Beau’s “Grandmaster OG” wins Silver at the 2015 Canadian Brewing Awards
VANKLEEK HILL – (June 9, 2015) Beau’s Brewery was honoured Saturday June 6 at the 13th Annual Canadian Brewing Awards (CBAs) in Niagara Falls, with an award for one of its more unique beers, Grandmaster OG. The beer took Silver in the “Experimental Beer” category. Grandmaster OG was conceived as an intensified, amped-up and imperialized version of OG: Original Gruit, a beer released earlier in 2015 as part of Beau’s feBREWary celebrations.
Gruits are beers brewed with spices and other botanicals acting as bittering and preservative ingredients, and Grandmaster OG is the first of Beau’s gruit ale recipes to win a top-beer award. The recipe for Grandmaster OG incorporates some classic herbs such as bog myrtle, and some lesser-seen ingredients like labrador tea and thyme. The flavour is herbaceous, mildly sweet and slightly peppery.
Beau’s has made a name for itself with gruits since introducing Bog Water in 2008 – a beer made with bog myrtle wild-harvested in Northern Quebec. Beau’s also founded February 1 as International Gruit Day back in 2013, inviting breweries from around the world to join them in brewing a gruit ale to mark the day. Champlain Township, where Beau’s Brewery is located, has recognized International Gruit Day as a local event of significance in the region.
Brewery co-founder Steve Beauchesne points out that since the CBAs don’t yet recognize gruits as an official beer style, Beau’s was required to enter Grandmaster OG was entered in the “Experimental Beer” category – a situation he is hoping will change in future. “Gruits were once an integral part of the beer landscape, but over time they have been all-but-rendered extinct. Beau’s and a handful of breweries have been recreating these beers, and this award represents a huge step forward for the gruit movement,” he says.
The Canadian Brewing Awards recognize the top beers brewed in Canada each year, in a variety of style categories. With the recognition for Grandmaster OG, it brings the total number of Canadian Brewing Awards won by Beau’s to 13, and sets the tally for total awards won by the local craft brewery to 79, since opening in 2006. A list of Beau’s past awards for beer-making, marketing and business practices is accessible at beaus.ca/about-beaus/awards.
Beau’s All Natural is a local, family-run, award-winning, certified organic, and totally DIY craft brewery. Founded in 2006, Beau’s brews interesting, tasty beers, including its flagship Lug Tread Lagered Ale, using best-quality certified organic ingredients & local spring water. In addition to Lug Tread, Beau’s offers a growing collection of Year-Round Beers and a rotating Seasonal program, as well as the “Wild Oats” and “Pro-Am” Series. Beau’s has been a recipient of more than 75 awards for brewing, packaging design and business practices, including 2 Gold medals at Mondial de la Bière (Strasbourg, France, and Montréal, Québec); 6 Gold medals at the Canadian Brewing Awards, 7-times “Best Craft Brewery in Ontario” (2007-2013) and 6-times “Best Craft Beer in Ontario” (2007-2011; 2014) at the Golden Tap Awards. As a Certified B-Corporation, Beau’s meets higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Beau’s beer is available in Ontario, Québec, and New York State. Oh yeah!