Quench Your Thirst

2012 marked another milestone for the Ontario Brewing Awards.  This year, we had 33 brewers submit which is an increase of 7 over 2011.  In addition, our category entries increased from 126 to 167.  This is a massive positive outlook on the Ontario brewing industry and it shows that no only is the brewing of beer a viable business, it also shows that creativity is alive and well within Ontario’s brewers.

Some thoughts to note - One brand spanking new brewer this year is walking away with a gold medal for their efforts.  That little tidbit of information will be revealed on May 17th at Six Pints Beer Academy.

Here are some of the new brewers this year: Black Creek Brewing, Clocktower Brewpub, Double Trouble, Hogsback, Junction, Kensington, Kichesippi, Magnotta, Sawdust City and Spearhead.

There are also some notable omissions. I’m not sure I will ever understand why some breweries do not enter into this community event.  In this day and age where the ‘local’ movement is gaining momentum and many of the breweries belong to the Ontario Craft Brewers and also market themselves as local, Ontario breweries, it just boggles my mind why they choose not to play in this sandbox.  Some notable ommissions include: Beau’s, Neustadt, Trafalgar, County Durham, Barley Days, Hockley Valley, and Taps Brewing.

Thanks again to Paul Dickey, the BJCP judges and more importantly, Six Pints Beer Academy staff who made the entire two evenings a total pleasure.

Cheers