All posts by Eric Cousineau

GTA Brews Survey 2026 – Now Open!

Survey,
club survey - morpheus

Help us make the club better! Our club survey is now accepting submissions from now until 12pm Noon February 28th.  We use the results of this survey each year to help inform the direction of the club and identify areas of strength and opportunities to improve.

Your opinions really matter! Insight from previous surveys have kicked off initiatives like:

  • Blind Triangle Tests – interactive beer tasting to learn about and compare key brewing variables.
  • Alternating Meeting Locations – consistent East and West locations, consistent times for easier planning.
  • More Recipes –  increased integration of your excellent recipes into the club database.
  • Varied Events – Off-flavor classes, brewery meetups/presentations, Learn to Brew days are BACK!

This survey is open to both members and non-members, since we want to hear from everybody! The survey takes as little as 10 mins if you elect to answer only the mandatory questions, or a little longer if you choose to write more detailed answers (and we hope you do).

How can we make the best homebrew club in the world even better?!

This club belongs to all of us, and we want to make sure are all satisfied with the value you get for your membership. There will always be some challenges, but we are always looking for solutions and opportunities to improve. Please share your thoughts in as much detail as you are comfortable with, and we promise to read and seriously consider them.

Brew Slam 2025 – Award Ceremony Photos

Brew Slam

As promised here are the medal winner photos we took at this year’s Brew Slam Awards Party! A full wrap up post is still in the pipeline, but hopefully these will stave off those that are getting antsy!

You can also relive the magic by watching the YouTube recording of the Brew Slam 2025 presentation.

Big thanks to David Chang-Sang for taking these photos of our winners as they are awarded their medals!

  • Winners Photo
  • Crew Photo
  • Master of Ceremonies (Zack Weinberg of Toronto Brewing)
  • 1 – Light Lager
  • 2 – Pale Malty Lager
  • 3 – Pale Bitter Lager
  • 5 – Dark Lager
  • 6 – Bock
  • 10 – Amber & Brown British Ale
  • 11 – Amber & Brown American Ale
  • 12 – Porter
  • 13 – Stout
  • 16 – Hazy IPA
  • 18 – Wheat & Rye Beer
  • 19 – Belgian & French Ale
  • 24 – Specialty Wild & Sour Beer
  • 26 – Spice / Herb / Vegetable Beer
  • 28 – Specialty Beer
  • 29 – Traditional Cider
  • 30 – Specialty Cider
  • 31 – Traditional Mead
  • 31 – Traditional Mead
  • 32 – Specialty Mead
  • Best of Show Winners
  • Toronto Brewer of the Year (Shane Schlesinger)
  • Jon Mains Award for Top Brewer Winner (Matt McNair) – Presented by Roslynne Mains
  • Medals
  • Banner
  • Prize Bags
  • Bob (Eric) & Doug (Dave) McKenzie

Brew Slam 2025 – Results Are Posted on torontobrewing.ca

Brew Slam, Competitions

The Award Ceremony has concluded for 2025, and the results have been announced! If you weren’t able to attend, your medal(s)/prizes will be shipped. If you are a local that couldn’t attend, please arrange to pick up your prizes directly from us.

Results

Click Here to view the Brew Slam 2025 Results

Scoresheets

Scoresheets have been uploaded to the entry software, all you need to do is login, go to your Account page, and look for the “scoresheet” icon next to each entry. You might also notice a miniBOS checkmark next to your entry, this means it was in contention for a medal. This will allow you to download the scoresheets for that entry. Direct link to profile

Scoresheet Icon: 

I will follow up with a more complete wrap up post, but for now, congrats to all the winners!

Cheers,
Eric Cousineau
Organizer, Brew Slam 2025

Brew Slam 2025 – Entry Registration Open!

BJCP, Brew Slam, Competitions, News, , , ,

Entry registration is now open for Brew Slam 2025! Register and pay for your entries ASAP to avoid missing your chance to enter this once per year homebrew competition!

Go to the Brew Slam 2025 page

The entry registration and submission deadline is Saturday Oct. 18th. The fee to enter is $15/entry, or $12/entry for GTA Brews Members (see below). Visit our Rules and Submission Instructions page for all the details about submitting your entry.

