Cheers,

Chris

I have the utmost respect for the people who conduct the Canadian Brewing Awards.  Their intentions and the processes that they follow both deserve high regard.  They conduct blind tastings for certified beer judges to decide upon winners.  That being said, I wonder about the following:

• Are these winners the beers that taste the best of the beers that best match a style guideline?
• Who entered in each category?  If only four beers entered a category, then are the three medal winners really deserving of acclaim?  I’m not saying this is the case, but I really want to know what other beers the winners beat out.
• What beer is tasted?  Are these off the shelf products or are these specially treated versions coming from the brewer?  Can the consumer expect the same quality as the judge?

I ask these questions because I think they make all the difference to the discerning beer drinker.  Especially when considering how heavily some breweries might choose to put forth these awards when promoting their products, don’t you think the consumer has a right to know?  Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Canadian Brewing Awards and I am very pleased to see a higher number of BC winners this year.  I think that as these awards mature and more and more breweries enter their beers, that they will be a true indicator of brewing quality.  As for this year, I was a little surprised at some of the winners:

North American Style Lager
Gold: Alpine Lager, Moosehead Breweries (NB)
Silver: Original Draught, Sleeman Brewing (ON)
Bronze: Rocky Mountain Pilsner, Russell Brewing (BC)
Honourable Mention: Carling Lager, Molson Canada

North American Style Premium Lager
Gold: Premium Lager, Lakes of Muskoka Brewery (ON)
Silver: Premium Lager, Great Western Brewing (SK)
Bronze: Old Style Pilsner, Molson Canada

European Style Lager (Pilsner)
Gold: Stonehammer Pilsner, F & M Brewery (ON)
Silver: Pilsner, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Bronze: Steam Whistle, Steam Whistle Brewing (ON)

North American Style Amber Lager
Gold: N/A
Silver: Buzz Beer, Cool Beer (ON)
Bronze: Red Leaf Smooth Red Lager, Great Lakes Brewery (ON)

Bock – Traditional German Style
Gold: Amsterdam Spring Bock, Amsterdam Brewing (ON)
Silver: N/A
Bronze: Hellesbock, Mill Street Brewery (ON)

North American Style Dark Lager
Gold: N/A
Silver: Fort Garry Rouge, Fort Garry Brewing (MB)
Bronze: Dark 266 Lager, Cameron’s Brewing (ON)

Light (Calorie-Reduced)Lager
Gold: Sleeman Light, Sleeman Brewing (ON)
Silver: Premium Light, Great Western Brewing (SK)
Bronze: Alpine Light, Moosehead Breweries (NB)

Wheat Beer – Belgian Style White/Wit
Gold: Honey Thistle Wit, Bushwakker Brewing (SK)
Silver: Belgian Wit, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Bronze: N/A

Wheat Beer – German Style Hefeweizen
Gold: Whistler Weiss Bier, Whistler Brewing (BC)
Silver: Hefeweizen, Tree Brewing Co. (BC)
Bronze: Hefe-Weissbier, Lakes of Muskoka (ON)

Wheat Beer – North American Style
Gold: Grasshopper Wheat Ale, Big Rock (AB)
Silver: Sungod Wheat Ale, R & B Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Dooryard Summer Ale, Northampton Brewing (NB)

Strong or Belgian Style Ale
Gold: La Fin Du Monde, Unibroue (QC)
Silver: Winter Warmer, Garrison Brewing (NS)
Bronze: Dominus Vobiscum Double, Microbrasserie Charlevoix (QC)

North American Style Amber/Red Ale
Gold: Yukon Red Amber, Yukon Brewery (NWT)
Silver: Auburn Ale, Cameron’s Brewing Co. (ON)
Bronze: Devil’s Pale Ale, Great Lakes Brewing (ON)
Honourable Mention: Big Wheel Deluxe Amber, Amsterdam Brewing (ON)

Cream Ale
Gold: Cream Ale, Cameron’s Brewing (ON)
Silver: Cream Ale, Lakes of Muskoka (ON)
Bronze: KLB Cream Ale, Amsterdam Brewing (ON)

