Craft brewing has seen an explosion in popularity in recent years.
And brewers from across Atlantic Canada got together to celebrate at the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards.
Over 250 beers were judged and among the winners were two entries from the South Shore.
Liverpool’s Hell Bay Brewing won gold for their English Ale in the Pale Ale category.
Mark Baillie from Hell Bay Brewing says the large number of craft brewers offers great choice for consumers but is a catch 22 for producers.
“It’s good and it’s bad. It’s good that more people are drinking the product, more people are drinking craft beer. At the same time though, when there’s 30-some breweries, there’s not a lot of bars that have 30-some taps.”
Baillie says it’s nice for everyone at Hell Bay Brewing to have their efforts recognized by their peers.
Woot Woot!! Our English Ale took a gold medal in its category!!! Cheers to that! https://t.co/QG9K4fuWXi
— Hell Bay Brewing Co. (@HellBayBrewing) November 7, 2016
Shelburne’s Boxing Rock won silver in the North American Style Amber/Red Ale category for their Temptation Red.
Henry Pedro of Boxing Rock says he was excited to share the news with the staff.
“Some of our staff that we trained to make beer looked at me and said, hunh, you know what? I guess I am an award winning brewer now. Wow, that’s amazing – I’m going to tell my friends.”
Pedro says while it’s nice to win, he also values hearing opinions on his beer from experienced tasters.
