3rd Annual Queen's Park OCB Tasting

Queen's Park was abuzz with excitement Tuesday evening as various member of Ontario Craft Brewers (OCB) poured samples of their product for Ontario MPPs, legislative staff, Canadian Brewerianist members and various media representatives during the 3rd Annual Tasting of OCB Beers hosted by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, The Honourable Steve Peters.

There were 15 OCB breweries in attendance pouring over 48 beers from their portfolio's. The breweries were set up around the outside of the two rooms and a cheese table and food table joined them, offering invitees something to nosh on while roaming the room with glass in hand.

MPPs and their staffers were issued ballot cards upon entry, featuring the names of all the beers which were broken up into their respective styles, and they were encouraged to sample some of the beers before placing votes. The beers with the most votes in each category will be highlighted in the Legislative Dining Room for the remainder 2010 and part of 2011, and the Speaker himself chooses one beer known as the Speaker's Selection.

As mentioned, Tuesday's tasting was the 3rd such event in the Speakers initiative to showcase OCB beer in the Legislature. It is a great way to introduce MPPs to the breweries that may exist in their riding and allows them to get more familiar with the beers being produced in this province.

Speaker Peters gave a very passionate speech about craft beer during the tasting that received generous applause from the OCB members in the room (see video for small snippet). His willingness to talk openly about his views on the brewing industry in Ontario is very refreshing to hear and hopefully other MPPs will retain bits and pieces of his speech.



The winning OCB brands were selected in the following categories:
Golden Lagers & Pilsners:
Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. - Lug Tread Lagered Ale

Refreshing Ales:
Cameron's Brewing Co. - Cream Ale

Amber Lagers, Ales & Honey Beers:
Flying Monkey's Craft Brewery - Hoptical Illusion Almost Pale Ale

Malty Dark Lager or Ale:
Muskoka Cottage Brewery - Dark Ale

Bold Flavoured Ale, Stout or Porter:
Grand River Brewery - Plowman's Ale

Wheat Beer & Specialty:
Mill Street Brewery - Lemon Tea Beer

Speaker's Selection: Railway City Brewing - Dead Elephant Ale
*To honour the 125th anniversary of the fate of Jumbo, Speaker Peters has chosen Dead Elephant Ale from Railway City Brewing - a perfect combination of the Speaker's two great interests - Ontario product and Jumbo the elephant.

Click here to see the past winners of the Queen's Park Tasting of OCB beers.

Picture: Speaker Peters and OCB President John Hay

And shameless plug - The Spring Issue of TAPS: Canada's Beer Magazine features a four-page extensive interview with the Speaker.  We covered his love of breweriana, supporting locals, the brewing industry, and government relations with respect to breweries.


Read the full press release:

Pete Brown Named British Beer Writer of the Year

Last night the British Guild of Beer Writers crowned Pete Brown the Beer Writer of the Year.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Brown, you should be. He is the author of three terrific beer books: Man Walks Into A Pub, Three Sheets to the Wind, and most recently, Hop's and Glory. Brown also puts together the yearly Cask Report, a definite report on the status of cask ale in Britain. He also has his own blog simply titled, Pete Brown's Beer Blog, where he posts his thoughts on the pub industry, beer industry, and goes after anyone who screams 'binge drinking problem' in the UK. If you enjoy the rants Rick Mercer ends his weekly show with you'll enjoy Brown's entertaining blog.

He once worked in the advertising field working on campaigns for Stella Artois of all brands, but gave it up to enter the less lucrative world of beer writing, something he doesn't regret one bit (or so he says on his latest blog post) fortunately for us fans.

Congratulations Pete. Well deserved.

Big Rock Founder Honoured

I just received an email from a reader out west that indicated that Big Rock Brewery founder, Ed McNally, was inducted into the Calgary Business Hall of Fame in a ceremony that took place back on November 5th.

McNally, who was once a lawyer and a barley farmer, founded the Alberta brewery in 1985 with three beers: Traditional Ale, Bitter, and Porter. The 1988 Calgary Olympics gave the new brewery a huge boost and they haven't looked back since. Today the brewery is one of the largest craft breweries in Canada and produces a number of ales and lagers for all palates.

It's nice to hear of a Canadian brewing industry pioneer like Mr. McNally being honoured, as I'm sure his creativity and vision 25 years ago was an inspiration to eventual brewery owners and brewers throughout Alberta.

