Best Beers of BC - Nelson Tap Takeover | Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism

Best Beers of BC - Nelson Tap Takeover

This 9 day event features an unbeerlievable lineup of the winning beers, straight from The BC Beer Awards.

Have you clicked that you are attending on our Facebook Event?

The BC Beer Awards is an annual celebration that recognizes and honours excellence in the craft beer industry in British Columbia. They showcase the diverse range of high-quality beers produced by local breweries throughout the province. It typically brings together breweries, brewers, industry professionals, and beer enthusiasts to celebrate the artistry, innovation, and craftsmanship behind BC's thriving craft beer scene.

Now, it is time to bring these world class kegs to Nelson, the brainchild of beer fanatic Chad Hansen, owner of Broken Hill, who is excited to “shine a light on new incredible beers people haven't yet tried”. Ryan Martin, of the Hume Hotel, agrees that it's “the perfect way to bring the best beers in the province to our town.” To enhance the experience, each tap house will have live entertainment. This gets better all the time, right?

Get ready for an even grander affair in 2024 as the tap house line up expands with the addition of Uptown Sportsbar. The inclusion of another incredible tap house brings an extra offering of 5 more beers to savour amidst the already delicious lineup.

Brew-tiful BC

BC makes some of the “best beer in not only Canada, but the world”, Chad notes. “Nelson got a big head start in craft beer with Nelson Brewing Company opening in the early 90’s, long before most small towns had even heard of beer being brewed locally”. Today Nelson’s a craft beer lover's dream, “we should count the taps in this town!”, Ryan exclaims. With newer breweries such as Backroads and Torchlight adding to the rich beer culture, and a lively restaurant and bar scene, it’s clear that craft beer is what the people want to drink.

Hansen has joined together Nelson's “best beer focused bars” for this tap takeover:

Each venue will have five taps dedicated to these BC Beer Awards kegs. The Royal’s owner Nicole Coetzee Forest-Smith says its a “fantastic opportunity for new breweries to be featured and industry vets to get together and celebrate everything craft beer in BC.”

Our hop tips

The four craft beer bars, and their seasoned hopheads owners, can’t wait to tap the kegs of the winning beers for the first time. Both Chad and Ryan are most excited by the International Lager gold medal winner Czech Pilsner, from North Vancouver’s Wildeye Brewing. While Backcountry’s Widowmaker IPA (silver) from Squamish is one of Hansen’s “best IPAs (he’s) ever had”. For Nicole, her favourite’s are Brassneck, whose brewer Nigel Springthorpe won this year's Legends Award, and Dageraad. The latter is “bar none making the best Belgian inspired beers in BC.” She’s really delighted to have Dageraad’s gold winning Saison Field Theory on the taps. We are sure all the beers are going to be lager than life!

Grab your beer passport to win

Remember to pick up your beer passport! They are available at all of the participating craft beer bars. Don't know where to start? Why not begin at Uptown Sportsbar, walk over to nearby Jackson’s Hole, head to Mike’s Place Pub next, and then wander up Baker Street to Broken Hill and finish at The Royal? Order, sip and stamp. Nicole’s advice is to "order smaller glasses or a flight, to fill your passport responsibly". Or you can spread your sips out over the five days. Ryan agrees, "take your time and make it an adventure soaking up the different vibes in each place”.

Once you’ve got all five stamps, one from each venue, don’t forget to upload photos of both sides of your completed passport here to be entered into a draw to win an epic prize! Check out the prize list at the bottom of this page.

Beer List

Why not have a peak at the event beer list? You have 9 days to taste these 25 award-winning beers. We hope you're thirsty.

Broken Hill

Whitetooth Brewing Co. - Blonde Ale - 1st North American Light Ale
Container Brewing Ltd - Twice Forgotten - 1st Imperial IPA
R&B Brewing Co - Picnic Table Beer - 3rd Saison
Vice and Virtue - Love Potion - 2nd Fruit Beer
Backcountry - Widowmaker - 2nd Hazy IPA

Mike's Place

Old Jalopy - Powell Brewery - 3rd Hoppy UK Ale
Black Velvet Sout - Powell Brewery - 1st UK Irish Stout
Moody Ales – Vienna Lager – 3rd Place Amber Lager
Brune - Dageraad Brewing - 3rd Belgian Ale
Hoyne Dark Matter – 1st Malty UK & Irish Ale

The Royal

Powell - Hop Juice - 2nd Specialty IPA
Field House - Toasted Coconut Black Lager - 1st Specialty Fruit Beer
Abandoned Rail Brewing Co. - Marzen Bavarian Lager - 2nd Amber Alger
Bomber - Skyline Lager - 3rd International Lager

Uptown Sportsbar

Trailbreaker - Backcountry Brewing - 3rd North American Pale Ale
East Van Brewing - Rice Lager - 2nd North American Light Ale
Hoyne Brewing Co. - Svec Czech Half Dark Lager - 1st Amber Lager
Yellowdog Brewing - Play Dead IPA - 3rd North American IPA

Jackson's Hole

Dageraad Blonde Ale - 2nd Belgian Ale
Wide Eye - Embers Oak Smoked Porter - 3rd Smoke & Wood Aged Beer
Yellow Dog - Retriever - 2nd Hoppy UK Ale
Neighbourhood - Johnny's Pale Ale - 1st North American Amber and Brown Ale

Entertainment

What's better than beer with a side of entertainment? “All four tap houses have musician's planned, so check out what's on if you're looking for a show” says Nicole.

Jan 13 - Uptown Sportsbar: The Lemon Drops
Jan 18 - The Royal: Pat Alexandre w/ Mr Dr Brotherman
Jan 19 - Jackson's Hole: Jaded Hearts
Jan 20 - Mike's Place Pub: Heavy Lighters
Jan 21 - Broken Hill: Dwayne Orvis @ 7pm (CLOSING CEREMONY)

Prizes

Enter to win an epic prize from Broken Hill, Mike's Place Pub, Jackson's Hole, The Royal and Uptown Sportsbar. Check out what's up for grabs below. This is a giveaway you don't want to miss out on.