The Mighty Oak
All or Nothing Brewhouse

 

Bottle > Tulip Glass

A - Clear amber brown with a very very thin layer of fizzy white head that dissipates fast.
S - Aroma is rather weak, light notes of toasted caramel, some woodiness, sweet malt
T - Flavor is really weak, this tastes more like an amber ale, it lacks the nuttiness and rich roasty malt qualities you find in good brown ales, its grainy, and there's not a lot of barrel flavor in this, which was a big selling point for me, theres a very weak oak flavor thats hides behind the sweet malt and the thin watery flavors.
M - Very thin, and weak.
O - Not at all what I was hoping for, the idea of this beer is great, poorly executed though.

 

500 ml bottle served cold into a pint glass. Purchased from the LCBO for $4.45 CDN.

Appearance - poured a mostly clear and very dark brown coloured beer out into the glass. Head was on a half finger and quickly dissipated away to mere wisps of froth. Some visible carbonation, but sufficiently dark that it's tough to recognize.

Smell - roasted nuts and a hint of chocolate interspersed amongst all the grain are the only aromas there at the start.

Taste - just a hint of a caramel chocolate mix, before the nut train comes through like a freight train. Followed up by more caramel and nutty goodness. Quite a tasty brown ale and the heavier than average alcohol is disguised very well. Taste sticks to the mouth pretty well too. Something organic tasting maybe some honey early to mid sip as well. Flavor profiles really well put together here, a very delicious beer. Oakiness shows a bit with the honey, especially as it warms.

Mouthfeel - smooth, surprisingly light in body and carbonation is modest, maybe too modest, but works with the flavours.

Overall - well this surprised me. Given my past experience with this brewery, I was expecting a decent offering, but The Mighty Oak surprised with great flavor combinations that were intense, yet light and easy to drink. If your undecided about these guys or have a past experience with them that wasn't too positive, put that aside and try this, because this has to be in the running for surprise beer of the year.

 

Great nose of oak, vanilla, caramel. Taste is much more watery in feel and taste. Some hops and oak in the finish. Low carbonation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the brewery that Ontarians seem to love to hate, comes The Mighty Oak Imperial Oaked Brown Ale (“Mighty Oak”). Mighty Oak came in a brown 500 ml bottle and was 7.0% alcohol by volume with a “best before” date of October 2015 punched into label.

Mighty Oak poured a deep brown colour and took on a dark ruby tone when backlit. An aggressive pour was required to raise about 1.5” of short-lived off-white head which left nary a trace of spotting or lacing down the glass. Lots of dark chocolate and oak in the aroma…quite promising. The taste is a very pleasant surprise. Dark chocolate malts up front followed quickly by a strong, boozy oak that lingers as a welcome aftertaste. This is as good as the Innis & Gunn products that Bucky enjoys so much. In fact, Bucky will be picking up a few more bottles of this tomorrow. Light to medium bodied with a soft but adequate carbonation, it may be a touch thin in terms of mouthfeel for a beer of the type. The flavours are wonderful, however, and carry the day. Trafalgar has a winner here, and with a bit more heft to the body could have a serious winner.

500 mL bottle from the LCBO; best before Oct 2015 and served slightly chilled.

This oaked ale is dark ruby-copper in colour, with an aggressive pour producing one finger of loose, frothy, off-white head. It seeps away rapidly over the next minute or two, with its only remnant being a thin, unimpressive collar. Lots of caramel and toffee sweetness on the nose, with plenty of oak and vanilla character, and a light hint of raisin with bread pudding.

A pleasant surprise, but rather straightforward. Bready malts, with lots of caramel and toffee sweetness, dominate initially. There's some faint, raisiny dark fruit flavour that follows, with big notes of vanilla and oak opening up toward the finish. It finishes with a sweet, woody vanilla aftertaste that lingers on the palate. Light-medium in body; it seems a bit too watery and thin for a beer of this stripe. The carbonation is mildly prickly, and the mouthfeel is somewhat slick. Quite easy to drink, given the sturdy abv.

Final Grade: 3.64, a respectable B. Take one part Innis & Gunn, and one part root beer/vanilla float, then throw in some alcohol, and you'll have a decent approximation of The Mighty Oak Imperial Oaked Brown Ale. I&G fans will likely find themselves partial to this one, given the abundance of oaky vanilla character - and other than the limp mouthfeel, I have no serious complaints here, because it is generally a pretty drinkable brown. One of a handful of Trafalgar products that I would consider repurchasing.