GTA Brews Discount Code: ($3 discount per entry, must be logged-in to see)

As of today, we have over $10,500 in prizes up for grabs, and more prizes being secured by our Brew Slam Crew every day!

Here’s some highlights to help grab your attention!

We have some incredible medals designed by James Kennedy for 2025, and we can’t wait to award them to the winners!

In addition to an incredible prize pool for winners, here’s some other reasons you should enter your homebrew in Brew Slam 2025!

  • Quality feedback!
    • Canada’s largest BJCP judge pool
    • Including multiple National and high level ranked judges
    • Low flight size per judge to reinforce quality feedback
    • Long form scoresheets to reinforce meaningful and specific feedback
  • Award Categories announced in advance (Brew Slam 2025 Award Categories)
  • Toronto Brewer of the Year title awarded to GTA Brews member with most medal points
  • Jon Mains Award awarded to the top overall entrant with most medal points
  • Medal Categories sponsored by local breweries with expertise in that style of beer
    • Many of them also supplying Pro Brewer guest judge(s) to supplement BJCP judges for those categories
  • Entrant support available through our BJCP Competition Guide and over email at comp@gtabrews.ca when deciding how to register your entry!

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
Eric Cousineau
Competition Organizer, Brew Slam 2025

Inquiries about Brew Slam 2025 should be sent to: comp@gtabrews.ca

Click Here to go to the main competition page.

Announcing Brew Slam 2025 – Homebrew Competition

BJCP, Brew Slam, Competitions, News, , , ,
Click Here to go to the main competition page.

Press Release

August 12th, 2025 – Toronto, ON

Inquiries about Brew Slam 2025 should be sent to: comp@gtabrews.ca

GTA Brews is excited to announce our eight annual nation-wide homebrew competition for beer, mead, and cider: Brew Slam 2025 (#BrewSlam)!

#BrewSlam is Canada’s largest homebrew competition, with hundreds of entrants from Canada and the USA. We can’t wait to build on 2024’s massive success. That competition saw 552 entries from 140 entrants representing 8/10 provinces, judged by 60 judges over just 3 days, which made it the largest homebrew competition in Canada!

As of Aug 12th, we have already secured over $8,700 in prizes from our fabulous sponsors. We expect this will increase significantly over the next few weeks leading up to the competition. We also have a brand new medal design to present to the winners!

To make this competition a success we need as many judges and stewards as possible. Please visit our Volunteer page to learn what is involved and for instructions on how to sign up.

Continue reading Announcing Brew Slam 2025 – Homebrew Competition →

Brew Slam 2024 – Award Ceremony Photos

Brew Slam

As promised here are the medal winner photos we took at this year’s Brew Slam Awards Party! A full wrap up post is still in the pipeline, but hopefully these will stave off those that are getting antsy!

Big thanks to David Chang-Sang for taking these photos of our winners as they are awarded their medals!

  • Winners Photo
  • Crew Photo
  • Intro – Competition Organizer (Eric Cousineau)
  • Eric and Zack
  • Master of Ceremonies (Zack Weinberg of Toronto Brewing)
  • 1 – Light Lager
  • 2 – Pale Malty Beer
  • 3 – Pale Bitter Beer
  • 4 – Amber Lager
  • 5 – Dark Lager
  • 8 – Scottish & Irish Ale
  • 9 – Pale American Ale
  • 10 – Amber & Brown American Ale
  • 11 – English Brown Ale
  • Jim Bruce (longtime Brew Slam Crew) with Eric & Zack
  • 12 – Porter
  • 13 – Stout
  • 14 – Strong Stout
  • 15 – Classic IPA
  • 16 – Hazy IPA
  • 17 – Specialty IPA
  • 18 – Wheat & Rye Beer
  • 19 – Belgian & French Ale
  • 20 – Belgian Strong Ale
  • 21 – Strong Ale
  • 22 – Brett Beer
  • 24 – Specialty Wild & Sour Beer
  • 26 – Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer
  • 27 – Smoke-Flavoured & Wood-Aged Beer
  • 29 – Traditional Cider
  • 30 – Specialty Cider
  • 31 – Traditional Mead
  • 32 – Specialty Mead
  • Best of Show Winners
  • Toronto Brewer of the Year (Josh Davis)
  • TBOY #2
  • Jon Mains Award for Top Brewer Winner (Josh Davis)
  • Wrap Up with Eric & Zack
  • Eric Cousineau (Competition Organizer) & David Chang-Sang (Assistant Organizer)

