Stack Brewing opened its doors -- and few bottles -- to celebrate its 1,000th batch Sunday. The beer will be aged perfectly by the time their five-year anniversary rolls around in June 2018.
"Today, we wanted to give people a chance to come inside and learn about how we brew our beers, talk to us, and find out more about the brewery itself,” said Shawn Mailloux, owner of Stack Brewing.
The brewery was buzzing with beer lovers excited to help pour the grains or stir the mix with a paddle as they learned about the process of brewing ale.
Five years ago, while on a trip to Montreal, the idea of indulging in craft beers intrigued Mailloux. He then spent hundreds of hours on Google trying to find the ways and means of creating the perfect batch.
"I didn't work in the brewery or come from the industry, so I didn't know the purpose of the equipment, how to chain all the equipment together, that's where Google played a part," he said.
"The hardest part was the equipment -- learning how to connect the giant points, understanding how they worked. Flavour-wise we made what we liked, and we hoped that people would like it, too."
Roughly one million litres of beer later, he’s confident people have enjoyed the brew as much as he loved developing them.
"Beer is a very personal and finicky product. People have their tastes and generally prefer to stick to it. However, we have had people follow us on our journey and have continued to like our products, which is great.”
Mailloux, who has been part of the craft brewery festivals here in Sudbury, hopes one day he can expand the brewery to incorporate a restaurant.
"My vision to expand the brewery is no secret," he said. "I hope to have a restaurant component and a hosting room for events where people can sit down, try our beer and pair it with local foods.”
For now, if you are looking to get your hands on Stack selections such as La Cloche, Nickel City, Saturday Night, Panache and Valley Girl, they can be found in more than 300 licensed establishments, 200 LCBOs, and 80 grocery stores from Sudbury to Thunder Bay and down to Toronto.
And if you are willing to wait till June 2018, Stack will be releasing a funky Brett Beer.
"I have never tasted the beer we are brewing for our fifth anniversary -- it’s a napkin product," Mailloux said.