Canadian Brewing Awards - Thursday Night

The 7th Annual Canadian Brewing Awards Gala is taking place this Thursday night to celebrate the best in the Canadian brewing industry and to recognize all the winners from the judging that took place in August.

Just like last years awards, I will have the entire list of winning beers posted here on the night of the gala - real time. So remember to check here around 8pm local (Toronto) time.

There was a significant increase in brewery participation this year, and there are some surprising, and not so surprising results. 8pm local time - read it here first to find out who won brewery of the year and beer of the year .

Have Your Say - Vote in the Golden Tap Awards

Granite or Grand River? Volo or beerbistro? Black Oak Double Chocolate Cherry Stout or Nickelbrook Cuvee?

These are some of the questions you'll have to yourself as the voting has commenced for the 7th annual Golden Tap Awards hosted by Bar Towel founder, Cass Enright. Enright, who started Bar Towel more than 10 years ago to help promote craft beer in Toronto, created the GTA's as a way to recognize the best craft beer achievements in Ontario. Beer lovers from across the province are encouraged to visit the Golden Tap website (www.goldentapawards.com) to place their votes on the following categories:

Best craft brewery in Ontario
Best cask-conditioned brewery in Ontario
Best pub in Ontario for draught beer selection
Best pub in Ontario for bottled beer selection
Best pub in Ontario for cask-conditioned ale
Best brewpub or tied house in Ontario
Best regularly-produced craft beer in Ontario
Best seasonal or specialty craft beer in Ontario
Best cask-conditioned ale in Ontario

“The Golden Tap Awards have become one of the leading craft beer awards events in Ontario,” says Enright. “Our province has a very dynamic beer scene that has been expanding and evolving over the past number of years. I’m confident that this year’s event will continue to build upon our previous ceremonies while honouring the best in beer that Ontario has to offer.”

The awards will be handed out on August 29th at a reception to be held at Toronto's beerbistro, who have accommodated the awards celebration for the past four years. All draught lines will be turned over to Ontario breweries for the night and bottle stations will be set up around the perimeter of the building.

For more information about the awards you can contact Cass Enright at cass@bartowel.com.

2009 Canadian Brewing Awards Call for Entries

Toronto, ON - TAPS Magazine is pleased to announce the 7th annual Canadian Brewing Awards. The call for entries has just recently gone out for this year’s Canadian Brewing Awards. The deadline for entries is July 31st and all products must be received by August 7th. The Canadian Brewing Awards are sanctioned by the BJCP and Judging will take place in Toronto on August 15th. This year's Gala will be held at the Art Gallery of Ontario with a date to be announced shortly.

Applications and rules for entry can be found at: www.canadianbrewingawards.com.

The CBAs are the premiere competition for Canadian-brewed beer, with judging overseen by 20 BJCP certified beer judges with no commercial links to the industry. Awards are decided in over 20 categories, with each entry being judged on appearance, aroma, flavour, mouth-feel and overall impression.

The CBAs are proudly presented by TAPS Magazine, Canada's only National Beer Magazine. Focusing on Canadian beer, TAPS is an excellent source of news and trends in Canadian beer, and the bars and taverns that serve it. It’s also a good place to find fun facts, beer culture, recipes and food and beer pairings.

For more information on the Canadian Brewing Awards or Taps Magazine, please contact Carole Hines, or go to www.canadianbrewingawards.com.

Contact: Carole Hines, TAPS Media Events Co-ordinator
Telephone: 416-531-0222 x 223
Email: carole@canadianbrewingawards.com

2009 Ontario Brewing Awards

I just realized that I haven't posted the results from this years Ontario Brewing Awards. I attended the small ceremony at the Bier Markt two weeks ago and had a good time catching up with many of the brewery representatives from all over the province.

This year, as opposed to previous years, the organizing committee made the OBA's a BJCP sanctioned event, so all the individuals who scored the submitted beers were certified judges, a move to capture some much needed credibility. I judged in the 2008 awards and was somewhat shocked the night of the judging by the way in which it was conducted. However, it's good to see that the organizers (Toronto Festival of Beer - Eventrix) initiated this change.

