TORONTO, ON – The winners of the 2014 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 Microbrewery – Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto
- Best Brewery for Cask-Conditioned Ale – Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto
- Best Brewpub or Tied House – Bellwoods Brewery, Toronto
- Best Cidery – West Avenue Cider, Toronto
- Best Regularly-Produced Beer – Beau’s Lug-Tread Lagered Ale, Vankleek Hill
- Best Seasonal or Specialty Beer – Great Lakes THRUST! An IPA, Toronto
- Best Cask Ale – Granite Hopping Mad, Toronto
- Best Bar for Draught Beer Selection – Bar Hop, Toronto
- Best Bar for Packaged Beer Selection – Bar Volo, Toronto
- Best Bar for Cask Ale – Bar Volo, Toronto
- Best Beer Event in Ontario – Cask Days, Toronto
- Best Beer Writer – Ben Johnson, Toronto
- Best Bar Staff – Bar Hop, Toronto
- Best Newcomer – Side Launch Brewing, Collingwood
- Most Innovative Brewery in Ontario – Bellwoods Brewery, Toronto
- Best Packaging Design & Label Artwork – Beau’s All-Natural Brewing, Vankleek Hill
Five 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:
- Buster Rhinos & Durham Craft Beer Festival, Oshawa
- Society of Beer Drinking Ladies, Toronto
- Beau’s Oktoberfest, Vankleek Hill
- George Milbrandt & C’est What, Toronto
- Nickel Brook Brewing, Burlington
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 – Sawdust City Lone Pine IPA, Gravenhurst