North American Style Blonde/Golden Ale
Gold: Gulf Island Brewing, Gulf Island Brewing (BC)
Silver: Honey Blonde Ale, Russell Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Picaroon’s Blonde Ale, Northampton Brewing (NB)
Honourable Mention: Summer Ale, Granite Brewery (ON)

English Style Pale Ale (Bitter)
Gold: ESB, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Silver: Black Oak Pale Ale, Black Oak Brewing (ON)
Bronze: Old Brewery Pale Ale, Nelson Brewing (BC)

North American Style Pale Ale (Bitter)
Gold: Old Yale Pale Ale, Old Yale Brewing (BC)
Silver: Chico Pale Ale, Bushwakker Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Tank House, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Honourable Mention: Timberline Ale, Howe Sound Brewery (BC)

Barley Wine
Gold: 2008 Barley Wine, Mill Street Brewery (ON)
Silver: St. Ambroise Vintage Ale, McAuslan Brewing (QC)
Bronze: Swan’s Legacy Ale, Swan’s Buckerfield (BC)

India Pale Ale
Gold: Hop Head Double IPA, Tree Brewing (BC)
Silver: No. 9 IPA, Mike Duggan – Cool Beer (ON)
Bronze: N/A

Brown Ale
Gold: Nut Brown, Dead Frog Brewery (BC)
Silver: Rail Ale Nut Brown, Howe Sound Brewing (BC)
Bronze: True North Copper Altbier, Magnotta Brewery (ON)

Scotch Ale
Gold: N/A
Silver: Scotch Ale, Phillip’s Brewery (BC)
Bronze: Iron Duke, Wellington Brewery (ON)

Stout
Gold: St. Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, McAuslan Brewing (QC)
Silver: Keepers Stout, Lighthouse Brewing (BC)
Bronze: Traditional Irish Stout, Hockley Valley Brewing (ON)
Honourable Mention: Midnight Sun Espresso Stout, Yukon Brewery (YT)

Strong Porter (Baltic)
Gold: Grand Baltic Porter, Garrison Brewing (NS)
Silver: N/A
Bronze: N/A

Imperial Stout
Gold: Russian Gun Imperial Stout, Grand River Brewing (ON)
Silver: Imperial Stout, Wellington Brewery (ON)
Bronze: N/A

Porter
Gold: Palliser Porter, Bushwakker Brewing (SK)
Silver: Black Toque, Phillip’s Brewery (BC)
Bronze: Coffee Porter, Mill Street Brewery (ON)

Fruit & Vegetable
Gold: Chocolate Porter, Phillip’s Brewing (BC)
Silver: Raspberry Weizen, Pump House Brewing (NB)
Bronze: Jalapeno Ale, Garrison Brewing (NS)

Special Honey/Maple Lager or Ale
Gold: Special Honey Maple Lager, Old Credit Brewing (ON)
Silver: Winter Ale, Great Lakes Brewing (ON)
Bronze: Honey Brown Traditional, Dead Frog Brewery (BC)

Brewery of the Year (most medals won) – Mill Street Brewery
Beer of the Year (”best in show”) – Yukon Red Amber Ale

Cheers,

Chris

I found the Wild Rose IPA (100% Wild by Volume) to be rather similar to the Granville Island Brockton IPA we’ve recently been writing about.  It was good, but not outstanding (kind of like the Flames).  The Wild Rose IPA was pleasantly hoppy, less so than Brockton, and also better balanced.  The malt flavor was more detectable in the Wild Rose IPA, which I enjoyed.  I would have loved to try more of Wild Rose’s brews, but consider myself lucky that Craig thought of us at all.  If I end up in Calgary in the future, I’ll definitely stop by to try more of their lineup, and hopefully a seasonal too.  I find that a brewery’s seasonal brew is usually where they shine brightest.  Thanks Craig.

