Atlantic Canada Beer Blog

The 2017 edition of the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards were announced at a Gala earlier this evening, in front of a full house at the Stubborn Goat. 50 breweries and cider houses from across the Atlantic provinces took part, with a total of 321 beer and cider entered for consideration in 14 different categories. 20 judges from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick tackled the enormous variety of entries, with the following beers and ciders recognized for their performance. In case you’re wondering how you can get a sweet gig like this, check out the Beer Judge Certification Program, and sign up to be part of the study and exam group, run through the Brewnosers homebrew club. Now, on to our winners!

1) North American & European Style Lager
Gold: Boxing Rock Brewing Co. – Stayin’ Alive Bock
Silver: Moosehead Breweries Ltd. – Moosehead Lager
Bronze: Good Robot Brewing Co. – Extra BIG-ASS Beer

2) German Style Specialty Ales
Gold: Breton Brewing Co. – Stirling Hefeweizen
Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – North Shore Lagered Ale
Bronze: North Brewing Company – Little Beast

3) UK Style Specialty Ales
Gold: Pump House Brewery – Barley Wine Ale
Silver: Split Rock Brewing Co. – Alli’s Big Brown Ale
Bronze: Garrison Brewing Co. – Irish Red

4) North American Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Trider’s Craft Beer – Brew-Deau Cream Ale
Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – Giantess Barleywine
Bronze: Oland Brewery – Keith’s IPA

5) Belgian Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Big Spruce Brewing – S’Il Vous Plait
Silver: Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – Tante Blanche
Bronze: Quidi Vidi Brewing Company – Winter Ale

6) North American Style Amber / Red Ale
Gold: Sea Level Brewing Co. – Blue Heron Extra Special Bitter
Silver: Boxing Rock Brewing Co. – Temptation Red Ale
Bronze: Hammond River Brewing – Red Coat India Red Ale

7) Fruit & Field Beer
Gold: Alexander Keith’s Brewery – Hortonville Pumpkin Ale
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Guava Get Me Some!
Bronze: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – Rushton’s Peach

8) Pale Ales
Gold: Breton Brewing Co. – Seven Years Pale Ale
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Kitchen Party Pale Ale
Bronze: North Brewing Company – Priority Pale Ale

9) Stout / Porter
Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – Two Rivers Baltic Porter
Silver: 2 Crows Brewing Co. – Midnight Mood American Porter
Bronze: Big Axe Brewery – Shakespeare Stout

10) India Pale Ale
Gold: Roof Hound Brewing Co. Ltd. – Big Stink IPA
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Tim’s Dirty American IPA
Bronze: Nine Locks Brewery – Fathom DIPA

11) Experimental Beer
Gold: North Brewing Company – Oh My Darlin’ Clementine Brett Pale Ale
Silver: Uncle Leo’s Brewery – Nachtical Illusion Schwarzbier
Bronze: Good Robot Brewing Co. – Damn Fine Coffee & Cherry Pie v3.0

12) Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer
Gold: Garrison Brewing Co. – Barrel-Aged Ol’ Fog Burner Barleywine
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Chardonnay Barrel-Aged Wild Wild Wit  
Bronze: 2 Crows Brewing Co. – Bonanza! Calvados-Aged Wheat Wine

13) Standard Cider and Perry
Gold: ChainYard Urban Cidery – Foundation
Silver: Yip Cider – Russett
Bronze: Coastliner Craft Cider – Coastliner Original

14) Specialty Cider and Perry
Gold: Red Rover Craft Cider – Fall Cider
Silver: ShipBuilders Cider Ltd. – Sid’s Chai Apple Cider
Bronze: ChainYard Urban Cidery – Hopped Up

Brewery of the Year
Big Spruce Brewing (Nyanza, NS)

Brewpub of the Year
Paddy’s Pub (Wolfville, NS)

Cider House of the Year
ChainYard Urban Cidery (Halifax, NS)

Beer of the Year
Stirling Hefeweizen – Breton Brewing (Sydney, NS)

Cider of the Year
Fall Cider – Red Rover Craft Cider (Fredericton, NB)

People’s Choice Award – Cider
Original – Yip Cider (Long Reach, NB)

People’s Choice Award – Beer
Go Devil – Upstreet Craft Brewing (Charlottetown, PE)

Congratulations to all of the winners!

2017 Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards by the numbers:
296 Beer entries from 43 Breweries and Brewpubs
25 Cider entries from 7 Cider Houses
20 BJCP National, Certified, Recognized, and Novice Judges
8 dedicated stewards behind the scenes
18 hours of judging
1100 cups of beer and cider sniffed, swigged and sampled
35,000 steps (23 km) walked by the Judging Organizer over the course of 2 days (acbbchris)

49 Awards

1 Great Industry Worth Celebrating!