Brew Slam 2024 – Entry Cap Raised

BJCP, Brew Slam, Competitions, News, , , ,

Effective immediately, the per-entrant cap for Brew Slam 2024 has been raised 10 entries per person!

There are just over 4 weeks left until the entry deadline for Brew Slam 2024! Get your entries registered today to avoid missing out!

As of today, we have over $16,390 in prizes up for grabs, and more prizes being secured by our Brew Slam Crew every day!

Here’s some highlights to help grab your attention!

  • Spike CF-5 Fermenter (Sponsored by Toronto Brewing for TBOY)
    • Toronto Brewer Of The Year (GTA Brews member with most points in competition)
  • 6 Gallon Oak Barrel from County Cooperage
  • Tilt Pro hydrometer
  • Boel iTap
  • LOTS of yeast from Escarpment and Lallemand for all medal winners!
  • RAPT hydrometers / thermometers from Kegland
  • Stainless steel kettles!
  • Lots more! Visit Brew Slam 2024 Sponsors, Awards, & Prizes for the full list!

We have some incredible medals designed by James Kennedy for 2024, and we can’t wait to award them to the winners!

In addition to an incredible prize pool for winners, here’s some other reasons you should enter your homebrew in Brew Slam 2024!

  • Quality feedback!
    • Canada’s largest BJCP judge pool
    • Including multiple National and high level ranked judges
    • Low flight size per judge to reinforce quality feedback
    • Long form scoresheets to reinforce meaningful and specific feedback
  • Get your beer judged by our guest Fred Mullner
    • BJCP Grandmaster III and Mid-Atlantic Regional Rep!
  • Award Categories announced in advance (Brew Slam 2024 Award Categories)
  • Toronto Brewer of the Year title awarded to GTA Brews member with most medal points
  • Jon Mains Award awarded to the top overall entrant with most medal points
  • Medal Categories sponsored by local breweries with expertise in that style of beer
    • Many of them also supplying Pro Brewer guest judge(s) to supplement BJCP judges for those categories
  • Entrant support available through our BJCP Competition Guide and over email at comp@gtabrews.ca when deciding how to register your entry!

Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
Eric Cousineau
Competition Organizer, Brew Slam 2024

Inquiries about Brew Slam 2024 should be sent to: comp@gtabrews.ca

Click Here to go to the main competition page.

Announcing Brew Slam 2024 – Homebrew Competition

BJCP, Brew Slam, Competitions, News, , , ,
Click Here to go to the main competition page.

Press Release

August 18th, 2024 – Toronto, ON

Inquiries about Brew Slam 2024 should be sent to: comp@gtabrews.ca

GTA Brews is excited to announce our seventh annual nation-wide homebrew competition for beer, mead, and cider: Brew Slam 2024 (#BrewSlam)!

#BrewSlam is Canada’s largest homebrew competition, with hundreds of entrants from Canada and the USA. We can’t wait to build on 2023’s massive success. That competition saw 502 entries from 159 entrants representing 9/10 provinces, judged by 55 judges over just 3 days, which made it the largest homebrew competition in Canada!

We are excited to announce that our special guest judge for 2024 is Fred Mullner! He is a highly skilled BJCP Grandmaster III judge hailing from Pennsylvania, as well as BJCP rep for the Mid-Atlantic region.

As of Aug 18th, we have already secured over $10,740 in prizes from our fabulous sponsors. We expect this will increase significantly over the next few weeks leading up to the competition. We also have a brand new medal design to present to the winners!

To make this competition a success we need as many judges and stewards as possible. Please visit our Volunteer page to learn what is involved and for instructions on how to sign up.

