale

[157-20061225] 341mL. Hoppy, light fruity aroma. Golden body with medium-sized centralized bubbles and a medium-lasting foamy white head. Hoppy roundness in flavour with hints of rooty vegetables. Light-medium body. Nice togetherness, good to repeat.

(341 ml bottle) Pours a deep reddish-gold...big points for appearance alone! Probably the nicest head I have ever seen on a beer - big, fluffy, great retention. Onto the taste...this brewer is known for their love of hops, and it comes through in this beer. Hoppy but not overdone, the malts perfectly balance it out. Medium carbonation accentuates the bitter edge and lets the taste linger for just long enough. All in all, a quality pale ale that I will definitely buy again. This is the kind of beer that makes me wonder why anybody walks into the Beer Store and buys Canadian or even Alexander Keith’s. For a dollar more, you can have this wonderful beer, and taste the difference that craft brewing makes.

best pale ale in Ontario!!! really nice hoppiness, nice and crisp. very refreshing. wish everyone tried to make a beer this good

Deep amber appearance and aromas of wood, gravel, hops and red apple. Nice, full grainy texture. Nicely hopped, with all the full-on bitterness you’d expect from a solid pale ale. Good length. A well done brew.

Bottle from Paul (blankboy) Thanks! Pours out a golden color without much of a head. Smell is kind of hoppy and malty. Taste is crisp and refreshing. Not really standing out from the mass of american pale ales that are out there, but its pretty good and drinkable. Thanks

341 ml bottle - pours gold with a nice thick white head. Fruity, hoppy aroma. Nice full fruity flavour, with a good grainy backbone and a softly bitter finish. Could use a few more hops, but I guess that’s what the Hop Bomb is for. A nice refreshing summer ale. Could be GREAT with some tweaking, but as it stands, a very solid APA. Good work Ken and Adrian. Please bottle the Hop Bomb. Thanks. Update - on tap at the Magpie - superbly fresh and with a much more bitter and crisper hopping.....dry hopped, perhaps? Apricot and subtle mango touches come out more in the draught version, as well as crisp, dry wheat. Regardless, the tap version is preferable to the (still very good) bottle, and it makes a tasty, refreshing pint. Incredible range between the bottle, tap and cask with options becoming far more preferable as you climb the ladder. I’ll say bottle: 3.1, tap: 3.5, cask: 3.8, so we’ll go with the middle number.

341ml bottle - pours crystal clear gold, with a foamy, generous bone white head. Leaves beautiful thick and layered lacing in the glass. Excellent carbonation. The aroma is hoppy with some malty sweetness, and indicates that the flavour is going to be pretty well balanced - it is. The hops are there at the top, with the malt showing up in the middle to balance it out. Hops are citrusy and earthy, with a piney, sticky bitterness going down and into the finish. Hoppier than I remember it being, it’s a wonderfully refreshing brew. Leaves a nice, lingering hop bitterness. Great aftertaste! Probably my favourite Ontario summer session beer, from probably the best and most consistent brewery in the province.

Draft - a good pale ale is a well balanced pale ale and Black Oak has found the balance. Not for west coast hop heads (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I get pine needles in the aftertaste but my friends say I’m wrong.