Vancouver Island Brewery, based in Victoria, won three medals — including gold for its Hermannator Ice Bock and Sea Dog Amber Ale — at the 2011 Canadian Brewing Awards on Sept. 9.
Hermannator Ice Bock was tops in the Bock Traditional German Style, and Sea Dog Amber Ale won in the North American Style Amber/Red Ale category. Sea Dog continues to be one of the brewery’s best sellers, sales and marketing manager Rob Ringma tells Douglas.
“Sea Dog is doing real well. It was one of our more popular brands at this year’s Great Canadian Beer Fest.”
To round out the awards, Hermann’s Dark Lager was awarded a silver medal in the North American Dark Lager category.
{advertisement} “The level of brewing quality continues to rise across Canada and this event is a great showcase of the talent and strength of the craft brewing movement in Canada,” says Vancouver Island Brewery general manager Jim Dodds. “We are very lucky to have a dedicated and passionate group of brewers at our small brewery who live to brew great beer every day for our customers. We are extremely proud of these beers and their accomplishments.”
The Canadian Brewing Awards have emerged as the premiere competition for judging the quality of Canadian brewed beer. The contest is the only truly national competition that invites breweries from across the country to compete in a blind tasting to see who brews the best beer in 31 style categories.
A Canadian Brewing Award medal is now a widely recognized symbol of brewing excellence in Canada. A panel of some 20 certified beer judges consider five criteria: aroma, appearance, flavour, mouth-feel, and overall impression.