Continue reading Announcing Brew Slam 2024 – Homebrew Competition →

Brew Slam 2023 – Results Are Posted on torontobrewing.ca

Brew Slam, Competitions

The Award Ceremony has concluded for 2023, and the results have been announced! If you weren’t able to attend, your medal(s)/prizes will be shipped. If you are a local that couldn’t attend, please arrange to pick up your prizes directly from us.

Results

Click Here to view the Brew Slam 2023 Results

Scoresheets

Scoresheets have been uploaded to the entry software, all you need to do is login, go to your Account page, and look for the “gavel” icon next to each entry. You might also notice a miniBOS checkmark next to your entry, this means it was in contention for a medal. This will allow you to download the scoresheets for that entry. Direct link to profile

Gavel Icon: 

image.png

Scoresheets From Annie Johnson

This year our special guest for the judging weekend was Annie Johnson, and our volunteers had a blast hanging out with her all weekend. Lucky entrants will notice a 3rd scoresheet in their PDF file, completed by Annie herself while our judge pairs took turns judging a beer with her.

I will follow up with a more complete wrap up post, but for now, congrats to all the winners!

Cheers,
Eric Cousineau
Organizer, Brew Slam 2023

Announcing Brew Slam 2023 – Homebrew Competition

BJCP, Brew Slam, Competitions, News, , , ,
Click Here to go to the main competition page.

Press Release

September 1st, 2023 – Toronto, ON

Inquiries about Brew Slam 2023 should be sent to: comp@gtabrews.ca

GTA Brews is excited to announce our sixth annual nation-wide homebrew competition for beer, mead, and cider: Brew Slam 2023 (#BrewSlam)!

The competition has been on hiatus since 2019 due to the global pandemic and the club is so excited to finally bring the competition back for 2023! We are so thankful for the entrants and judges that reached out to us the past few years to express their desire to see the competition come back, and we can’t wait to return to building on 2019’s massive success. That competition saw 819 entries from 281 entrants representing 9/10 provinces, judged by 77 judges over just 3 days, which made it the largest homebrew competition in Canada!

We are ecstatic to have homebrewing luminary Annie Johnson attending as our guest judge of honour (Oct 27-29) to help ring in our 6th year!

Continue reading Announcing Brew Slam 2023 – Homebrew Competition →

Skyline Wrap Rastal Glass

Bulk Buy, Club Merchandise,

GTA Brews is pleased to offer another branded glass from our favourite manufacturer, Rastal! Our previous Teku glass has been very popular for many years, and this one is chosen to be the perfect accompaniment to that one.

This is the Rastal Winebar 40, which is a stemless tumbler sized at 0.4L (13.5 oz)

The graphic fullwrap pattern is created by GTA Brews member James Kennedy

The Story of Ed Hitchcock’s 22 Year Old Lambic

News

Foreword by Eric Cousineau:

The tale of Ed’s 22 year old lambic-style beer is legendary among GTA Brews members that were present in the 2016-2017 era. I was recently talking to some newer members and realized that we needed to document this story in a format more lasting than word of mouth.

Some readers might be yelling at their screens right now that true Lambic can only be made in Senne Valley region of Belgium. Ed is right there with you and readily admits this was more of a lambic-style beer or methode traditionelle (MT) beer. However at the time when the beer was brewed, homebrewers were used to playing more fast and loose with these kinds of appellations.

I’ve had the pleasure of trying both versions of this beer several times over the years, and they were both wonderful!

After contacting Ed to ask his thoughts on how we could best document this, he recommended we use a version of the letter he wrote the the Sour Hour Podcast in 2017, which has been slightly modified for GTA Brews.

So without further ado, lets get into the story!

The legendary beer itself
Ed Hitchcock with his awards and trophy at 2016 Brew Slam Awards

Ed’s Letter to The Sour Hour (Updated for GTA Brews):

Read on air of The Sour Hour podcast, Episode 70, 11 mins in.

