PRESS RELEASE: Canada – October 23, 2022. The Canadian Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) announced the 176 award winners of the inaugural Canada Beer Cup through an innovative Awards Streaming Party platform hosted simultaneously in homes and venues from coast to coast to coast on Sunday, October 23rd.

The stunning Canada Beer Cup trophy was hand crafted by Gray Art Glass glassblowing studio in Merrickville, Ontario. The Canada Beer Cup is like the Stanley Cup of the Canadian craft brewing industry, passed annually to the brewery creating the “best of show” beer as determined by a group of national and international judges.

The inaugural Canada Beer Cup was won by Vancouver-based Callister Brewing for their outstanding Wee Laird Wee Heavy, a rich and malt-driven Scotch Ale matured for 10 months in freshly emptied barrels previously employed for the aging of the fame Okanagan single malt whisky, Laird of Fintry.

The competition also featured a new category called Canadian Style Beer, which was awarded to Toronto-based Shacklands Brewing for their Sugar Shack, an ale brewed with all-Canadian grain and heritage ‘Old Loyalist’ hops from Prince Edward County, using maple sap in place of water. The beer is then aged on maple wood and flavoured with maple syrup.

The complete award list will be posted here: https://canadabeercup.com/results/

The Canada Beer Cup is a national independent brewers’ competition that celebrates excellence in Canadian craft beer and elevates the international profile of Canadian craft brewing industry. All proceeds go to support of the work of the industry association.

“Congratulations to all the award winners and thank you to everyone who entered,” said British Columbia-based Chloe Smith, Canada Beer Cup co-chair. “There’s no doubt, our craft beer is among the best in the world.”

“More than 200 breweries submitted over 1,300 entries, exceeding all expectations,” explained Christine Comeau, competition co-chair based in New Brunswick. “There’s no question there was an appetite for a national beer competition of this caliber. Canada is a playground for independent brewers, and beer drinkers across the country are the beneficiaries.”

The 40-member judging panel was individually selected by Canada Beer Cup’s head judge, beer writer and author Stephen Beaumont. “Canadian beer was for the first time judged not simply by the best judges in this country, but also by top-ranked judges from the United States, Great Britain, Sweden, and Italy. This is a pivotal first step towards securing the Canadian craft brewing industry the sort of global recognition and respect it so richly deserves,” said Beaumont.

“This is an annual competition by the industry for the industry, with all proceeds going to fund the important work of our national association,” said CCBA Executive Director Rick Dalmazzi. “We support our member breweries who in turn support their local communities in every province and territory in Canada each and every day.” 

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About the CCBA

The Canadian Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) is the national voice of Canadian craft beer. They represent the interests of over 1,200 small and independent breweries in every province and territory in Canada. The Association is a federation of provincial craft brewers’ associations and advocates on behalf of them and their member breweries.