November is an interesting month for the beer industry. Summer has slowed down, patio season is absolutely done, and breweries are already planning for the new year, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things to celebrate and showcase leading into the holidays.
Oct. 18 and 19 brought a couple of awards celebrations out to the West Coast, with both the Canada Beer Cup and BC Beer Awards being held at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster.
On the 18th, the Canada Beer Cup handed out a total of 166 awards, with B.C. breweries bringing home almost 40 per cent of the awards for a total of 18 gold, 24 silver, and 23 bronze.
Vancouver Island managed to win 18 of those 65, including seven local wins.
Category 12 Brewing in Saanichton won a gold medal for their Spruce Tip IPA and a silver medal for their Luminous Belgian Blond.
Whistle Buoy Brewing from the heart of Market Square showcased its sour prowess and brought home gold and silver for their Fuzzy Peach and Wild Raspberry beers respectively.
Mile Zero Brewing may have been the smallest brewery to win an award, let alone the two bronzes they won for their ESB and Porter, and rounding out the Victoria-area wins, Vancouver Island Brewing’s Hermannator Ice Bock was golden in the Strong Dark European Lager category.
Then, the next night was a celebration just a little closer to home with the BC Beer Awards.
Out of the 90 awards handed out, there were 30 Vancouver Island wins, punching well above their weight.
The team at Twin City Brewing in Port Alberni won five awards and repeated as Brewery of the Year, while locally, there were eight wins for breweries in the Capital Region.
Vancouver Island Brewing added to their wins with another gold for their Hermannator Ice Bock, and a bronze for their Dominion Dark Lager, and Whistle Buoy Brewing won a silver for their Fuzzy Peach.
Mile Zero has turned into “the little brewery that could” with an added silver for their Porter, and Category 12 Brewing added a bronze win for their Quantum Imperial Stout.
Sooke Brewing Company was well represented with silver for its Saison Brett and gold for its Czech Dark Pilsner, and Phillips Brewing rounded out the local wins with a bronze for its Super Power Hazy IPA.
So while the days are getting shorter and darker, there are a lot of bright spots and shiny hardware to rush out and take in after some well-deserved wins for all these breweries.
For more details on the winners, go to BCBeerAwards.com and CanadaBeerCup.com.