I am sure that anyone reading this will appreciate the symbiotic nature of homebrewing and a desire to learn more about as many beer styles as possible. One of the unique beer styles that is wholly intriguing for both complexity and mystique is Belgian Lambic, so of course I decided I would try to brew one. More or less following Guinard’s book (from the Classic Beer Styles series) I made a wort of pale malt, unmalted wheat and aged Hallertau hops, and – as was the recommendation at the time – did a primary ferment using Wyeast 1056 before doing a secondary ferment with the Wyeast Lambic blend. My understanding at the time was that wood was necessary for proper growth of the Brett and bacteria, so I chopped a log of birch into kindling, torching the exposed ends to sterilize them but leaving the fresh wood where it was split untouched, and tossed that in. It sat in a glass carboy for a while, but then I had to move, so I transferred the beer and the wood to a stainless corny keg and sealed it up.

And here is where it gets interesting, because life sometimes throws curveballs…

A year later I moved to Europe, and when I moved back I had young kids. It was a while before I got back into homebrewing, and when I did, I decided something had to be done with the keg that was sitting patiently under the stairs at my parent’s cottage. Until I cracked it, it was kind of like Schroedinger’s cat (Schroedinger’s vat?) in that it existed in a superposition of states, both bad and good, and there was no way to know which way it would resolve until I opened it. Fortunately, it was still good – quite good in fact -so I split the batch and bottled half straight and half after a refermentation with raspberries.

Now if you are following along, you will notice that some time has passed, but I have been somewhat cagey as to just how much time. I brewed the beer in February 1994. I bottled it in the summer of 2015, twenty one and a half years later. My son was born a month after I brewed it, and was legal to drink in the US by the time it was bottled.

Eight months later the straight Lambic won best of show at a local competition with about a hundred entries (Editor: It was Spring Showdown 2016), and six months after that the Framboise won a major award at a much larger competition (Editor: It was Brew Slam 2016). While it did not medal in the BOS, it moved on to a side award sponsored by one of the local breweries as one of the top 10 beers from the greater Toronto area (a smaller field of merely 400 entries, versus the full competition of 600), and in that challenge it won hands down. The award, called the Henderson Cup, was a cash prize and an opportunity to design and brew a beer on Henderson’s 20HL system for one of their monthly special releases.

Ed Hitchcock receiving the Henderson Cup at Brew Slam 2016 Awards

Note from Ed in November 2022:

Now in 2022, I only have two bottles left (one of each), now seven years in the bottle and almost twenty nine years old. The last time I had one it was thin and had lost a lot of complexity, and I’m just waiting for a special moment to finish the last two; but once they are gone, that’s it. I’m not likely to repeat this – unless I decide to brew something now for my 80th birthday – but if anyone reading this is looking for a challenge, by all means give it a go!

2022 Homebrew Advent Begins!

Advent Calendar
Advent submissions all lined up at Brunswick Bierworks, ready for exchange

A few months ago we opened sign up for our 9th annual GTA Brews Homebrew Calendar. The participation fee was $10/person, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). We also included the option to donate extra (in $10 increments) to CAMH to help us on our fundraising efforts.

We’re pleased to announce that (as of writing) we have raised $320 for CAMH! There’s still time to donate using the following item. Donations will be accepted until Weds Dec 14th.

As is tradition, James Kennedy has designed a custom advent graphic showing each beer that is part of the calendar. As is also tradition, he has taken artistic liberty based on the name given to the beer, at least for the members that gave their beer a name.

Advent Calendar

Announcing Canadian Homebrew Championship (CHC) 2022

BJCP, Competitions, , ,

This is an Invite-Only Homebrew Competition for BOTY Final Round

Email questions to: comp@gtabrews.ca

Competition Details

Entrant/Volunteer Registration: Oct 24th, 2022, 12:00 PM
Entry Registration Opens: Oct 24th, 2022, 12:00 PM
Entry Deadline: Nov 11th, 2022, 4:00 PM
Judging Date: Nov 20th, 2022
Judging Location: Amsterdam Brewhall (45 Esandar Dr)
Results/Awards Ceremony: TBD

Cost of Entry: $10 per entry
– 2 bottles per entry
Payment: Paypal Only
Styles Accepted: All BJCP Beer styles (BJCP 2021 Guidelines)
Styles Limits:
– 1 entry per classic style subcategory (1-26)
– 2 entries per specialty subcategory (21B, 27-34), must be different beers
Entry Limits:
– Total cap: N/A (Invite Only)
– Per-entrant cap: 6 per person

Competition Overview

The Canadian Homebrew Championship (CHC) is a collaboration between the Canadian Brewer of the Year Circuit (BOTY), the Canadian Homebrewers Association (CHA), and the local organizing homebrew club (GTA Brews for 2022). This is an invite-only homebrew competition, where only the top 3 winners of each local club’s qualifier competition are invited to submit entries.

