BC Breweries Win 64 awards and Howe Sound Brewing Named Canadian Brewery of the Year!
Wow, what a haul!
Wow, what a haul!British Columbia’s craft breweries continued a long-running tradition of winning more than their fair share of medals at the annual Canadian Brewing Awards, which were announced in Calgary last weekend. All in all, 39 different breweries from BC won a total of 64 awards out of 194 total in 58 different categories, representing 33% of all the awards. On top of that, Howe Sound Brewing was named Brewery of the Year, an honour previously achieved by BC breweries Dageraad Brewing in 2018, Mt. Begbie Brewing in 2017, Four Winds Brewing in 2015, and Central City Brewers & Distillers twice in 2010 and 2012.
It was a very gratifying win for the Squamish-based Howe Sound Brewing, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary last year.
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The brewery won 3 golds and 1 bronze:
- Gold – Lazy River (Category: Session Ale)
- Gold – Ultra Destroyer (Category: Herb and Spice Beer)
- Gold – Monolith & Bronze – Storm Watching (Category: Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer)
Burnaby’s Steamworks Brewery also won 3 gold medals and 1 bronze.
Steamworks‘s awards included:
- Bronze – Kirsche (Category: Belgian-Style Sour Ale)
- Gold – Lions Gate Lager (Category: North American-Style Premium Lager)
- Gold – Heroica Red Ale (Category: North American-Style Amber/Red Ale)
- Gold – Toasted Coconut Imperial Stout
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According to the Canadian Brewing Awards organizers, the reason why Howe Sound Brewing won Brewery of the Year even though Steamworks won the same assortment of medals has to do with a system designed to give breweries of all sizes an equal chance to win.
“The process begins when a brewery initially registers for the Canadian Brewing Awards competition. They can select up to four entries they think will do well. If the selected beer(s) goes on to earn an award they receive points — 5 for gold, 3 for silver, 1 for bronze. If they earn an award for a beer they did not select for Brewery of the Year, it does not count towards their points tally. It prevents breweries who can afford numerous entries from potentially forcing their way to that title. Quality over quantity.”
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Penticton’s Bad Tattoo Brewing also won four awards, including two golds and two bronze medals:
- Gold – Dia De Los Muertos Cerveza Fuerte (Category: Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale)
- Gold – Sol Vida Cerveza Clara (Category: North American-Style Lager)
- Bronze – Los Muertos Cerveza Negra (Category: North American-Style Amber/Dark Lager)
- Bronze – Bad Light (Category: Light Calorie-Reduced Lager)
All of the Penticton breweries were busy pouring beer at the Okanagan Fest of Ale on the same day as the Canadian Brewing Awards, but the community fared well as a whole with three other breweries also taking home awards — including a win for brand new Abandoned Rail Brewing (Gold – Tunnel Vision IPA), a gold for Cannery Brewing’s Kindling Imperial Stout, and a silver to Idleback Amber Ale by Slackwater Brewing.
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Another notable brewing community to win multiple awards was Port Alberni — Twin City Brewing won a gold and two silvers, and Dog Mountain Brewing won two bronze medals.
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The small Vancouver Island community of Sooke also represented well with two of its three breweries winning a total of four awards — Sooke Brewing won a gold, bronze, and honourable mention, and Sooke Oceanside Brewing won a bronze medal.
Other notable winners include: Russell Brewing and Strange Fellows Brewing with 2 golds and a bronze each; and Dageraad Brewing (1 gold., 1 silver, 1 bronze).
Check out the full list of Canadian Brewing Awards here.
Five BC Breweries Also Won World Beer Cup Awards
Earlier this month, the winners of the biannual World Beer Cup were announced in conjunction with the Craft Brewers Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Presented by the American Brewers Association, the competition featured 10,542 beers from 2,493 breweries in 57 different countries. BC breweries won 6 out of 14 total medals awarded to Canadian breweries:
English Ale
Silver – Parallel 49 Brewing – Craft Pale Ale
Experimental India Pale Ale
Gold – Mount Arrowsmith Brewing – The Sprut
Fruit Wheat Beer
Gold – Neighbourhood Brewing – Sunshine City
Fruited American-Style Sour Ale
Silver – Brewhall – Azedo Tropical Fruit Sour
Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale
Silver – 33 Brewing Experiment – Baby Azacca
Robust Porter
Bronze – Mount Arrowsmith Brewing – Low Pressure Porter
The full list of winners is available on the World Beer Cup website.
