Bring On The Beer!
By TOM FIRTH, COMPETITION DIRECTOR The beer category at the Alberta Beverage Awards was a lot of fun to organize as well as a great category to watch as the results unfolded. Our beer judges, Kirk, John, and Dave dove right into the task and to watch them judge, it was easy to see that they were not only passionate and knowledgeable about the liquid served blind in their glasses, but also that they were happy to try different styles and judge each sample on their individual merits, rather than with biases for or against certain types. We had an excellent selection of brews from Canada and around the world, but given the incredible range available in Alberta, I would have liked to see more beers in this competition. Craft beers are more popular than ever before, and many are so new to the market that with more entries, we can truly put them to the taste test against their peers. The top scoring beer in the 2013 Alberta Beverage Awards was the local Village Brewery with their refreshing Cucumber Farmhouse Ale, but we also saw 14 Canadian beers win awards, proving that not only do we like beer up here in Canada, but we also know how to make it.
BEST IN CLASS Mill Street Brewery Belgian Wit, Ontario, Canada, $13 (6 pack)
Wheat Beers
Wheat beers can be quite diverse. Although many are refreshingly light and somewhat subtle, some can be extremely complex with dark malt flavours and rich spicy aromas. In any case, most wheat beers tend to follow either the German or Belgian brewing tradition. German wheat beers – usually called Weizen, Hefeweizen, or Weissbier – are often light yet somewhat malty, with the best examples being rich in complex aromas derived from the specialty yeast, combining banana and clove and sometimes even bubble-gum characters. Belgian wheat beers, on the other hand - usually referred to as Witbier – also tend to be a lighter style of beer, though instead of the banana/clove thing they are all about citrus and spice. This is due to the common addition of coriander and orange peels. Wheat beers are perfect food beers. Quite simply they are hard to mess up, due to their general light character and subtle fruitiness. They are light enough to go with salad or even seafood – especially if there is a citrus element. Though, at the risk of sounding repetitive, I absolutely love to pair Hefeweizen with Indian food as well. There is something about the banana and clove quality and the complex spice flavours common in Indian food that are simply amazing together – trust me! (KB)
JUDGES SELECTION Kronenbourg Blanc, France, $14 (6 pack)
Erdinger Weissbier Dunkel, Germany, $4 (500mL) Minhas Microbrewery Lazy Mutt Alberta Wheat Ale, Alberta, Canada $5 (650mL) 52