The 2021 Canadian Brewing Awards were announced last weekend and prairie (and Yukon) breweries performed very well, picking up 43 medals and dominating in the major hardware, scooping up both Beer of the Year and Brewery of the Year. You can see all the winners here. Twenty-seven different prairie breweries picked up medals, with 11 winning multiple awards.

The results continue a pattern of the region’s growing presence on the national (and international) beer scene. When I started this blog, the three prairie provinces lagged behind the big provinces of B.C., Ontario and Quebec, the quintessential sample glass to those provinces’ pints. Today breweries in the three provinces have reputations equal to some of the country’s most respected brands.

The biggest news is The Establishment Brewing Company’s win as the Brewery of the Year, which goes to the brewery which earns the most medals (actually the most points, but you get my point). The Calgary brewery won four medals, including two gold. This is the second straight year an Alberta brewery won this honour – Common Crown Brewing (also from Calgary) won last year.

Almost as big is Regina’s Rebellion Brewing picking up Beer of the Year (called Best of Show in other competitions) with their Cherry Lambic. They also won gold for their Hoppy Pollinator, their recent effort at a Braggot.

The results once again (for a second year) have Alberta winning the most medals per capita (amongst the four large provinces), with only B.C. (37) and Ontario (42) winning more medals overall. Alberta won more medals than Quebec (28). This is a marked shift from a few years ago, where Alberta was closer to the smaller provinces in medal hauls. In part this might be explained by the explosion in the number of breweries in Alberta – from a couple dozen a few years ago to 125 today. But it also speaks to the rapidly improving quality of Alberta beer.

The same can be said for Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The brewing scene in both provinces is smaller, of course, but winning 5 medals (Manitoba) and 4 medals (Saskatchewan) rate as significant results. And we cannot forget Yukon, which continues to punch above its weight with a gold medal win by Winterlong Brewing.

I have two primary observations about this year’s results. First, the range of styles where prairie breweries won medals is diverse, ranging from cream ale to Wheat Beer to sours and barrel-aged. I think this speaks to a growing range of offerings in the region. This makes sense, of course. More breweries will equal more styles being brewed. Still, we shouldn’t overlook that for years this region was known for its proclivity for fruit beer and blonde ales.

Second, I note how many medals came from the more esoteric end of the beer world. Here I am talking about the styles aimed at a more experienced palate, including Belgian styles, barrel-aged, mixed ferment, sours, smoked beer and so on. Thirteen of the 42 medals won by prairie breweries were in these categories, including a prairie sweep of Belgian-style Brett Beer and a near single-brewery sweep of American-style Sour Ale by Edmonton’s Trial & Ale Brewing. To put this in perspective, the prairies won 13 of the 45 medals up for grabs in these categories, or 29%.

This is noteworthy because just last year I did an analysis of historical results at the CBAs, which you can read here, examining each region’s relative areas of strength and weakness. The prairies have historically performed poorly in sour and Brett beer and barrel-aged beer, in particular. We must be careful to not extrapolate based on one year’s results, but the 2021 awards do give us a datapoint that this historical weakness may be shifting.

I think this potential shift is due to two things. First, we have seen new breweries open in the region that have made barrel-aging, mixed fermentation and other specialty approaches a core or essential part of their business plan, meaning they are taking the pains to do these kind of beer right. Second, I believe beer consumers in the region are expanding their horizons, creating more room for these more (for lack of a better word) edgy beer. I imagine the popularity of fruited kettle sours and saisons have served as something of a gateway to some of these less-well known styles.

Yes, I know that the CBAs are an elusive beast. It can be difficult to repeat success year over year. Brewery of the year and Beer of the Year are particularly challenging. In the past eight years, no brewery has ever won either award more than once. In the short term that doesn’t bode well for The Establishment’s or Rebellion’s chances of repeating next year, but you never know. On the other hand, it might mean we are likely to see other prairie breweries top the podium in the coming years.

For the record, here are the 2021 prairie medalists:

  • GOLD: Kinabik Pilsner, Snake Lake Brewing, Sylvan Lake, AB
  • BRONZE: Meridian Black Lager, Township 24 Brewing, Chestermere, AB
  • GOLD: RiverFest Lager, Bow River Brewing, Calgary, AB
  • SILVER: Farmer’s Tan Belgian White, Brewsters Brewing Company, Calgary, AB
  • BRONZE: Horseshoe Hefeweizen, Trans Canada Brewing, Winnipeg, MB
  • SILVER: Fahr Hefe, Brauerei Fahr, Turner Valley, AB
  • SILVER: X, Cabin Brewing, Calgary, AB
  • BRONZE: Old Ale X, La Brasserie Nonsuch Brewing, Winnipeg, MB
  • BRONZE: Songe d’une Prairie Sauvage, Blind Enthusiasm Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • SILVER: Scarecrow, 21st Street Brewery, Saskatoon, SK
  • GOLD Funkmorphosis, The Establishment Brewing Company, Calgary, AB
  • GOLD (and BOS): Cherry Lambic, Rebellion Brewing, Regina, SK
  • SILVER: Chocolate Maple Porter, Canmore Brewing, Canmore, AB
  • BRONZE: Barkeep Brown, Trans Canada Brewing, Winnipeg, MB
  • GOLD: Georgetown Brown, Canmore Brewing, Canmore, AB
  • BRONZE: 24-2 Stock Ale, Blindman Brewing, Lacombe, AB
  • SILVER: Andy’s Wee Heavy, Common Crown Brewing, Calgary, AB
  • SILVER: Common Ale, Common Crown Brewing, Calgary, AB
  • GOLD: Turbo Stout, Sea Change Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • SILVER: Gentlemen’s Stout, Medicine Hat Brewing, Medicine Hat, AB
  • SILVER: Liquid Lullaby Imperial Stout, Town Square Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • BRONZE: Eternal Twilight, Ol Beautiful Brewing, Calgary, AB
  • SILVER: Prairie Common, La Brasserie Nonsuch Brewing, Winnipeg, MB
  • GOLD: Retro Stylz, Analog Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • GOLD: Blonde Ale, Sea Change Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • GOLD: Nightshade, Winterlong Brewing, Whitehorse, YT
  • SILVER: Three Sisters Pale Ale, Grizzly Paw Brewing, Canmore, AB
  • SILVER: First Crush White IPA, Trolley 5 Brewpub, Calgary, AB
  • SILVER: Wild IPA No. 1, Sawback Brewing, Red Deer, AB
  • GOLD: Blood Cut Brett IPA, Low Life Barrel House, Winnipeg, MB
  • SILVER: brunch, Trial & Ale Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • GOLD: An Equatorial Detour, Trial & Ale Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • GOLD: Hoppy Pollinator, Rebellion Brewing, Regina, SK
  • SILVER: Ruby My Dear, The Establishment Brewing, Calgary, AB
  • GOLD: Beets, Town Square Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • SILVER: Public House Mild Porter, Snake Lake Brewing, Sylvan Lake, AB
  • BRONZE: Sorceress Sour Key Lime Kettle Sour, New Level Brewing, Calgary, AB
  • SILVER: Luna & Fuego, Cabin Brewing Company, Calgary, AB
  • BRONZE: Prairie Fire Rauchbier, Town Square Brewing, Edmonton, AB
  • SILVER: Rauchbier, Rafter R Brewing, Maple Creek, SK
  • GOLD: Erlton Street, The Establishment Brewing, Calgary, AB