Edmonton’s Second Best Brewery. Huh?

I woke up this morning to the annual Edmonton Journal Readers’ Choice Awards choking up the space in my Monday paper. (Yes, I still subscribe to the hard copy edition – call me old because, well, I’m old.) Normally I don’t spend much energy on such activities, recognizing that they are mostly an advertising gimmick (“winners” get to pay for ads promoting their win), and the awards generally go to the biggest and most well-known businesses, not necessarily the best.

But I scanned the list anyway, given it is Monday morning and what else is there to do? It mostly went as expected. Then I spotted the “Best Craft Brewery” category.

The winner was “Alley Cat”. Unless some new knock-off brewery just opened their doors, I am pretty sure the folks at the Journal had just mis-spelled the name of one of Edmonton’s mainstay brewing operations. To be sure, Alley Kat is certainly deserving of such a distinction, and it is not surprising they would be recognized by readers. But to not even get their name right? Come on, Journal, be better!

But it only gets worse from there.

Silver went to “Beer Revolution”. Excuse me?

I am pretty sure this brewery spells their name with a K.

I don’t even know where to start with this. No, wait, yes I do. With the fact that Beer Revolution ISN’T EVEN A BREWERY. It is an excellent craft beer establishment and deserving of mention in , I don’t know, maybe the Best Bar category? How did the editors not catch that they aren’t even eligible for this category? Ironically, sister company Brewsters (which actually classifies as a brewery) finished in a tie for third in Best Bar.

And then there is the third place winner. “Big Rock”. What?

In case you haven’t been paying attention since 1988, Big Rock is located in CALGARY. Sure, they sell lots of beer in the City of Champions, but shouldn’t a basic criteria for a local business award be that the business is actually located in the city? Why not award the prize to Guinness or Sapporo while you are at it?

I know these kinds of “awards” are fairly flimsy affairs to begin with. But these results are just downright embarrassing for the Edmonton Journal. How far this venerable news outlet has fallen in recent years.