TORONTO, ON – The winners of this year’s 8th annual edition of the Ontario Brewing Awards were announced this evening during an event at the Dominion On Queen pub in Toronto.
The winners were chosen from a pool of 135 beers from 24 breweries across the province. BJCP-certified judges chose the Gold and Silver winners, while a group of non-certified beer aficionados awarded the People’s Choice in each category.
The full list of winners appears after the jump:
North American Light Lager
Gold: Labatt Breweries of Canada – Bud Light
Silver: Sleeman Breweries – Old Milwaukee Light
People’s Choice: F & M Brewery – Stone Hammer Light
North American Lager
Gold: Brick Brewery – Red Baron
Silver: Labatt Breweries of Canada – Brava
People’s Choice: Creemore Springs Brewery – Creemore Premium Lager
European Style Lager
Gold: Labatt Breweries of Canada – Crystal
Silver: Cameron’s Brewing Co. – Cameron’s Lager
People’s Choice: Creemore Springs Brewery – Creemore Springs Traditional Pilsner
Amber Lager
Gold: King Brewery – King Vienna Lager
Silver: Nickel Brook Brewery – Nickel Brook Organic Lager
People’s Choice: Nickel Brook Brewery – Nickel Brook Organic Lager
Dark Lager
Gold: King Brewery – King Dark Lager
Silver: Brick Brewing – Waterloo Dark
People’s Choice: King Brewery – King Dark Lager
Bock
Gold: Mill Street Brewery – Franconian Bock
Silver: Amsterdam Brewery – Spring Bock
People’s Choice: Amsterdam Brewery – Spring Bock
Honey/Maple Beer
Gold: Sleeman Breweries – Sleeman Honey Brown
Silver: Labatt Breweries of Canada – Lakeport Honey
People’s Choice: Brick Brewing – Laker Honey
German Style Wheat Beer
Gold: Denison’s Brewery – Denison’s Hefeweizen
Silver: Muskoka Brewery Summer Weiss
People’s Choice: Hop City Brewery – Lawn Chair ‘Classic’ Weisse
Belgian Style Wheat Beer
Gold: Amsterdam Brewery – Amsterdam Orange Weisse
Silver: Mill Street Brewery – Belgian Wit
People’s Choice: Mill Street Brewery – Belgian Wit
Cream Ale
Gold: Labatt Breweries – Labatt 50
Silver: Sleeman Breweries – Sleeman Cream Ale
People’s Choice: Labatt Breweries – Labatt 50
British Pale Ale
Gold: Grand River Brewing – Plowman’s Ale
Silver: Mill Street Brewery – Extra Special Bitter
People’s Choice: Grand River Brewing – Plowman’s Ale
North American Pale Ale
Gold: Hop City Brewing – Happy Hour Premium Ale
Silver: Flying Monkeys Brewery – Hoptical Illusion
People’s Choice: Mill Street Brewery – Tankhouse Ale
British India Pale Ale
Gold: Grand River Brewing – Curmudgeon IPA
Silver: Mill Street Brewery – India Pale Ale
People’s Choice: Grand River Brewing – Curmudgeon IPA
North American India Pale Ale
Gold: Flying Monkeys Brewery – Smashbomb Atomic IPA
Silver: Amsterdam Brewery – Boneshaker
People’s Choice: Flying Monkeys Brewery – Smashbomb Atomic IPA
Amber Ale
Gold: Cameron’s Brewing Co. – Cameron’s Auburn Ale
Silver: Amsterdam Brewery – Big Wheel
People’s Choice: Railway City Brewing – Iron Spike Copper Ale
Dark Ale
Gold: Railway City Brewing – Iron Spike Amber Ale
Silver: Muskoka Brewery – Muskoka Dark Ale
People’s Choice: Black Oak Brewery – Nut Brown
Porter
Gold: Amsterdam Brewery – Two Fisted Porter
Silver: Mill Street Brewery – Coffee Porter
People’s Choice: Amsterdam Brewery – Two Fisted Porter
Stout
Gold: F & M Brewery – Stone Hammer Oatmeal Coffee Stout
Silver: Muskoka Brewery – Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout
People’s Choice: Muskoka Brewery – Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout
Imperial Stout
Gold: Grand River Brewing – Russian Gun Imperial Stout
Silver: Amsterdam Brewery – Tempest
People’s Choice: Grand River Brewing – Russian Gun Imperial Stout
Fruit Beer
Gold: Great Lakes Brewery – Orange Peel Ale
Silver: Amsterdam Brewery – Framboise
People’s Choice: Grand River Brewing – Blackberry Wheat
Flavoured Beer
Gold: Mill Street Brewery – Lemon Tea Beer
Silver: Brick Brewing – Red Baron Lime
People’s Choice: Mill Street Brewery – Lemon Tea Beer
Strong Beers
Gold: Grand River Brewing – Jubilation Winter Ale
Silver: Great Lakes Brewery – Winter Ale
People’s Choice: Nickel Brook Brewery – Cuvee
Many I’ve tried. Obviously many more to go!
