Rob Mangelsdorf •

It’s the festive season, so let’s celebrate all the incredible craft beer being brewed in our province—and what better way to do that than with the Growler’s 2019 B.C. Craft Beer Readers’ Choice Awards!

Unlike other craft beer awards and contests, the Growlies (as we like to call them) are decided by you, the beer-drinking public.



Close to 200 breweries around B.C. produced thousands upon thousands of different beers this year. So we gathered a panel of more than 25 professional cicerones, certified beer judges, beer writers, industry insiders and altogether massive beer nerds to whittle down the field to 10 nominees in each category. Of course, if you didn’t like the judge’s choices, you still had the opportunity to vote for your favourite, no matter what it was.

Abbotsford’s Field House Brewing was the big winner this year, with nine gold medals, including Brewery of the Year. For the second year in a row, Driftwood’s Fat Tug IPA took the gold in the West Coast/Specialty IPA category, and moved up from silver last year to take the coveted Beer of the Year title. Four Winds took home nine awards—including gold for Best Farmhouse/Wild/Brett Ale (Juxtapose), Best Wood-Aged Beer (Norwood) and Best Sour Ale (Nectarous)—while Port Alberni’s Twin City Brewing won seven medals, including the Unsung Hero award for best small market brewery.

So without further ado, here are the full results, as decided by you…

Brewery of the Year

1) Field House Brewing

2) Twin City Brewing

3) Four Winds Brewing

Beer of the Year

1) Driftwood Brewery – Fat Tug IPA

2) Backcountry Brewing – Widowmaker IPA

3) Parkside Brewery – Dreamboat Hazy IPA

Best West Coast/Specialty India Pale Ale

1) Driftwood Brewery – Fat Tug IPA

2) Brassneck Brewery – Passive Aggressive

3) Twin City Brewing ­– Run Of The Mill IPA

Best East Coast/Hazy IPA

1) Twin Sails Brewing – Juice Plus

2) Category 12 Brewing – Juicy Data

3) Parkside Brewery – Humans, an IPA for the People

Best North American-Style ale

1) Twin Sails Brewing – Dat Juice

2) Strange Fellows Brewing – Talisman Pale Ale

3) Four Winds Brewing – Velo

Best UK-Style Ale

1) Driftwood Brewery ­– Naughty Hildegard ESB

2) Hoyne Brewing – Appleton ESB

3) Riot Brewing ­– Working Class Hero Dark Mild

Best Dark Ale

1) Hoyne Brewing – Dark Matter

2) Field House Brewing – Salted Black Porter

3) Crannóg Ales – Backhand of God

Best Light/Amber Lager

1) Steel & Oak Brewing – Simple Things

2) Four Winds Brewing – Huft Gold

3) Hoyne Brewing – Helios

Best Dark Lager

1) Field House Brewing – Toasted Coconut Black Lager

2) Steel & Oak Brewing – Dark Lager

3) Tofino Brewing – Dark Lager

Best Belgian-Style Ale

1) Dageraad Brewing – Blonde

2) Four Winds Brewing – Triplicity

3) Strange Fellows Brewing – Reynard

Best Farmhouse / Wild / Brett Ale

1) Four Winds Brewing – Juxtapose

2) Field House Brewing – Sauvignon Blanc Wild Farmhouse Ale

3) Yellow Dog Brewing – Ferocious Wild IPA

Best Wood-aged Beer

1) Four Winds Brewing – Norwood

2) Île Sauvage Brewing – Feu Vert

3) Boombox Brewing – Rum Barrel Midnight Train

Best Imperial Ale/Lager

1) Vancouver Island Brewing – Hermannator

2) Superflux Beer Co. – Double Infinity (Citra)

3) Driftwood Brewing – Singularity

Best Sour Ale

1) Four Winds Brewing – Nectarous

2) Yellow Dog Brewing – Sour Red Ale

3) Luppolo Brewing ­– Black Lime Gose

Best Wheat Ale

1) Twin Sails Brewing – Would Crush

2) Dageraad Brewing – De Witte

3) Moon Under Water Brewing – This Is Hefeweizen

Best Fruit Beer

1) Field House Brewing – Dark Sour: Blackberry + Blueberry

2) Île Sauvage Brewing – Raspberry Sour

3) Twin City Brewing – Late Bloomer

Best Collab Beer

1) Yellow Dog/Superflux – Friends With Benefits

2) Yellow Dog/House of Funk – Patience is a Virtue

3) Four Winds/Dageraad/Powell – Ten: VCBW 10th Anniversary Collab

Best Low-Alcohol Beer

1) Field House Brewing – Sour Wheat Gose

2) Parallel 49 Brewing – Tricycle Radler

3) Four Winds Brewing – Sour Weisse

Best New Brewery

1) House of Funk Brewing

2) Île Sauvage Brewing

3) Slackwater Brewing

Unsung Hero

1) Twin City Brewing (Port Alberni)

2) Vice & Virtue Brewing Co. (Kelowna)

T-3) LoveShack Libations (Qualicum)

T-3) Slackwater Brewing (Penticton)

Best Tasting Room

1) Field House Brewing

2) The Parkside Brewery

3) Phillips Brewing & Malting Co.

Best Food Program

1) Field House Brewing

2) Twin City Brewing

3) Vice & Virtue Brewing Co.

Best Branding / Packaging

1) Driftwood Brewery

2) Field House Brewing

3) Superflux Beer Co.

Best Local Homebrewing Store

1) Barley’s Homebrewing

2) Hamilton Hops and Grapes

3) Centennial Homebrewing Supplies

Best Craft Beer Bar

1) The Alibi Room

2) The Drake Eatery

3) CRAFT Beer Market Vancouver

Best Craft Beer Retail Store

1) Brewery Creek Liquor Store

2) Legacy Liquor

3) Cascadia Liquor Stores (all locations)

Best Craft Beer Festival / Event

1) Vancouver Craft Beer Week

2) Great Canadian Beer Festival

3) Okanagan Fest of Ale

Best place to take a Tinder Date

1) Field House Brewing

2) Brassneck Brewery

3) 33 Acres Brewing

Best Board Game Selection

1) Twin City Brewing

2) Tree Brewing Beer Institute

T-3) Moody Ales

T-3) Riot Brewing

Best Place to Drink in the Afternoon Without Judgement

1) Field House Brewing

2) Twin City Brewing

3) Wildeye Brewing

Best Brewery to Bring the Kids

1) Field House Brewing

2) The Parkside Brewery

3) Yellow Dog Brewing

Most Dog-Friendly Brewery

1) The Parkside Brewery

2) Yellow Dog Brewing

3) Field House Brewing