TORONTO, ON – The 2016 winners of the Golden Tap Awards, representing the best of beer and brewing in Ontario, were announced last night at beerbistro in Toronto.
This annual awards event is overseen and organized by Cass Enright, founder of The Bar Towel, a website and forum dedicated to covering and promoting the Ontario craft brewing scene.
The winners as selected by online voting by the general beer-drinking public were as follows:
- Best Regularly-Produced Beer – Great Lakes Canuck Pale Ale, Toronto
- Best Seasonal or Specialty Beer – Great Lakes Karma Citra IPA, Toronto
- Best Bar for Draught Beer Selection – Bar Hop, Toronto
- Best Bar for Packaged Beer Selection – Bar Volo, Toronto
- Best New Bar – Bar Hop 2, Toronto
- Best Beer Event – Cask Days, Toronto
- Best Beer Writer – Ben Johnson, Toronto
- Best Bar Staff – Bar Hop, Toronto
- Best Newcomer – Halo Brewery, Toronto
- Most Innovative Brewery – Bellwoods Brewery, Toronto
- Best Packaging Design & Label Artwork – Collective Arts Brewing, Hamilton
- Best Brewery – Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto
- Best Brewpub or Tied House – Bellwoods Brewery, Toronto
- Best Cidery – West Avenue Cider, Toronto
Four Editor’s Circle awards were also handed out, recognizing significant achievements in the Ontario beer industry, as determined by Enright and a panel of Bar Towel members and associates:
- Escarpment Labs
- Brew Donkey
- Stephen Beaumont
- Ralph Morana of Bar Volo & Cask Days
And last but not least, brewers from across the province were asked to choose their favourite beer from any other Ontario brewery:
- Brewmasters’ Choice for Best Beer – Bellwoods Brewery Motley Cru 2016, Toronto