Cheers,

Chris

To answer this question, I set out to try as many of Mill Street’s brews as possible, which turned out to be rather challenging.  Nowhere in BC can any Mill Street products be found in draught form, but I did manage to track down bottles at a few places.  Brewery Creek carries their Belgian Wit and used to carry their Stock Ale, until I bought the last six pack.  The Irish Heather also carries bottles of the Belgian Wit, as well as their much heralded Tankhouse Ale.  I made a special trip to the Irish Heather just to taste the Tankhouse Ale.  I have now tasted both the Stock Ale and the Tankhouse Ale, both gold medal winners at the Canadian Brewing Awards.

As for the beers themselves, I first tried the Stock Ale in the comfort of my own home.  My first impression of the Stock Ale was nothing whatsoever.  I don’t think I noticed taking a sip.  It really reminded me of macro brewed lager.  I was really expecting great things, and was disappointed as such, but I can’t say that this was bad beer.  It’s just everybody beer.  You’d serve this beer to people who don’t like beer or you’d drink this beer if you wanted to drink 15 beers in one sitting.  I suppose it was true to style, but I expected a touch of genius.

I next tried the Tankhouse Ale at the Irish Heather.  Now this is Mill Street’s flagship beer, and having read so much about it, I was really expecting the greatest beer of all time.  I think it was only the build up that had me disappointed, because I really did enjoy the Tankhouse Ale.  I found it to be good pale ale and I would gladly buy it again.  It has an amber colour, is a little spicy, and a bit hoppy. I found it to be very well balanced.  I read on Mill Street’s website that they use Cascade hops to brew this one.  This got me thinking, most Pacific Northwest brewers use Cascade, which were originally cultivated in Oregon, in a good portion of their brews.  The Tankhouse Ale was quite good, but it is of similar quality to the pale ales I regularly get hereabouts (Phillips Blue Buck for example).

Tasting two beers probably wasn’t a fair assessment of Mill Street (I bet they have some great seasonal and draught beers), but I wasn’t particularly impressed with Mill Street.  I held off originally on the Belgian Wit (not my favorite style), but I will endeavor to try some the next chance I get.  What I find more alluring of what the East Coast has to offer is Dieu du Ciel.  I’ve had three of the six varieties I’ve purchased so far and each one has been an experience.  I plan to do a write up of my Dieu du Ciel experiences in the near future, but I definitely recommend trying any that you come across in the mean time.

To sum up, I think I’ve decided that Mill Street is the best brewery in Canada in the same way that Luke Schenn is the second coming of Bobby Orr (it’s the Toronto factor).  Ontario is always going to get more attention at the national level and I can deal with that (especially when the Leafs are losing).  I’m just happy to be living out West where there is an abundance of great beer, right here in BC and coming up from Washington, Oregon, and Northern California.

Cheers,

Chris

What reading Taps has made me realize is that good beer is largely regional.  If I can’t buy the beer or visit the pub or brewery being discussed in a publication, what good does it do me? Mill Street might be the best brewpub on earth, but reading about it just gets me angry at its inaccessibility.  The exception to my regional outlook on beer might be travel, where learning about a destination’s beer culture ahead of time might be a very tasty investment.

When considering starting this beer blog I did a lot of research, I read a lot of beer blogs and I went to a lot of beer websites.  The only two websites that I consistently have the urge to revisit are the BC Beer Blog and CAMRA Vancouver for their wealth of local news and information.  These two sites are coincidentally operated by one Rick Green, who’ve been lucky enough to have comment on this blog.  Rick, we love getting our weekly CAMRA newsletters, but that last month between blog posts was torture!  What I love about Rick’s writing is it’s local focus; he tells us of upcoming events I can actually attend, of casks we can actually drink from, and of all the beer goings on in and around our area.

Don’t get me wrong, I will continue to read Taps and I will definitely try some of Mill Street’s wares the next time I’m at the Irish Heather.  I’m only an Ontario hater when it comes to the Leafs.  My point is that the beer news that excites me the most is local beer news, which is convenient considering that the good beer I will most likely enjoy is local beer.  I want to stay abreast of everything going on in the beer world, but I feel like most people would be missing out by not delving into their local beer scene.  Imports will always have their place, but to me, good beer means local beer.  You never know, the tastiest brews might be just down the road.

Cheers,

Chris