Niagara Falls brewery to play host for 2023 Canada Beer Cup
Published April 27, 2023 at 10:43 am
The second annual Canada Beer Cup, a competition organized by Stephen Beaumont, one of the world’s most authoritative voices on beer, will be coming to a Niagara Falls brewery this October.
“We are thrilled to partner with Blackburn Brew House as home of the 2023 Canada Beer Cup,” said Beaumont.
“Blackburn has generously come on as our venue sponsor and will be hosting our panel of international and Canadian judges this October as they judge hundreds of entries from across Canada.”
While a fairly new competition, the fact that Beaumont created it gave the Canada Beer Cup instant credibility as the author or co-author of 15 books, including the brand new third edition of the international best-seller, The World Atlas of Beer, is seen as a world-wide presence and authority on all things beer.
One of the reasons Blackburn was approached was the fact the Ontario Craft Brewers Conference lands in the nearby Niagara Falls Convention Centre on October 25 and 26, meaning there will be literally dozens of provincial brewery top guns already in town.
Opened in May 2020, Blackburn is still something of a local newcomer but it is a massive operation with over 38,000 square feet of floor space. As well as their own beers, the brewery creates a large number of contract beers for other breweries and at present is also the home of Niagara Cider Company, recently bought by Bench Brewing in Beamsville.
The 2023 Canada Beer Cup competition will present awards in 66 distinct style groups across 11 categories, as evaluated by a panel of elite Canadian and international beer experts. As an added bonus, $2 from every entry will support the Canadian Craft Brewers Association’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts.
Niagara Region had an excellent showing in last year’s inaugural Cup, especially the Niagara College Teaching College, which took two golds in the Scottish Style Wee Heavy/Scotch Ale category, as well as the Bock bracket.
Bench Brewing collected a silver in the Canadian Style Beer category while Niagara-on-the-Lake’s The Exchange Brewery captured a bronze in the Grisette/Farmhouse Ale grouping.