An Amherstburg craft brewery took home three awards at a provincial award ceremony.
Lot 10 Brewing Co. captured one gold and three bronze awards at the recent Ontario Craft Beer Awards held at Niagara College Brewery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The Dalhousie St. craft brewery won gold for its Thirsty Soldier beer while they captured bronze for the Thrift Shop Stout and for its Daft Punk beer.
The Thirsty Soldier and Thrift Shop Stout beer are what co-owner Brian Fowkes called “day one” beers, as they have been there from the beginning. The Daft Punk beer is a pumpkin spice flavour that has been served around Thanksgiving as a seasonal beer.
“It’s a huge deal,” said Fowkes, who attended the award ceremony with other co-owners Jeff Fowkes and Gerry Vanderheide. “We just passed our five-year anniversary.”
The Lot 10 Brewing Co. ownership went to the ceremony not expecting to win what they did but were thrilled to come home with the trio of awards. It was the first awards they have won.
“It makes the blood, sweat and tears worth it,” he said.
Lot 10 has been entering the Ontario Craft Beer Awards for the last three years and “it was a good feeling” to come home with three this year. Fowkes said only the Cured Craft Brewery in Leamington won an award from this region.
“It was nice to represent southwestern Ontario and Essex County,” he stated.
Regular customers have been congratulating them and new customers have been coming in to try the beers, Fowkes pointed out. Other brewers were congratulating them at the ceremony as well.
“It puts us on the map,” he added.
By capturing the awards at the provincial level, Lot 10 is automatically entered into the Canadian awards, which are in British Columbia in late summer.
“If we take home a Canadian title, it’s even better,” said Fowkes.
The local brewers congratulated master brewer Matthew Hand, who has been with Lot 10 for the last two years. Hand is a graduate of the Niagara College Brewery.
Fowkes added they have more plans in the works.
“We’ve got a lot of new things up our sleeves,” he said.
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