Q: So what’s a gold medal at a nation-wide beer tasting worth?
A: It depends on what nation.
If the above seems to cryptic for you, consider the following. Each and every fall, judges at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, team up and crown a host of gold, silver and bronze medalists in the broadest such competition and beer festival seen on this continent. (This year’s GABF runs from September 28 – 30; see www.beertown.org for details.) Winning breweries, right up to the big boys, take great pride in their victories, issuing press releases and advertisements touting their achievements.
In Canada, on the other hand, where baby steps are being taken towards the development of a similar competition, it appears that a victory can sound the death knell for a beer. Or at least that’s what happened to John Labatt Classic, Labatt’s long-standing premium, all-malt lager.
A gold medal winner in the third annual Canadian Brewing Awards, not to mention a silver medalist the year prior, Classic now is no more. This according to a woman at Labatt named Yvette, who emailed this response to wine and beer writer, Craig Pinhey of www.frogspad.com, after he enquired as to the whereabouts of Classic:
“Thank you for your email Craig and for taking the time to leave us your comments. Unfortunately, due to marketing strategies this brand is no longer available. We will however make note of your comments to our Marketing Department as we base our products on consumer demand. We thank you for supporting Labatt.”
So that’s it for Classic. I wonder what will become of Blue if it wins a medal this year?!
