The 2019 edition of the Atlantic Canadian Brewing Awards were announced at a gala event earlier this evening, in front of a full house at HopYard Halifax. 56 breweries and cider houses from across the Atlantic provinces took part, with a total of 400 beers and ciders entered for consideration in 15 different categories. 31 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 that next year, check out the Beer Judge Certification Program, and sign up to be part of a study and exam group, run through the Brewnosers homebrew club. Now, on to our winners!
1) North American & European Style Lager
Gold: Spindrift Brewing – Beaufort 10
Silver: Bannerman Brewing – Safe Bet
Bronze: Les Brasseurs du Petit-Sault – La Kedgwick
2) German Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Bogside Brewing – Lighthorse Lagered Ale
Silver: Uncle Leo’s Brewery – Altbier
Bronze: Bogside Brewing – Wheat Kings County
Honourable Mention: North Brewing – Gus’ 65m Ale
3) UK Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Breton Brewing – Red Coat Irish Red Ale
Silver: Graystone Brewing – Into the Woods Brown Ale
Bronze: Trider’s Craft Beer – Rod’s Red
4) North American Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Tatamagouche Brewing Co. – Giantess Barleywine
Silver: Copper Bottom Brewing – Centennial Stock
Bronze: Big Spruce Brewing – Bitter Get’er India
Honourable Mention: Boxing Rock Brewing Company – Dark as Keji
5) Belgian Style Specialty Ale
Gold: Upstreet Craft Brewing – FireWorks Farmhouse Saison
Silver: Les Brassers du Petit Sault – John Baker
Bronze: Grimross Brewing – Abbey Dubbel
Honourable Mention: Upstreet Craft Brewing – De Novo IV
6) North American Style Amber / Red Ale
Gold: Bogside Brewing – Brudenell Brown
Silver: Quidi Vidi Brewery – 1892 Traditional Ale
Bronze: Boxing Rock Brewing Co. – Temptation Red Ale
Honourable Mention: Hill Top Hops’ Brewhouse – Red Tail Red Ale
7) Fruit & Field Beer
Gold: Good Robot – El Espinazo Del Diablo
Silver: Nine Locks Brewing – Harvest Pumpkin
Bronze: Boxing Rock Brewing Company – Arnold’s Apricot Wheat
8) Pale Ale
Gold: Graystone Brewing – Patagonia Pale Ale
Silver: Trider’s Craft Beer – Scotian Pale
Bronze: PEI Brewing – Vic Park Pale Ale
Honourable Mention: Roof Hound Brewing Co. – Ear to the Street ESB
9) Stout / Porter
Gold: Spindrift Brewing – Neat
Silver: Big Spruce – Cereal Killer
Bronze: Big Spruce – Blood Donair
Honourable Mention: Grimross Brewing – Pugnacious Porter
10) India Pale Ale
Gold: Copper Bottom Brewing – Parkman Ave
Silver: Propeller Brewing Company – Galaxy IPA
Bronze: Lunn’s Mill – Purple Grain
11) Experimental Beer
Gold: Moosehead Breweries – Small Batch Rauchbier
Silver: Bogside Brewing – Pitcher in the Rye Roggenbier
Bronze: Alexander Keith’s Brewery – Bisset’s Fancy
Honourable Mention: Tatamagouche Brewing Company – Feronia
12) Wood & Barrel-Aged Beer
Gold: Nine Locks Brewing – Barley Wine – 2018 Whisky Barrel Aged
Silver: Big Spruce Brewing – Ra Ra Rasputin – 2019 Whisky
Bronze: Nine Locks Brewing – Russian Imperial Stout – 2018 Bourbon Barrel Aged
13) Sour Beer
Gold: Landwash Brewery – Brackish
Silver: Tatamagouche Brewing – Spring
Bronze: Alexander Keith’s Brewery – Backyards
Honourable Mention: North Brewing – Breakwater Mango Sour
14) Standard Cider and Perry
Gold: No Boats on Sunday – Original Cider
Silver: Sober Island Brewing Company – Army Cider
Bronze: Saltbox Brewing Company – Old Orchard Cider
Honourable Mention: Riverdale Orchard Ltd. – 2 Scots 3 Apples
15) Specialty Cider and Perry
Gold: Gagetown Distilling and Cidery – Hopped Cider
Silver: Red Island Cider – Ghost Ship Wild Briar
Bronze: Chain Yard Urban Cidery – Hopped Up
Honourable Mention: Saltbox Brewing Company – Haskap Cider
Brewery of the Year
Bogside Brewing (Montague, PE)
New Brewery of the Year
Bogside Brewing (Montague, PE), with a shoutout to Landwash Brewery (Mount Pearl, NL)
Cider House of the Year
Tie between No Boats On Sunday (Truro, NS) and Gagetown Distilling and Cidery (Gagetown, NB)
New Cider House of the Year
Red Island Cider (Charlottetown, PE)
Beer of the Year
Gold: Small Batch Rauchbier – Moosehead
Silver: FireWorks Farmhouse Saison – Upstreet
Bronze: Neat – Spindrift
Cider of the Year
Hopped Cider – Gagetown Distilling and Cidery
Congratulations to all of the winners!
2019 Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards by the numbers:
346 Beer entries from 45 Breweries and Brewpubs
54 Cider entries from 11 Cider Houses
31 BJCP National, Certified, Recognized, and Novice Judges
8 dedicated stewards behind the scenes
16 hours of judging
1750 cups of beer and cider sniffed, swigged and sampled
1 Great Industry Worth Celebrating!
How in the world did Moosehead’s “small batch” beer win Beer Of The Year??? Something fishy going on here in every category. What a joke.
Hey Joe, the judges were served the beers blindly, so did not know the brewery or cidery that produced the beer. This eliminates pre-conceived notions about what you may expect from a particular brewer or brewery, and avoid bias. While you may not love smoked beers, or disagree with certain breweries be allowed to enter the awards, I assure you nothing fishy is going on. Happy to chat more about the running of the awards or the judging if you’d like.
Pingback: Friday Wrap-Up for November 22, 2019 – News from Port Rexton, Tatamagouche, 2 Crows, Split Rock, Quidi Vidi, Crooked Feeder, RagnaRöck, Good Robot, and more! | Atlantic Canada Beer Blog