Each year, Garrison hosts the only Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) contest to showcase the talents of Maritime home-brewers. This year’s featured style was a Schwarzbier (Black Beer), a dark German lager known for its black colour and full, chocolate and coffee flavours.
Submissions were judged by Patrice Godin, owner of Moncton N.B.- based Acadie-Broue; Mark Haynes, co-owner, Noble Grape Urban Winery; and Jeff Pinhey, national beer judge and sommelier instructor. After an intense round of tasting and judging, the home-brewing team of Adam Comeau and Eric Oliver were declared the 2011 Gold medal winners.
Earlier in the day, the ceremony kicked off with 2010 Brew-off winner Scott Tilford receiving cases of his commercially produced beer. According to Garrison president Brian Titus, Tilford participated in every step of the process, from scaling up his original recipe with Brewmaster Daniel Girard to brewing, bottling and even naming the beer NiT-WiT, a play on the “Wit” beer style. “The brewhouse literally stopped working and broke into applause when the beer came off the bottling line,” says Titus. “The look, taste and aromas are just amazing.”
Scott Tilford’s NiT-WiT Wheat Beer is now available at the brewery and at private stores throughout Halifax.