Congrats to all the winners.
Were there only a few entries in each category or should I call shenanigans? Labbatt, Brick and Lakeport??? C’mon.
The judges should be forced to take their BJCP exams over again.
What sort of participation does this competition get from the Ontario breweries? Do most enter or is it fairly limited?
It’s acutally Amsterdam Boneshaker IPA, not Bonecrusher. :)
Karl – The full lists of beers entered in each category were posted on the walls at the event last night. Most categories had at least 5 beers entered, but a couple had less, with at least one category having only 2.
Grimes – As I noted above, the competition included 135 beers from 24 breweries. This is roughly half of all the breweries in Ontario.
In regards to both of these issues, the organizers are hoping to improve participation in future years.
Beerlover – Good catch, I should’ve noticed that when I did the cut & paste of the list. I’ll fix it.
I had no idea that Labatt 50 is considered a Cream Ale. I’m not sure what I considered it but definitely not a cream ale.
Wow, seems like a beer snob alert is necessary… Why exactly, Karl, should Labatt, Brick and Lakeport not be included? Let me guess, your precious micro-brews, with the ever over-touted “small batch” brewing, are sorely lacking? Maybe because the quality control isn’t there? Maybe because beer is a lot like paint, it should be made in large amounts to make sure the mix is right every time? Small batch brewing is a joke, and craft brewers use sub-par ingredients based on cost. Don’t jump on the bandwagon and hate the big guys. It’s petty and a little bit (read “grossly”) misinformed.
I know people such as you (and many, many others) will defend their hobgoblins and flying monkeys to the bitter end, but i can bet a hundo that you wouldn’t be able to pick your favorite beer out of a lineup.
Scott, I can pick out any beer from Labatt. Piss yellow lager loaded with rice and or corn. No hops, no malt. I have tasted many lagers made from “small batch” Ontario brewers that were fantastic. Never had a bad one. On the other hand, I have had a few off tasting mega-beers in the last couple of years though. My guess is it sat on the shelf too long because people chose Ontario Craft Beer instead.
@Scott. The problem with the major beers isn’t quality, its the lack of competition. The monopoly that the beer store holds in Ontario is ridiculous. I don’t have the exact figures, but I believe that it costs $10 000 to get your beer in the beer store, and then you must provide beers to a certain amount of stores therefore after.
This creates a market where beers don’t need to be competitive, they just need to a part of conglomerates that operate for profit only – not to produce the best product possible. If you travel across the province, you will realize that Ontario is lacking in good micro breweries because it is an extremely risking business to operate.
Other provinces, Nova Scotia and British Columbia for example, have some of the best micros brews I’ve tried. I have to admit Ontario is getting better, but Labatt’s should not be considered an Ontario beer. They brew it all over the world! It is an international beer now!