As I mentioned, the awards ceremony was held at the Esplanade Bier Markt due to their ongoing sponsorship of the TFOB, but I find it weird that this location is used to highlight the OBA's when there is only a handful of Ontario produced beer available on draught at the restaurant. Not very local friendly.

Anyway, here are the winners. There were many breweries that choose not to enter the awards this year, but with it now being sanctioned, hopefully they'll be back next year. And just like other brewing awards, the breweries choose which category to enter their beers into, not the organizers.

NORTH AMERICAN LIGHT LAGER
GOLD: Cool Brewing Stonewall Light
SILVER: Flying Monkeys Antigravity Light
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Cool Brewing Stonewall Light

PILSNER
GOLD: Steam Whistle Pilsner
SILVER: King Pilsner
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: King Pilsner

DARK LAGER
GOLD: King Dark Lager
SILVER: Steelback Tiverton Dark
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: King Dark Lager

AMBER ALE
GOLD: Old Credit Amber Ale
SILVER: Great Lakes Devils Pale Ale
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Flying Monkeys Hoptical Illusion

BITTER
GOLD: Grand River Galt Knife Old Style
SILVER: Mill Street ESB
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Grand River Galt Knife Old Style

SPECIALTY
GOLD: Mill Street Belgian Tripel
SILVER: Great Lakes Winter Ale
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Grand River Curmudgeon IPA

FRUIT BEER
GOLD: Black Oak Summer Saison
SILVER: Nickel Brook Green Apple Pilsner
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Black Oak Summer Saison

WHEAT BEER
GOLD: Mill Street Belgian Wit

NORTH AMERICAN LAGER
GOLD: Wellington Trailhead Lager
SILVER: Cool Beer
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Cool Beer

CREAM ALE
GOLD: Mill Street Stock Ale
SILVER: Nickel Brook Draught
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Cameron's Cream Ale

AMBER LAGER
GOLD: Creemore Springs Premium Lager
SILVER: Great Lakes Red Leaf
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Creemore Springs Premium Lager

PALE ALE
GOLD: Mill Street IPA
SILVER: Black Oak Pale Ale
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Mill Street Tankhouse Ale

HONEY BEER
GOLD: Steelback Red Maple
SILVER: Old Credit Holiday Honey Beer
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Old Credit Holiday Honey Beer

DARK ALE
GOLD: Muskoka Dark Ale
SILVER: Black Oak Nut Brown Ale
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Wellington County Dark Ale

PORTER/STOUT
GOLD: Scotch-Irish John By Imperial Stout
SILVER: Black Oak Nutcracker Porter
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Black Oak Double Chocolate Cherry Stout

BOCK
GOLD: Creemore Springs urBock
SILVER: Mill Street Helles Bock
PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Creemore Springs urBock

Pepperwood Beer Festival Results

Every individual who attends the annual Pepperwood Bistro Beer Festival gets the chance to vote for their favourite brewery during the event. After the festival the Pepperwood staff get together and tally up the votes. Here are the 2009 winners.

1st Place - Pepperwood (Beers included: Oak Aged Ale, Chipolte Ale, Mild Ale)

2nd Place - Mill Street (Beers included: Betelgeuse (Tripel)

3rd Place - Grand River (Beers included: Galt Knife Lager, Curmudgeon IPA, Ploegers Vlaams Rood)

4th Place tie - Beau’s (Beers included: Bog Water Dirty Brown Ale, Lug Tread Lagered Ale & Cameron’s (Beers included: Auburn Ale, Dark 266 Lager)

Thanks to Pepperwood Brewmaster Paul Dickey for forwarding the results.

Garrison Grand Baltic Porter Earns Gold

Congratulations goes out to the Garrison Brewing Company for their recent gold medal win for their winter seasonal Grand Baltic Porter - as scored by the Beverage Testing Institute. I received the following press release from Garrison owner Brian Titus who was thrilled with the high rating, but not surprised. "This is one incredible beer that has sold extremely well this winter," stated Titus over the phone during a recent conversation.

Here is Garrison's Press Release:

Baltic Porter Wins Big at World Championships!

Chicago, IL - January 26, 2009 – Award-winning Halifax microbrewer, Garrison Brewing Co., has scored big in the latest round of tastings at the World Beer Championships in Chicago. Since 1981, The Beverage Tasting Institute has run annual tasting panels to provide the industry and consumers with fair and impartial tasting reviews.