This competition acts as a Final Round for the BOTY circuit, where BOTY 2022 titles will be awarded:

  • 2022 Canadian Homebrewer of the Year
  • 2022 Canadian Homebrew Club of the Year
  • 2022 Canadian Homebrewed Beer of the Year
Continue reading Announcing Canadian Homebrew Championship (CHC) 2022 →

Announcing Summer Showdown 2022 – Homebrew Competition

BJCP, Competitions, , ,
Click Here to go to the main competition page and register!

Our popular seasonal homebrew competition is back for 2022, in person! We will be accepting all styles of beer, and for the first time we will be using the new BJCP 2021 Guidelines! Since this is our small competition, entry will be restricted to GTA Brews members only.

This seasonal competition is designed to be a “low stakes” introduction to BJCP competitions for club members to enter their beers for feedback and fun. The focus is on providing excellent feedback, so we keep the entry cap low. Our hope is that lots of first-time entrants will find themselves on the winners list and be motivated to continue entering competitions. This competition will be judged by BJCP Judges according to the newly released 2021 BJCP Guidelines.

If this if your first competition, please read our BJCP Competition Guide for tips on entering. If you aren’t sure which category to enter your beer, bring it to a club meeting, or email comp@gtabrews.ca.

Continue reading Announcing Summer Showdown 2022 – Homebrew Competition →

2021 Homebrew Advent Begins!

Advent Calendar

A few months ago we opened sign up for our 8th annual GTA Brews Homebrew Calendar. The participation fee was $10/person, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). We also included the option to donate extra (in $10 increments) to CAMH to help us on our fundraising efforts.

We’re pleased to announce that (as of writing) we have raised $370 for CAMH! There’s still time to donate using the following item. Donations will be accepted until Tues Dec 14th.

As is tradition, James Kennedy has designed a custom advent graphic showing each beer that is part of the calendar. As is also tradition, he has taken artistic liberty based on the name given to the beer, at least for the members that gave their beer a name.

Advent Calendar

Announcing Summer Showdown 2021 – Homebrew Competition

BJCP, Competitions, , ,
Click Here to go to the main competition page and register!

Our popular seasonal homebrew competition is back for 2021, in virtually judged format! As usual, we will be accepting all styles of beer, mead, and cider. Since this is our small competition, entry will be restricted to GTA Brews members only.

This seasonal competition is designed to be a “low stakes” introduction to BJCP competitions for club members to enter their beers for feedback and fun. The focus is on providing excellent feedback, so we keep the entry cap and fee low. Our hope is that lots of first-time entrants will find themselves on the winners list and be motivated to continue entering competitions. This competition will be judged by BJCP Judges according to the 2015 BJCP Guidelines.

If this if your first competition, please read our BJCP Competition Guide for tips on entering. If you aren’t sure which category to enter your beer, bring it to a club meeting, or email: comp@gtabrews.ca

Continue reading Announcing Summer Showdown 2021 – Homebrew Competition →

Message from the Outgoing President, Eric Cousineau

AGM, News

To the GTA Brews community,

I’ve had a wonderful eight years as Founding President of this homebrew club, and I’m so incredibly proud of everything that we have accomplished during my time at the helm.

Presenting awards at Brew Slam 2019

We’ve grown so much from six people brewing a Citra SMASH in my old condo back in April 2013. We’ve grown into Canada’s largest and best homebrew club! A club of almost 400 members that hosts fantastic events like our monthly meetings, raises significant funds for charities like Caf-Can and CAMH, provides invaluable services like our hop and grain bulk buys, and organizes internationally renowned homebrew competitions like Brew Slam.

