REGINA, SK– From April 9 to 14, 2012, the best homebrewers from across Canada will compete in Regina at the 2012 National Homebrew Competition Canadian Qualifier & ALES Homebrew Open.

Now in its 18th year, the ALES Homebrew Open is the largest and longest running competition of homebrewed beer, cider and mead in Canada. It is organized by Regina’s Ale and Lager Enthusiasts of Saskatchewan (ALES) club, and is hosted by the Bushwakker Brewpub.

Medal winners from this competition advance to the 2nd round of the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition, the largest competition of its kind in the world, taking place June 21 to 23 in Seattle during the AHA National Homebrewers Conference. Additionally, any medals won earn points towards the Canadian Brewer of the Year award for 2012.

Prizes and medals will be awarded in 28 categories of beer, cider and mead as classified by the internationally recognized Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). Certified judges will be evaluating entries in accordance with BJCP style guidelines and scoring systems, and awarding gold, silver and bronze medals in each category, along with an assortment of prizes donated by sponsors from throughout North America.

Submission details and other information about the competition can be found on the ALES website, or by emailing competition@alesclub.com.

Now, Great Lakes Brewery is about to release another of the award winning brews. Created by Zack Weinberg of homebrew suppliers Toronto Brewing, Kama Stoutra Indian Imperial Stout is a strong stout made with various flavourings including Madras curry, cayenne pepper, cumin and toasted coconut.

Weinberg and Great Lakes brewer Mike Lackey brewed a batch of Kama Stoutra in late November on the brewery’s pilot system. The results will be on tap at the next edition of Great Lakes’ monthly open house event Project X on Thursday January 12th. A limited amount may be also be made available in 650 ml bottles at the brewery store.

HALIFAX, NS

Entrants will produce a 5 gallon/20 litre batch of this year’s chosen style – Rye IPA – and submit it for judging & prizes. The grand prize includes a day with Garrison’s award-winning brewmaster Daniel Girard brewing a full batch of the winning recipe to be released in bottles as a limited edition seasonal, and there are also prizes from contest sponsor Noble Grape.

The deadline for registering and submitting samples for judging is Monday, February 27, 2011. For more details, see the Ultimate Brew-Off website.

One of the participating breweries was Amsterdam Brewing, and they’ve announced that winning brewer Jeremy Skorochid recently visited for a brew day. The result was a production batch of Skorochid’s Black IPA recipe, The Nightman Cometh.

Similar to last year’s winner, Teichert Smoked Porter, the beer will be available exclusively at the Amsterdam retail store where it will be sold in 500 ml bottles on a first come first served basis. It’s expected to be released in early December.

Presented in cooperation with Amsterdam Brewing, the 2011 Learn2Brew day will be taking place on Saturday, November 5th from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM in Amsterdam’s brewing facility at 21 Bathurst Street in Toronto. The SOBs will be demonstrating a range of homebrewing techniques and equipment from single-vessel systems through larger 3-vessel breweries, with at least 12 stations on-site brewing a variety of ales and lagers during the demonstration.

According to event co-organizer Jason Stranak, the Learn2Brew day is intended to “attract members of the public with an interest in craft beer, homebrewing or anyone who enjoys tasting and learning about hand-crafted full-flavoured beer.  We are inviting the public to come out to view the beer brewing demonstrations and learn about the hobby and ask questions about the brewing process.”

Amsterdam brewmaster Jamie Mistry will also be on hand, and there will be public tours of the brewery and Amsterdam beers available to sample throughout the day.

Entries for this BJCP sanctioned event will be accepted between April 1st and April 27th, with all BJCP styles eligible for entry.

Judging will take place between April 27th and May 11th, and the winners will be announced at an event during Vancouver Craft Beer Week. The grand prize winner will receive $3000, and will have their beer brewed for commercial release by Russell Brewing.

For full rules and other details, see the Competition website.

Beers on tap at the event will include:

• Scott Tilford’s Witbier, winner of the 2010 Brew-Off
• The top four Schwarzbier Brew-Off 2011 submissions
• Sticke Alt by judge Patrice Godin (Acadie-Broue)
• Schwarzbier by Haynes brothers (Noble Grape)
• and a large selection of Garrison beers

All entrants in this year’s Brew-Off competition will receive two free tickets to the Gala, with all other tickets selling for $5. For more details, see the Brew-Off page on the Garrison website.

REGINA, SK

Now in its 17th year, the ALES Homebrew Open is the largest and longest running competition of homebrewed beer, cider and mead in Canada. It is organized by Regina’s Ale and Lager Enthusiasts of Saskatchewan (ALES) club, and is hosted by the Bushwakker Brewpub.

Medal winners from this competition advance to the 2nd round of the American Homebrewers Association National Homebrew Competition (June 16th to 18th in San Diego), which is the largest competition of its kind in the world. The ALES Homebrew Open has served as the NHC Canadian Qualifier since 2004.

Prizes and medals will be awarded in 28 categories of beer, cider and mead as classified by the internationally recognized Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). Certified judges will be evaluating entries in accordance with BJCP style guidelines and scoring systems.

Entrants will produce a 5 gallon/20 litre batch of this year’s chosen style – Schwarzbier (Black Beer) – and submit it for judging & prizes. The grand prize includes a day with Garrison’s award-winning brewmaster Daniel Girard brewing a full batch of the winning recipe to be released in bottles as a limited edition seasonal, and there are also prizes from contest sponsor Noble Grape.

The deadline for registering and submitting samples for judging is Monday, February 21, 2011. For more details, see the Ultimate Brew-Off website.

VANKLEEK HILL, ON

This year’s beer is called Boomerweiss, and was developed and brewed by John Blaine, CABA Homebrewer of the Year for 2010, in collaboration with the Beau’s team.

Boomerweiss features an intense banana flavour that goes all the way to 11 and is complimented by clove-like spiciness and a bubblegum aroma. Lively carbonation helps to accentuate this classic hefeweizen’s drinkability.

Boomerweiss is now available at the Beau’s brewery store, and will be officially launched with a release party on Friday December 10th at 7:00 PM at Rhino Bar & Grill, 1549 Queen Street West in Toronto, .