Brewers in British Columbia took some time off to celebrate their craft on Friday evening at the B.C. Beer Awards, even as continuing uncertainty clouds the industry.
The annual awards and beer festival took place for the second year at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster, closing out the B.C. Craft Brewers Conference.
Taking home the marquee awards this year were Smithers Brewing Company, which won best in show for its Smithersbräu Festbier, and Camp Beer Co. in Langley, which was named brewery of the year after being awarded one gold and four silver medals for its beers.
Paul Hadfield, who co-founded the pioneering Spinnakers brewpub in Victoria in 1984, was given the legend award, while the Rookie of the Year award went to Checkerhead Brewing in the small Vancouver Island community of Shirley.
Winning multiple awards for their beer were Penticton-based Tin Whistle Brewing (two gold, one silver, two bronze), Burnaby’s Dageraad Brewing (two gold, one silver, one bronze), Smithers Brewing (two gold, one bronze) and Phillips Brewing in Victoria (one gold, two bronze).
A total of 883 beers were judged for the 2025 awards. (B.C. Beer Awards)Storm brewing since COVID
A total of 883 beers were judged across 30 style categories for the awards, which first took place in 2010, as the province’s craft beer scene began to boom.
The industry has fallen on hard times since the COVID-19 pandemic, however, with high inflation, supply-chain issues and rising costs for everything from equipment to ingredients and rent causing some of the province’s 200-plus breweries to curtail operations or close completely.
“It has been chaos since COVID … we’ve never recovered,” said Ken Beattie, executive director of the B.C. Craft Brewers Guild, who also cited factors like the war in the grain-growing hub of Ukraine, U.S. tariffs, and climate-related events like wildfires and the 2021 floods in southern B.C.
The most recent challenge is the ongoing job action by the B.C. Government Employees’ Union, with government liquor stores currently closed and beer deliveries stalled.
Bigger independent breweries who rely on the government system for deliveries are now scrambling to deliver their product themselves, while pallets of their beer remain behind picket lines in Liquor Distribution Branch warehouses, Beattie says.
He estimates these bigger craft breweries are currently losing on average 50-60 per cent of their sales every day.
The job action is “exposing issues around how beer is sold and distributed in this province,” he said.
“It really exposes how fragile the industry is. It shows how only a few people control the supply chain.”
But Beattie still has room for optimism, with Friday’s awards an important opportunity to celebrate what’s great about the province’s craft beer industry and community.
His hope is that attendees will be inspired to visit their local breweries while government liquor stores remain closed.
“It’s the beer business — we’ve got to be optimistic,” he said.
Awards trophies for the 2024 B.C. Beer Awards (B.C. Beer Awards)
Here’s the complete list of winners of the 2025 B.C. Beer Awards:
International Lager
Gold Tin Whistle Brewing — Black Widow
Silver Yellow Dog Brewing — El Perro Cerveza Clara
Bronze Hoyne Brewing — Por Favor Cerveza
Pale Malty European Lager
Gold Smithers Brewing — Smithersbräu Festbier
Silver Bomber Brewing — Oktoberfest Munich lager
Bronze Trading Post Brewing — Helles Lager
Pale Bitter European Beer
Gold Hoyne Brewing — North Star Light Lager
Silver The Beer Farmers — Kolsch
Bronze Slackwater Brewing — Headwaters Pilsner
Czech Lager
Gold Four Winds Beach House — Antithesis
Silver Gladstsone Brewing — Gladstone Pilsner
Bronze Kelowna Beer Institute — Pilsner
German Pils
Gold Parallel 49 Brewing Bierfest — German Pilsner
Silver Four Winds Brewing — Huftgold Pilsner
Bronze Slow Hand Beer Co. — Mediterranean Pilsner
American Light Lager
Gold Red Truck Brewing — Red Truck Lite Lager
