Huskies clinch postseason spot with 22-20 win over Rams
22h ago
Regina's playoff hopes are still alive despite the loss in Saskatoon.
The drinks were pouring in Westminster, B.C., for the 2024 Canada Beer Cup on Friday, and Regina’s Pile O’ Bones Brewing Company joined forces with Nokomis Craft Ales to come home with the biggest prize of all — best of show.
Josh Morrison, President of Pile O’ Bones, said the collaborative win is a dream come true.
“We all started as home brewers in competitions against each other,” he said. “It was really a desire to try to make the best beer possible that drove us to all come together. And it really feels like after eight years, we’ve achieved that dream. We’ve made the best beer in Canada.”
The Canada Beer Cup is the country’s only not-for-profit national craft beer competition run by the industry for the industry.
The winning beer is called “Quark, Strangeness, Charm.”
“It’s a Belgian witbier beer, so it’s got wheat and barley,” Morrison said. “It’s very light tasting, with a bit of spices, little bit of orange, little bit of coriander, absolutely delicious.”
The name comes from an inside joke from head brewer Nathan — Morrison said even he doesn’t know the story behind it.
Top beer ‘Quark, Strangeness, Charm’ is a Belgian witbier style that is ‘very light tasting, with a bit of spices, little bit of orange, little bit of coriander.’
READ MORE:
- Dewdney construction causing challenges for businesses
- Brewers help raise money for struggling colleagues through beer sales
- Pitcher perfect: Saskatoon brewery preparing for expansion
While collaborating, Pile O’ Bones and Nokomis were aiming to make a summer beer.
“We wanted to make a wheat beer and to make it a little more approachable so we added a little bit of spice to it, just to make it interesting and complex,” he said. “Even though it’s an easy drinking beer, there’s still a lot going on in it.”
On top of bragging rights and a hand-blown glass trophy for its taproom, the win also secures the brewery a spot in next year’s competition.
“We get a chance to repeat as the best beer in Canada next year,” Morrison said.
Last year’s top winner was Basal Brown, a brown ale from B.C’s Deadfall Brewing. Deadfall’s Brandon Baerwald, who got into brewing at Nokomis, got to had over the award to his own mentor from Nokomis.
Morrison said it was a full circle moment.
“That was kind of a cool story … the best beers, the best brewers, all seem to come from here in Saskatchewan,” he said.
Pile O’ Bones won an additional two gold medals and a bronze medal at the event, while Nokomis also won a silver medal.
READ MORE: