The 2024 Canadian Brewing Award winners were announced this past weekend (find the full results here). I am here to offer up my usual analysis of what I think it all means. You can find posts on previous years’ results here and here. I did my CBC column on the awards as well (unusually, on a Thursday). You can listen to that here.

My take is a bit different this year as I was asked to judge the competition this year. I spent five days in holed up in a Hamilton hotel back in February, so I got to see first-hand how the judging is conducted. I can safely say that their attention to quality judging is top notch and the competition was run professionally and efficiently. It doesn’t need to be said but I will remind everyone anyway – the judging was done by certified and experienced beer judges and great pains were taken to ensure the judging was blind (even after the judging was finished, we were not informed of who the entries were). I may in a separate post offer up some observations of my experience there, but that is for another day.

More than 2,500 entries were judged across 61 categories (meaning 183 medals were up for grabs). The big winners were Microbrasserie Corsaire (Levi, Quebec) who won Best of Show with their Dark Mild and Boxing Rock Brewing (Shelbourne, Nova Scotia) who picked up Brewery of the Year by scoping up three gold medals. I actually judged the medal round for Brown Ales, so it is kind of fun (although irrelevant) to see the Corsaire Dark Mild go the distance. And I have enjoyed pints of Boxing Rock often when visiting family in Nova Scotia, so it is a nice outcome for that small brewery.

Alberta Solidifies Standing, Quebec Drops Back

Alberta breweries picked up 32 medals (10 gold) this year, a slight downtick from last year’s historical high of 39, and behind B.C. and Ontario who both won 48 medals. You can see the full list of prairie winners at the end of the post.

However, if we look over time, Alberta has clearly established itself as part of the big three provinces, beer-wise. The past three or four years have seen Alberta consistently pick up the second or third most medals, a big change from a few years ago, when Alberta languished in the middle (or even back) of the pack. For example I found a dusty old post reporting on the 2010 CBAs (back when they were run by TAPS Magazine) where NOT A SINGLE Alberta brewery won a medal.

Last year I talked about Alberta’s rise creating the big four – including Quebec – but this year I am wondering if that is the case. In the previous three years Quebec breweries won between 26 and 28 medals, which is a good result, but a step or two behind B.C., Ontario and, now, Alberta. This year was even stranger, as Quebec breweries won only 14 medals (and only 4 gold). I am not sure I can fully explain this poor result – and it may very well be a one-time blip – but the last few years suggests that Quebec has fallen back a step. Maybe they still deserve to be a part of the “big four”, but maybe it has become a “big three”? I am not sure, but expect an answer will become clearer in next couple years.

Manitoba’s Big Leap

One of the brighter stories coming out of the 2024 results is the performance of Manitoba breweries, who picked up 10 medals this year, including a remarkable 7 gold. In the past few years, Manitoba would consistently pick up between 3 and 5 medals in any given year. This year doubles their previous high. Five different breweries picked up medals (again see the list below). I find this result fascinating.

Again, one year does not create a trend, but it does raise the possibility that Manitoba is poised to start making a mark on the CBAs. Something to watch for next year.

Saskatchewan won five medals, which is about normal for that province. NWT Brewing in Yellowknife also picked up a medal to score for the Territories.

Here is the list of prairie medal winners:

Alberta

  • 2 Pillars Brewing: silver
  • 70 Acres Brewing: gold, bronze
  • ’88 Brewing: bronze
  • Ale Architect: 2 silvers
  • Annex Ales Project: gold, bronze
  • Analog Brewing: gold
  • Banded Peak Brewing (AB-Inbev): silver
  • Brauerei Fahr: gold
  • BSB (Bottlescrew Bill’s) Brewing: silver
  • Canmore Brewing: silver
  • Cold Garden Brewing: sliver, bronze
  • Common Crown Brewing: gold
  • Dark Woods Brewing: bronze
  • Hell’s Basement Brewing: gold, silver, bronze
  • Irrational Brewing: silver
  • Medicine Hat Brewing: gold
  • Olds College Brewing: bronze
  • Sea Change Brewing: bronze
  • The Establishment Brewing Company: gold, silver
  • Tool Shed Brewing: gold
  • Town Square Brewing: gold
  • Trolley 5 Brewing: bronze
  • Troubled Monk Brewing: bronze
  • Valley Brewing: silver
  • Village Brewing: silver

Saskatchewan

  • Better Brothers Brewing: silver
  • Nokomis Craft Ales (Pile O’ Bones): gold
  • Pile O’ Bones Brewing: 3 silvers

Manitoba

  • Bookstore Brewing: gold
  • Kilter Brewing: gold, bronze
  • Low-Life Barrel House: 2 golds, bronze
  • Nonsuch Brewing: 2 golds
  • Obsolete Brewing: gold, silver

Northwest Territories

  • NWT Brewing: bronze