Garrison’s latest winter seasonal, “Grand Baltic Porter”, received a gold medal & “Exceptional” rating with a score of 94/100.

“Dark reddish brown. Interesting aroma of honey, pomegranate molasses and sour cherry jam follow through perfectly on a round supple entry to a fruity-yet-dry medium body with granola and cherry notes prominent. Finishes with a very long cocoa dusted nut fade. A superb flavored porter.”
(The Beverage Tasting Institute)

Impressive in its’ own right, the score is also the highest rating ever received by an East Coast brewery in any style. “I’m very happy with the results. This is a truly complex and original brew and it’s great to see a flavoured porter like this be recognized.” said Garrison Brewmaster, Daniel Girard.

Grand Baltic Porter was brewed in the traditional lager style which originates from countries bordering the Baltic Sea. It was brewed with a complex blend of dark malts and the uncommon addition of molasses and the infusion of dates during the boiling process, which created a rich, fruity (berry-like) and malty sweetness dominated by licorice and caramel notes. It is a great compliment to rich dishes, such as beef stews and general tao chicken; it is also excellent with chocolate based desserts.

Garrison also received a silver medal for its’ seasonal “Martello Stout”. Rich flavours of toffee, melted chocolate and roast espresso make this a tasty, easy drinking stout. “Grand Baltic Porter” is available directly from the brewery, through private stores in Halifax and in select NB Liquor stores until April.

Look for more tasting notes on the Grand Baltic Porter as TAPS magazine will be reviewing it in the upcoming Spring tasting panel.

Dieu du Ciel Best Brewpub: Ratebeer 2009 Awards

Ratebeer recently released the names of the winners for their 2009 Best of Rate Beer Awards which include a number of Canadian destinations. Categories included best beer (Canadian beer), brewpubs, best beer restaurants, best beer bars, and best breweries to visit. The winners are determined by the tallied scores each ratebeerian gives a certain location and then awarded either a gold, silver or bronze.

Best Beer Restaurants
#6 - Beerbistro, Toronto,ON
*(also, kudo's to #8 finisher - Cole's, Buffalo, NY

Best Beer Bars
#11 - Volo, Toronto, ON
#42 - Smokeless Joe, Toronto, ON

Best Brewpub
#1 - Dieu du Ciel, Montreal, QU
#12 - Bedondaine et Bedons Ronds, Chambly, QU

Best Breweries to Visit
#37 - Steam Whistle, ON

The list of the 50 best Canadian beers has also been announced and it contains a shit load of Quebec beers, most notably Dieu du Ciel's exceptional beers. Click here for the list. It's great to see a small brewer like Bruce of Durham County get some recognition for two of his beers.

Congrats to all!

CAMRA Vancouver Announces Winners

The CAMRA Vancouver chapter recently held their annual general meeting at the Alibi Room in Gastown, BC, to vote on the President and executive positions and to hand out a bunch of awards to various BC craft brewers for a broad range of categories. The awards were determined after a members poll was conducted and is meant to recognize excellence in brewing and beer service.

“While it may seem curious that the best beer is in Surrey and the best brewery in Victoria, this year’s results reflect the growth in popularity of real ale in Vancouver,” explained CAMRA Vancouver President, Rick Green. “We are fortunate to have brewers throughout the province willing to meet the demand here.”

With permission from newly re-elected chapter President Rick Green, here is the list of winners.

Best Local Brewpub
Gold: Dix BBQ & Brewery
Silver: Central City Brewing
Bronze: Yaletown Brewing

Best Local Beer Cafe, Pub, or Restaurant
Gold: The Alibi Room
Silver: The Whip Restaurant & Gallery
Bronze: The Wolf & Hound

Best Local Liquor Store
Gold: Brewery Creek Cold Beer & Wine Store
Silver: Firefly Fine Wines and Ales
Bronze: BCLS Signature Store (39th & Cambie)

Best Local Beer Event
Gold: The Whip Real Ale Sundays
Silver: CAMRA On a Mission to Mission; Feast of Five Firkins (tie)

Best BC Brewery
Gold: Phillips Brewing Co., Victoria
Silver: Storm Brewing Ltd., Vancouver
Bronze: Crannóg Ales, Sorrento; R&B Brewing, Vancouver (tie)

Best BC Beer
Gold: Central City Empire IPA
Silver: Storm Black Plague Stout
Bronze: Crannóg Back Hand of God Stout

Best BC Seasonal Beer
Gold: Yaletown Oud Bruin
Silver: Steamworks The Grand espresso stout
Bronze: Granville Island Winter Ale

Read more about the event at Green's blog: www.bcbrews.wordpress.com

Volo Cask Day Winners Announced

I stopped by Volo tonight with some co-workers to have a couple of pints of cask conditioned Wellington County Ale and we happened to bump into Ralph.

