At Great Lakes Brewery we are always striving to surpass your expectations.

Here are some of our past achievements. To read more about our multi-award winning performance at the 2007 Canadian Brewing Awards, click here.

2007: Gold Medal, Canadian Brewing Awards, North American Style Amber Lager
(Red Leaf)
 
2007: Silver Medal, Canadian Brewing Awards, North American Style Lager
(Golden Horseshoe)
 
2007: Bronze Medal, Canadian Brewing Awards, North American Style Dark Lager
(Black Jack)
 
2007: Bronze Medal, Canadian Brewing Awards, Fruit & Vegetable Beer (Pumpkin Ale)

2007: Silver Medal, Ontario Brewing Awards, Specialty/Flavoured Beer (Winter Ale)

2007: Bronze Medal, Ontario Brewing Awards, Amber Lager (Red Leaf)

2006: Bronze Medal, World Beer Cup, American-Style Black Lager (Black Jack)

2006: Bronze Medal, Canadian Brewing Awards, North American Style Dark Lager
(Black Jack)

2005: Silver Medal, Canadian Brewing Awards, North American Style Lager
(Golden Horseshoe)

2005: Silver Medal, Canadian Brewing Awards, North American Style Dark Lager
(Black Jack)

2004: Silver Medal, Canadian Brewing Awards, North American Style Lager
(Golden Horseshoe)

2000: Gold Medal, Great Canadian Brewing Festival, Dark Lagers (Red Leaf)


Great Lakes Brewery
Honoured at Canadian Brewing Awards

Wins 4 Medals in Annual National Competition

Runner-up as Brewery of the Year

ETOBICOKE, ON – November 22, 2007 – Great Lakes Brewery, Toronto’s oldest craft brewery, was awarded four medals at the Fifth Annual Canadian Brewing Awards held on November 21.

Four of the six beers submitted by Great Lakes earned medals:

  • Red Leaf Smooth Red Lager: Gold Medal, North American Style Amber Lager
  • Golden Horseshoe Premium Lager: Silver Medal, North American Style Lager
  • Black Jack Premium Black Lager: Bronze Medal, North American Style Dark Lager
  • Great Lakes Pumpkin Ale: Bronze Medal, Fruit & Vegetable Beer

“To be honoured with 4 medals at this prestigious event is a huge accomplishment,” said Peter Bulut Jr., Vice President, Great Lakes Brewery. “It shows that we’re brewing some of the best beers in the country right here in Ontario.”

With over 200 beers entered in 21 categories, this was the most competitive year yet, making Great Lakes’ achievement all the more impressive. Breweries from as far as British Columbia and Nova Scotia flew in to Toronto to attend the event. With four awards, Great Lakes was runner-up as Brewery of the Year, missing the title by only one award.

Full bodied, yet refreshingly smooth, Red Leaf boasts subtle flavours of caramel, nuts and toasted malt. Red Leaf also won a medal at the 2007 Ontario Brewing Awards.

Having won a Silver Medal in both 2004 and 2005, Golden Horseshoe scored another Silver Medal to make it three in four years. Thirst-quenching and flavourful, Golden Horseshoe is a remarkably smooth and easy drinking lager benefiting from an extended aging process.

Black Jack’s previous accomplishments include a Silver Medal at the 2005 Canadian Brewing Awards, a Bronze Medal in 2006, and another Bronze Medal at the 2006 World Beer Cup. Held every two years, the World Beer Cup is the largest and most recognized beer event in the world. Handcrafted with specialty malts, Black Jack has notes of chocolate and coffee, and is pleasantly light for a dark beer.

The award-winning Pumpkin Ale was brewed for the very first time only weeks prior to the Canadian Brewing Awards submission deadline. The brewery’s fall seasonal is brewed with a carefully selected combination of pumpkin, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and allspice. The result is an incredibly complex and unique beer with a subtle pumpkin pie flavour. The limited edition run of more than 5,000 bottles sold out in less than three weeks at the LCBO and the brewery.

The Great Lakes family of beers also includes Devil’s Pale Ale and three seasonal ales: Orange Peel Ale, Pumpkin Ale, and Winter Ale.

Available exclusively at the LCBO in a 473ml can, Devil’s Pale Ale is a dark, rich and malty beer with a hoppy aroma and pronounced bitterness. Their spring/summer seasonal, Orange Peel Ale, is brewed with fresh oranges and peels and has a slightly fruity, citrusy taste with a pleasant bitterness. Pumpkin Ale celebrates autumn, boasting a spicy and complex taste of pumpkin. Their Winter Ale is an excellent winter warmer; brewed with generous amounts of honey, cinnamon, ginger and orange peel, it has a rich and warming finish with a subtle spiciness.

Great Lakes Brewery

A rising star within Ontario’s craft brewing industry, this fully Canadian, family-owned business brews its premium beer in an historic fire-brewed copper kettle that dates back to the early 1900s. This time-honoured tradition, combined with today’s modern technologies, brings out the best in the brewery’s premium ingredients.

Conveniently located in Etobicoke on Queen Elizabeth Blvd., just north of the Gardiner Expressway, Great Lakes Brewery was founded in 1987 as part of the first wave of Canadian craft breweries. Originally a successful producer of draught beer for local pubs and restaurants, Great Lakes purchased a state-of-the-art bottling line and began bottling its popular brands of award-winning lagers in 2000. In the fall of 2007, the brewery introduced their Devil’s Pale Ale in popular 473ml cans. The phenomenal demand for the beer means that Great Lakes is pursuing a much larger automated canning machine to keep up with demand. As a result of their rapid growth, the brewery has expanded distribution from Ottawa to London, Fort Erie and Collingwood.

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