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Island breweries win big at BC Beer Awards

Port Alberni’s Twin City Brewing wins Best in Show, Sooke breweries put town on the map
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Sooke Oceanside Brewery took home two golds and a bronze at the 2018 BC Beer Awards in Vancouver. (Contributed)

Vancouver Island breweries made a big impression at the ninth annual BC Beer Awards over the weekend.

Twin City Brewing Company in Port Alberni won gold and walked away with the grand prize of Best in Show for Late Bloomer, a tart sour style beer with notes of hibiscus, cranberry and strawberry.

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Joe Wiebe, a Victoria-based beer writer and director of content with the BC Ale Trail – a collective of craft industry experts who have compiled the province’s hundreds of breweries on a website designed with self-guided tours for walking, biking or driving – called Twin City the “epitome of the BC Ale Trail experience.”

“They’re a great group and have put a lot of hard work into their beer and brewery experience,” Wiebe said of the 18-month-old brewery. “They don’t package their beer so you have to visit the brewery in Port Alberni in person. It’s definitely worth a visit.”

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Bringing home nine awards between the two of them, Sooke’s new breweries put the tiny town on the map in a big way.

Sooke Brewing Company took home the Rookie of the Year award as well as Best Tasting Room along with three silvers and a bronze in individual beer categories. And, Sooke Oceanside Brewery took home two golds and a bronze.

“The craft beer scene in British Columbia is just thriving,” Wiebe said. “I love the fact that breweries of all sizes and from all over the province won awards. It really shows how diverse and exciting the community is.”

The BC Beer Awards and Festival celebrates the very best of what’s brewing across British Columbia; more than 100 breweries submitted more than 1,000 beers for judging before a ceremony held at the Croatian Cultural Centre in Vancouver last weekend.


@kristyn_anthony
kristyn.anthony@blackpress.ca

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