He provided me with the list of winners from the October Cask Days festival as voted on by everyone that attended.

Ontario East:Church Key Tobacco Road

Ontario North:Hockley Valley Black Forest Stout

Ontario North West:F&M's George's Double Red Ale

Ontario West:Stratford's Empire Common

Toronto:Black Oak's Sweet Potato Nut Brown Ale

Guest Brewery:Dieu du Ciel's Penombre

Best in Ontario:Hockley Valley's Black Forest Stout

Best Overall Beer:Dieu du Ciel Penombre

Favourite Name:Saint Andre Parkdale Hopsmasher Ale

Congratulations to all the winners, some terrific beers!

Beau's Golden Tap Acceptance Video

The boys from Beau's All Natural Brewing Co. filmed an acceptance speech that was to be aired at the Golden Tap Awards on August 23rd but the video wouldn't work. Of course by now, they know what they went on to win that night. However here it is for you to enjoy.



Congratulations Beau's!!

Left to Right: Matt (Brewer), Papa Beau, Steve

Reminder: Golden Tap Awards Voting

Have you visited the Golden Tap Award's website yet and placed your votes? If not, your running out of time. Voting ends this Saturday August 9th.

As mentioned here early last month, the GTA's are now in their sixth year of recognizing the best in the Ontario brewing industry and the results come directly from you - the drinker.

Voting is simple - simply visit www.goldentap.com and click on the vote now! link. Questions are nicely laid out and offer multiple choice answers and also provides you with the option of submitting something not listed.

Categories range from best microbrewery in the greater Toronto area (GTA), best microbrewery outside of the GTA, best beer (regular or speciality) in the GTA, best beer (regular or speciality) outside the GTA, best pub in the GTA for draught, best pub in the GTA for bottle selection, best pub outside the GTA for draught, best pub outside the GTA for bottle selection, best brewpub or tied house in Ontario.

So get you votes in now - don't miss out. I don't want to sway anyone's vote in any way but try to remember the smallest of the small - like an independent such as the Granite Brewery and Brew Pub who are a fine establishment making terrific English style ales, some cask conditioned.

The awards will be handed out on August 23rd at Beerbistro. Visit Goldentap.com for more information.

Bar Towel: Golden Tap Awards

Cass Enright, the founder of Bar Towel, has recently announced on his website that the voting for the 2008 edition of the Golden Tap Awards is now open for the public's input.

The Golden Tap Awards were founded by Enright six years ago in an effort to recognize the achievements of craft breweries, pubs, and beer in Ontario. There are eight categories for the public to cast a vote in ranging from the best microbrewery in the GTA to the best beer pub in Ontario that's located outside of the GTA.

Unlike other beer awards that are judged by certified beer judges or media personnel, the Golden Tap Awards allow beer drinkers from all walks of life to vote for their favourite Ontario produced craft brew and awards are handed out based on overall numbers. It's a good measuring stick for breweries to see where they stand in the public's perception.

To compliment the general voting, Enright has put together a group of Bar Towel members to be part of an Editor's Circle, a group that will vote on no set categories recognizing significant achievements in the Ontario craft beer industry. This will be the 2nd year for the Editor's Circle. Great Lakes Brewery, Roland and Russell Import Agency, Michael Hancock of Denison's and Volo's Cask Days were all recipients of the inaugural Editor's Circle awards for their outstanding achievements in 2007. There will also be a small craft beer festival featuring Ontario brewers and voting will take place for a 'beer of the festival.'

Voting commenced on July 6th and will run until August 9th, so make sure you visit the website and cast your vote today. The awards will be handed out on August 23rd at Beerbistro with doors opening at 4pm for the 8 o'clock presentation. Last year's event was a huge success with an increase in both voting and turnout for the awards. Admission is free and drink and food tickets can be purchased at the door.