Beer column: BC brewery wins top honours at 2023 Canada Beer Cup

It didn’t take long for a small brewery in northern British Columbia to make its presence known in the Canadian craft beer world.

Prince George’s Deadfall Brewing Company only opened up shop in the spring of 2022, but they’ve already added one of the top craft beer honours in the country to their trophy case.

Late last month, Deadfall’s Basal Brown Ale won the prestigious best of show award at the 2023 Canada Beer Cup.

The brewery describes the award-winning beer as a wonderfully malty, hoppy, dark ale.

“Earthy. Bold. Balanced.”

The highly-acclaimed judging panel at the annual awards show clearly agreed, as Basal beat out around 1,200 other beers from more than 250 Canadian breweries to win the trophy.

Basal is a creation of brewmaster Brandon Baerwald and it has been on tap at the brewery since the beginning, one of six staple beers you can always find at Deadfall.

In a video published to the brewery’s social media page after winning the award, Baerwald was emotional talking about what the honour meant to him and the team.

“This recipe goes back to my homebrew days and I am so happy that it’s getting some recognition, so thank you,” he said, fighting back tears.

Deadfall was also livestreaming the awards show at the brewery the night it was announced, which meant Baerwald and others got to soak in the win alongside their loyal patrons.

And the Canada Beer Cup honours weren’t the only ones bestowed on Deadfall in October, as they also won a provincial award less than a week earlier.

The brewery’s Cold IPA won gold in the Specialty IPA category at the 2023 BC Beer Awards as well.

Unfortunately, the Cold IPA was a seasonal creation by Baerwald that you won’t currently be able to find, but it’s safe to say it will make a return at some point after winning gold.

It’s also safe to say that we should be hearing a lot more from Deadfall, which can now tout itself as an award-winning brewery, in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

Josh Duncan is the NowMedia news director and a craft beer lover. Reach him at [email protected]. His beer column appears every Saturday afternoon in this space.