The idea behind the Canadian Brewer of the Year award initially started floating around at executive meetings of the Edmonton Homebrewers Guild in 2008. The EHG was trying to address a problem most homebrew clubs face: how to increase the number of out-of-town entries? Someone floated the idea of recognizing individual and club excellence across the country through some sort of official website and perhaps a trophy sometime in the future. The difficulty in getting entries across the border to the NHC and MCAB finals also motivated this decision. Everyone agreed it was an idea worth pursuing and this website is the result.
So how does it work? If your club has hosted a homebrew competition, the three things we require are a list of winning brewers (gold, silver and bronze) along with their homebrew club, the date of the competition, and that the competition be open to entries from any Canadian homebrewer. Members of the EHG will compile this information over each brewing year, beginning in July and ending in June. At the end of the brewing year (June), a list of the top 50 Canadian homebrewers and top homebrew clubs will be published on the site. Gold medal winners receive 3 points, silver 2, and bronze 1. If more than one brewer is specified, the points are divided evenly amongst them. Past winners will be archived so that a proud brewer may always be able to point out their accomplishment to appreciative friends, coworkers and family.
The possibility of being named one of Canada's top brewers will surely increase the number of entries each qualifying competition will receive, and this is the goal of the program. Healthy homebrew clubs will increase the profile and ultimate quality of homebrewing. As homebrewers, this benefits us all.
That's it. The EHG is floating the cost of the website as part of their normal operations so a competition registration fee from participating clubs is not required. However, if a club wishes to donate a trophy we surely won't decline. We are also willing to entertain the prospect of every participating club pitching in to purchase a single trophy that will make the rounds or a new trophy every year.
Note that you don't have to be a Canadian citizen to participate - you just have to live in Canada.
Cheers!
- Canadian Homebrewer of the Year organizing committee, September 2009