By Travis Persaud
Could you please put down your pint and help carry all these awards?
We couldn’t be prouder.
As the Ottawa beer scene explodes with new breweries and offerings, it might be reasonable to expect that quality could be lacking amongst the growing quantity. Perhaps for other scenes, but not here.
At the 9th annual Ontario Brewing Awards, which took place two weeks ago and saw 167 entries from 33 breweries, Ottawa’s purveyors of libations struck it rich with a bevy of awards.
HogsBack Brewing Company captured two heavy-hitting catorgories: Gold and People’s Choice awards in the North American lager category, and Newcomer of the Year.
“This is an honour — to win an award for making a great beer that people will enjoy,” said Paige Cutland, co-owner of HogsBack, after the announcement. “This is awesome!”
Not to be left out, Kichesippi Beer Company went home with both the Silver and People’s Choice award in the European Style Lager category for their Natural Blonde; Clocktower Brew Pub’s Clocktower Red won Silver in the Amber Ale competition, and their Raspberry Wheat took down a silver in the Fruit beer category; and Mill St. Brewery’s Ambre de la Chaudière, which is only available at their Ottawa location, grabbed Silver in the Strong Beer category.
THANKS FOR THINKING OF US, SCOTLAND
Innis and Gunn’s relationship with Canada continues to grow stronger.
For the second straight year the Scottish brewery is releasing a special limited edition Canada Day release featuring original Canadian artwork.
Gary Whitley, a British Columbia-based artist, submitted his painting Emblems for the special carton box, which individual bottles of this limited release are packaged in. Whitley’s piece is a snapshot of sugar maple saplings, which he created a year ago
The box looks killer, and the beer is outstanding. It’s been aged 49 days and comes with a punch at 7.7 percent. But it is sweet (not as sweet as their Original, though), with a nice dry finish.
It’s now available at the LCBO, so get it while it’s still around!