Niagara College’s Teaching Brewery is putting the ‘NC’ in excellence for Canadian craft beer with two new medals from a national competition.
The inaugural Canada Beer Cup announced its winners on October 23, which included two beers from NC Teaching Brewery’s popular Beer 101 series: Beer 101 Strong won gold in the English Style Old Ale/ Scottish Style Wee Heavy/ Scotch Ale category, and Beer 101 Bock won gold in the Bock category.
“Our trailblazing Teaching Brewery continues to raise the bar for the industry in Canada,” said Steve Gill, General Manager of NC’s Learning Enterprises. “The biggest winners are our students, who gain the ability to make some of the best beers in Canada, thanks to the quality of applied education at NC, and, in turn, bring their skills and knowledge into the industry.”
“As this was the first time this Canadian competition – using a panel of both national and international judges – was held, it was great to have two of our student-brewed beers be awarded gold medals,” said Brewmaster Professor Jon Downing.
“The fact that both Beer 101 Bock and Beer 101 Strong have previously won golds in other national and international competitions highlights the consistency and quality of the brewing education that our students are receiving when the same brews win when brewed by different people – something that all students and graduates can be proud of.”
Beer 101 Strong has won silver (2018) and bronze (2019) at the Canadian Brewing Awards; as well as gold (2016) and silver (2019 and 2020) from the Ontario Brewing Awards. At the U.S. Open Beer Championship, it has won gold (2018 and 2021), silver (2020), and bronze (2019, 2017, 2016 and 2014 – the latter for its bottled version, Brewmaster Strong). As Strong Ale, it also won a silver in 2015 at the Dublin Cup.
Awards for Beer 101 Bock include silver (2020) at the Canadian Brewing Awards; gold (2020 and 2021) at the Ontario Brewing Awards; and gold at the U.S. Open Beer Championship (2020 and 2021).
Downing also applauded alumni from NC’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program, who were well represented on the winner’s list from the Canada Beer Cup.
“There are quite a number of graduate-run or owned breweries that won golds too,” said Downing, referring to the many winning breweries that are owned by or employ alumni from the College’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program.
2022 was the inaugural year for the Canada Beer Cup. Hosted by the Canadian Craft Brewers Association – which represents more than 1,200 small and independent breweries across Canada – the national independent brewers’ competition celebrates excellence in Canadian craft beer and elevates the international profile of Canadian craft brewing industry.
The inaugural competition drew more than 1,300 entries from more than 200 breweries. Entries were judged by a 40-member panel selected by Head Judge, writer/author Stephen Beaumont.
“The Canada Beer Cup is unique in that it is the first major competition in this country to be judged by a mix of established, veteran international judges, cross-Canadian beer experts, and a selection of established local judges I chose personally,” said Beaumont.
For info visit canadabeercup.com.
Both Beer 101 Bock and Beer 101 Strong are available for purchase alongside student-crafted products from NC’s School of Wine Beer and Spirits, at the Teaching Brewery retail store and the Wine Visitor + Education Centre (Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake) and online at ncteachingwinery.ca.