The time has come to me to hand the torch to new leadership so that the club can continue to grow and flourish. Some of you may remember that during my speech at the 5 Year Anniversary Party, I said that I wanted to be down in the crowd cheering when the 10 Year Anniversary Party came around. I’m excited that I have the chance to make that happen now.

Continue reading Message from the Outgoing President, Eric Cousineau →

2020 Homebrew Advent Begins Today!

Advent Calendar

A few months ago we opened sign up for our 7th annual GTA Brews Homebrew Calendar. The participation fee was $10/person, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). We also included the option to donate extra (in $10 increments) to CAMH to help us on our fundraising efforts.

We’re pleased to announce that (as of writing) we have raised $510 for CAMH! There’s still time to donate using the following item. Donations will be accepted until Tues Dec 8th.

As is tradition, James Kennedy has designed a custom advent graphic showing each beer that is part of the calendar. As is also tradition, he has taken artistic liberty based on the name given to the beer, at least for the members that gave their beer a name.

Advent Calendar A

Advent Calendar B

Recording: Brewing Water with John Palmer

Club Meeting, Learning Material

Recording from the November 2020 meeting of GTA Brews Homebrew Club in Toronto, Canada.

This month, we had famous homebrew author John Palmer share his knowledge about Brewing Water, followed by a Q&A session! This time last year John joined us as a special guest at Brew Slam, and we are very excited to have him back.

Note: This was our first time sharing the zoom link publicly, and we ran into some “zoom bombers”. It took a few minutes to get a handle on it, but the presentation was able to proceed well.

Recording: Hard Seltzer with Marcelo Paniza

Club Meeting, Learning Material

Recording from the October 2020 meeting of GTA Brews Homebrew Club in Toronto, Canada.

We had our very own Marcelo Paniza share his knowledge with a presentation on making Hard Seltzer! This alcoholic beverage is seeing a surge of popularity right now, and homebrewers can make their very own using equipment you already have! Marcelo will show you how, and why, to homebrew them while sharing his best tips.

October Meeting: Hard Seltzer with Marcelo Paniza

Club Meeting, ,

Date: Monday October 19th, 2020
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month, we have our very own Marcelo Paniza sharing his knowledge with a presentation on making Hard Seltzer! This alcoholic beverage is seeing a surge of popularity right now, and homebrewers can make their very own using equipment you already have! Marcelo will show you how, and why, to homebrew them while sharing his best tips.

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.

Continue reading October Meeting: Hard Seltzer with Marcelo Paniza →

September Meeting: Raw Ale with Luke Van Oort

Club Meeting, ,

Date: Monday September 14th, 2020
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month, we have our very own Luke Van Oort sharing his knowledge with a presentation on Raw Ale! This is a technique inspired by historical brewing processes that has the potential to shave hours off your brewday by skipping the boil!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.

Continue reading September Meeting: Raw Ale with Luke Van Oort →

August Meeting: Pressure Fermenting with David Chang-Sang

Club Meeting, ,

Date: Tuesday August 18th, 2020
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

Please note the one off deviation in date this month.

This month, we have our very own David Chang-Sang sharing his knowledge with a presentation on Pressure Fermenting. If you’ve been looking for an easier way to brew tasty lager-ish beers, this is the presentation for you!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.

Continue reading August Meeting: Pressure Fermenting with David Chang-Sang →

Brew Slam 2020 Cancelled Due to COVID-19

Brew Slam, News

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GTA Brews has decided to cancel this year’s iteration of our annual Brew Slam homebrew competition.

As soon as we went into lockdown back in the spring, we started getting questions from homebrewers across Canada asking us what our plans were for Brew Slam 2020. We held off making any firm decision as long as we could, with the hope that the situation would improve and we could continue as planned.

After months of waiting and internal discussion, the club has decided not to proceed with a competition this year. We are aware of the virtual homebrew competition trend that some clubs in the US have been championing, but we didn’t feel this would be appropriate for Brew Slam. We also considered a smaller virtual only competition, but didn’t feel this was something we wanted to pursue at this time.

