TORONTO, ON – The winners of the 2015 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 – 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 – Rainhard Brewing, Toronto
- Most Innovative Brewery – Bellwoods Brewery, Toronto
- Best Packaging Design & Label Artwork – Beau’s All-Natural Brewing, Vankleek Hill
- Best Brewery – Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto
- Best Brewery for Cask-Conditioned Ale – Granite 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:
- Run TO Beer
- Brux House
- Charles MacLean
- Indie Ale House event series
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