Silver Camp Beer Co. — Camp Light
Bronze Neighbourhood Brewing — Amigos Crisp Lager
German Wheat Beer
Gold Brassneck Brewing — Umlaut
Silver Shaketown Brewing — Banana Brown
Bronze Mariner Brewing — Hefeweizen
Amber and Dark British Beer
Gold Mountainview Brewing — Serpent’s Back Carribean Stout
Silver Camp Beer Co. — S’mores Milk Stout
Bronze Whitetooth Brewing — Dogtooth Rover Red
Amber and Dark European Beer
Gold Sherwood Mountain Brew House — Munich Lager
Silver Vancouver Island Brewing — Hermann’s Dark Lager
Bronze Mile Zero Brewing — Porter
Pale Commonwealth Beer
Gold Off The Rail Brewing — Kama Citra
Silver Russell Brewing — A Wee Scotch Ale
Bronze Copper Brewing — House IPA
American Pale Ale
Gold Vancouver Island Brewing — Mystic Haze Pale Ale
Silver Beach Fire Brewing — High Tide Pale
Bronze Wildeye Brewing — Ramble on Pale Ale
American IPA
Gold Smithers Brewing Co. — Hipster Fuel IPA
Silver Mount Arrowsmith Brewing Co. — Jagged Face IPA
Bronze Steel & Oak Brewing Co. — The Breaks
Hazy IPA
Gold Fern & Cedar — Organized Chaos
Silver Boombox Brewing — Juicy AF
Bronze Fern & Cedar Brewing — Stick Together NEIPA
Specialty IPA
Gold Beere Brewing — Okay, Bye
Silver Driftwood Brewery — Naughty Hildegard
Bronze Beach Fire Brewing — White IPA
Standard American Beer
Gold Slackwater Brewing — Lo-Tide Light Lager
Silver Dageraad Brewing — Dart Lager
Bronze Tin Whistle Brewing — Coyote Lager
Strong American Ale
Gold Beva Brewing + Blending — Triple Denim
Silver Camp Beer Co. — Merchants Of Barley
Bronze Streetcar Brewing — Double West Coast IPA
American Amber and Brown Beer
Gold Deadfall Brewing — Basal Brown Ale
Silver Gladstone Brewing — Gladstone Red Ale
Bronze Bayview Brewing — Cowichan Valley Common
American Porter and Stout
Gold Camp Beer Co. — Barrel Aged Flannel Pyjamas 2025
Silver Herald Street Brew Works — Archfiend
Bronze Abandoned Rail Brewing Co. — Bellhop Porter
Specialty and Historical Beer
Gold Tin Whistle Brewing — Cherry Blossom Japanese Lager
Silver No Brainer — Brassneck Brewing
Bronze Smithers Brewing — Let’s Get Ready to Crumble
Mixed Style Beer
Gold Superflux Beer Co. — FOM
Silver Patina Brewing — Italian Pilsner
Bronze Tin Whistle Brewing — Real Good Light Beer
Alternative Fermentables Beer
Gold Abandoned Rail — Gluten Schmuten Gluten Free Citrus Pale Ale
Silver Camp Beer Co. — Tequila Sunrise
Bronze Whistler Brewing — Whistler Forager Grapefruit Ale
Non Alcoholic
Gold Steamworks Brewing Co. — Non-Alcoholic Lions Gate Lager
Silver Strange Fellows Brewing — Nevertheless IPA
Bronze Central City Brewery — Street Legal Pilsner
Specialty and Spice/Fruit Beer
Gold Twin City Brewing — Vanishing Act
Silver Land & Sea Brewing Co. — Sunset Gose
Bronze The Office Brewery — Circle Back Raspberry Porter
Fruit Beer
Gold Phillips Brewing + Malting Co. — Dinosour Dragonfruit Lychee
Silver Deadfall Brewing — Cherry Porter
Bronze Phillips Brewing & Malting — Dinosour Passionfruit Orange Guava
Spiced Beer
Gold Category 12 Brewing — Spruce Tip IPA
Silver Tin Whistle Brewing — Glorious Hazelnut Coffee Milk Stout
Bronze Phillips Brewing & Malting — Crooked Tooth Nitro
Wood Beer
Gold Mountainview Brewing Co. — Barrel-Aged Serpent’s Back
Silver The Patch Brewery — 1879: The Patch Pilsner
Bronze Rustic Reel Brewing Co. — Barrel-aged Whiskey Stout
Belgian Ale
Gold Dageraad Brewing — Field Theory
Silver Driftwood Brewery — White Bark
Bronze R&B Brewing — Picnic Table Beer
Belgian Strong Ale
Gold Dageraad Brewing — Blonde
Silver KPU Brewing — Dubbel Date
Bronze Dageraad Brewing — Antigoon
European Sour Ale
Gold Copper Brewing — Oud Bruin
Silver 33 Acres — Mezcal Lime Gose
Bronze Ile Sauvage Brewing Co. — Pinot Sour
American Wild Ale
Gold Whistle Buoy Brewing — Fuzzy Peach
Silver Beva Brewing & Blending — Sprezza
Bronze Sooke Brewing Co. — Saison Brett
BEST IN SHOW
Smithers Brewing Company — Smithersbräu Festbier
BREWERY OF THE YEAR
Camp Beer Co.
LEGEND AWARD
Paul Hadfield, Spinnakers
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Checkerhead Brewing