This is the first time a brewery from Eastern Canada has won the Canada Beer Cup
Canadian craft breweries celebrated brewing excellence at the Canada Beer Cup Awards Gala in Québec City on November 10. The trophy for Best Beer in Canada went to Québec’s own Microbrasserie Charlevoix for its Flacatoune Belgian Blonde, with second place going to Dwarf Sour Cherry Fruited Saison by Blindman Brewing of Alberta, and third to Halifax brewery Garrison Brewing’s Spruce Ale.
Judging for the Canada Beer Cup took place in mid-September in Calgary, Alberta. The panel of 44 judges included international adjudicators from Belgium, Germany, Scotland, Mexico, and the USA, as well as across Canada.
BC Breweries Win Big
Notably, breweries from British Columbia took home the majority of the beer awards by a wide margin. Overall, BC craft breweries won 36.8% of the beer prizes, almost twice as many as the next best province, Québec, which won 19.7%. Alberta was third at 18.4%, and Ontario claimed 13.8%, with Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan all coming in around 3%.
In total, BC breweries won 56 out of the 152 beer-specific awards, including first place in 18 of 51 different categories. Breweries from BC swept four of the categories, including the Feature Category: Western Canadian Gambrinus Pilsner Malt, American Amber Beer, Single Packaging, and, fittingly, the highly contested West Coast IPA style. Notably, BC breweries also took first and second in the Canadian Spruce Tip Pale Ale category, a style that has a strong connection to our west coast forests.
Notable winners from British Columbia included:
Beva Brewing & Blending (North Vancouver):
- Gold – Old Days German Pilsner
- Gold – Mambo Italiano (Single Packaging)
Deadfall Brewing (Prince George):
- Gold – Basal Brown Ale (2023 Canada Beer Cup winner)
- Bronze – Circinate Kettle Sour
- Bronze – Aurora Session Pale Ale
Gladstone Brewing (Courtenay):
- Silver – Gladstone Pilsner
- Silver – Gladstone Marzen
- Silver – Gladstone Red Ale
Smithers Brewing:
- Gold – Morning Star Coffee Lager
- Bronze – Cucumberliner Weisse
- Bronze – Speciální Tmavé 14º, Výčepní Světlé 10º, Polotmavý Ležák 12º (Series Packaging category)
Steamworks Brewing (Burnaby):
- Gold – Heroica Red Ale
- Bronze – Triple Berry Sour
- Bronze – John Oliver Pale Ale
For the complete list of winners check the Canada Beer Cup site.
