Best Beers of BC - Nelson Tap Takeover

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Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2022 Best Beers of BC Tap Takeover. Four winners have been drawn for each of the prize packs. Stay tuned for next year.

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

For the first time since 2019 the BC Beer Awards have finally returned to Vancouver with some big brewing announcements in November 2022.

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? 

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:

• The Royal
• Jackson’s Hole and Grill
• Mike’s Place Pub
• Broken Hill

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

Don’t forget to pick up your beer passport! They are available at all of the participating craft beer bars. Try a one day tour and start at Jackson’s Hole, walk over to nearby Mike’s Place Pub 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 four stamps, one from each venue, don’t forget to drop off your completed beer passport at any of the tap houses 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 5 days to taste these 20 award-winning beers. We hope you're thirsty.

Broken Hill

• Steamworks Brewing Co. – Kolsch – 3rd Best Kolsch
• Locality Brewing – Haywire Blackberry Blueberry Sour – Innovator of the Year
• Locality - Smoked Dopplebock – Innovator of the Year
• Barkerville Brewing Co. – 52 Foot Stout – 1st UK & Irish Stout
• Smugglers Trail Caskworks – Jet Boat Race Imperial IPA – Rookie of the Year

The Hume

• Moody Ales & Co. – West Coast IPA – 1st North American IPA
• Cannery Brewing Co. – Thornless Blackberry Porter – 1st Fruit Beer
• Wildeye Brewing – Czech Pilsner – 1st International Pale Lager
• Russell Brewing – Pale Ale – 1st Hoppy UK Ale
• Phillips Brewing & Malting Co. – Blue Buck – 2nd Northern American Amber & Brown Ale

Jackson's Hole

• Steamworks Brewing Co. – Kolsch – 3rd Best Kolsch
• Phillips Brewing & Malting Co. – Blue Buck – 2nd Northern American Amber & Brown Ale
• Fisher Peak Brewing – Elephant IPA – 3rd Hoppy UK Ale
• Backcountry Brewing Widowmaker – East Coast Hazy IPA – 2nd Hazy IPA
• Barkerville Brewing Co. – 52 Foot Stout – 1st UK & Irish Stout

The Royal

• Brassneck – Klutz Kolsh – #1 Kolsh
• Brassneck – No Brainer – #2 North American Lite Larger
• Dageraad – Brune – #2 Belgian Strong Ale
• 33 Acres Brewing Co. – Euphoria – #1 Belgian Strong Ale
• 33 Acres Brewing Co. – Darkness – #3 Dark Larger 

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 25 - The Royal: Captain Jacky Legs, Mara Vitola and Diana Roze
Jan 26 - Jackson's Hole: Kurt McQuaid and Friend
Jan 27 - Broken Hill: Hoola & the Gang w/ Breakfluid & Dubconcious @7pm - 11pm
Jan 28 - Mike's Pub: Duo of Randy McShaner & Jordan Bonin @5pm and Vinyl Funk set with Rich Rabnett & Rafferty Funksmith @8:30pm

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

Prizes

An incredible prize list has been curated by Broken Hill, Mike's Place Pub, Jackson's Hole and The Royal. Check out what's up for grabs below. This is a giveaway you don't want to miss out on.

Broken Hill (valued at $400) - Winner: Sian Hughes

• Craft Beer Tasting Menu
• Shebang BBQ Platter for 4-6 People
• Appetizers + Dessert
• Merch Pack

Mike's Place Pub (valued at $400) - Winner: Katie Strong

• One Night's Stay at The Hume
• Marzano $100 Gift Card
• 2 Tickets to The Lover’s Cocktail Cabaret – A Valentine’s Burlesque Show in Spiritbar

Jackson's Hole (valued at $350) - Winner: Mr. Shauna

• Phillips Brewing Beer Fridge
• $100 Gift Card

The Royal (valued at $300) - Winner: Morgan Davis

• $100 Gift Card
• Merch Pack
• Free Cover for 4 People to any February Show

Enjoy this new event and enjoy tasting the many taps!

#FindingAwesome  | #NelsonTapTakeover