Smithers Brewing Company (SBC) has achieved one of the highest honours in Canadian craft beer, bringing the Brewery of the Year title home to the Bulkley Valley from the 2025 Canadian Brewing Awards held last weekend in Vancouver.
The company earned the top award after taking a competition-high six medals across multiple individual categories.
“It's quite overwhelming. We're all humbled to be recognized with such a prestigious award,” said Cam McKeigan, head brewer at Smithers Brewing Company.
“We've always put the quality of our beer above all else, but that's not particularly unique in the Canadian beer scene. The talent pool in this country runs deep. To be recognized amongst so many excellent breweries in this country is quite an honour and we’re grateful to the CBAs.”
McKeigan has led the brewing operations at SBC since 2018 and says they have always sought to balance making historically accurate beer styles that honour centuries-old standards and traditions, while also creating experimental and innovative beers.
“Prior to this year’s CBAs, our reputation among friends and colleagues and at beer festivals across the province was often as ‘mad scientists’ and ‘beer lunatics’. We think that having won five of the medals for traditional styles might start to change people’s perceptions,” McKeigan said.
He doesn't want to take all the credit though, pointing out that it takes a team to be successful.
"It takes a lot of people to make a brewery go and we have a great team here," he said. "You could make the best beer in the world and it wouldn't matter without the team behind it."
He also wanted to share some love to Prince Rupert's Wheelhouse Brewing Company. Before taking on head brewer duties at SBC, he was a serious home brewer. One day, he walked into Wheelhouse with his home brew and they took him on.
"I want to give a big shout out to Wheelhouse, who gave me my start," he said.
Finally, McKeigan said they wouldn't be where they are without Smithers behind them.
"We didn't even have to slow down during the pandemic because the town gave of so much support," he said.
Smithers Brewing Company beer is already widely available at retailers and restaurants across the North, but with all these new accolades in hand, they plan to expand distribution to more areas of the province.
In addition to the top prize SBC won gold medals for its Bootlegger Brown Ale (English Mild & Brown Ale Category) and its Great Craic Irish Red Ale (Irish Red Ale Category).
It also earned three silvers for its Salz und Säure Gose (Berliner Weisse & Gose Category), its Old Man Winter Ale (Scotch Ale Category) and for its Margarita Monday Tart Ale (Creative Category).
Finally, SBC's Feck Off Irish Stout [Irish Stout Category], took bronze.
The Canadian Brewing Awards (CBA) celebrate excellence in craft brewing and are judged by a panel of industry experts through a blind tasting that follows an impartial process where entries are scored on appearance, aroma, flavour and overall impression.
This year’s competition featured more than 1,600 entries from nearly 270 breweries across Canada, spanning 50 categories from traditional English Ale to spicier offerings such as Chili Beer.