We are looking forward to coming back with Brew Slam 2021, and can’t wait to make it better than ever before. For now, we are sending out best wishes to all Canadian homebrewers and their families, and hope you are honing your recipes with plenty of homebrewing. The competition is sure to be fiercer than ever in 2021 when we, and the rest of the BOTY circuit, return!

Cheers from the Brew Slam Crew!

Recording: Simple Homebrewing with Denny & Drew

Club Meeting, Learning Material

Recording from the July 2020 meeting of GTA Brews Homebrew Club in Toronto, Canada.

This month we had two very special guests join us all the way from California and Oregon! This presentation from our favourite podcast hosts and authors, Denny Conn and Drew Beechum, was a big hit with club members.

If you enjoyed this presentation, please considering buying their book Simple Homebrewing, and listen to their podcasts.

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the video.

July Meeting: Simple Homebrewing with Denny & Drew

Club Meeting, ,

Date: Monday July 13th, 2020
Time: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM

GTA Brews Members: You must login to see the link and password. If you have logged in and cannot see them, please refresh the page.

This month, we have two very special guests joining us all the way from California and Oregon! We’re very excited to have our favourite podcast hosts and authors, Denny Conn and Drew Beechum!

As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise. During Q&A segments we will make use of the “Raise Hand” feature.

Continue reading July Meeting: Simple Homebrewing with Denny & Drew →

May Meeting: Baking Bread in Quarantine

Club Meeting, ,

Monday May 11th at 7:30 PM
ZOOM Meeting (Online) – Link Below

Building on the success of our first online meeting in April, we are back in May to conduct the monthly meeting over Zoom.

We are still new to hosting virtual homebrew club meetings, so please have patience with any technical issues that arise. As with any conference call, please mute your microphone if you aren’t speaking, this really helps cut down on background noise.

Continue reading May Meeting: Baking Bread in Quarantine →

Brew Slam 2019 – Wrap Up

Brew Slam, Competitions, Wrap Up

Brew Slam is wrapped up for another year, and what a year it was! All prizes were shipped out to our winners before the holidays, and I finally have time to write my annual wrap up post. With 819 entries judged, we were Canada’s largest homebrew competition again in 2019!

Saturday Afternoon: 49 BJCP judges seated in ONE session!

Competition Stats 2019:

  • Largest Canadian homebrew competition of the year!
    • 819 entries judged
    • 850 paid entries
    • 880 registered entries
    • 9/10 provinces, NY
      • Missing PEI still!
  • 281 participants with entries
    • A new record!
  • 134 volunteers: 77 judges, 52 stewards, 24 sorters, 14 crew
    • Most BJCP judges in any Canadian beer competition, ever!
  • 32 award categories
  • 7 judging sessions, avg 6.7 entries/pair per session
  • Over $23,800 in sponsored prizes and volunteer perks
Continue reading Brew Slam 2019 – Wrap Up →

January Meeting: Brewing Water Chemistry

Club Meeting, , , , , , ,

Monday January 13th at 7:00 PM
Muddy York Brewing Co.
22 Cranfield Road, Toronto, Ontario, M4B 3H1  MAP

This month we have five exciting meeting elements!

  • Presentation: Brewing Water Chemistry by Eric Cousineau
  • Special Guest: Q&A with Lizanne Pharand (P.Eng.) from Toronto Water
  • Style of the Month: Bock
    • Presented by: Emily Storey
  • Homebrew Bottle Swap
  • Structured Tasting *New Format*

We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!

Continue reading January Meeting: Brewing Water Chemistry →

Member Profile: Eric Cousineau

Community, Member Profile, , , ,

What is your occupation (outside homebrewing)?

My profession is Computer Engineering. I am a proud member of a pre-silicon IP team at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Inc. We design, verify, and deploy a portion of the hardware logic that goes into the various GPU products that we make.

I’m also the Founder and President of GTA Brews, which also takes up quite a bit of time. It’s been a ongoing joke among the club officers that I’ve been too busy running the club to answer the questions for a member profile, but here I am! You win Rob!

What got you into homebrewing?

I started homebrewing because I wanted to explore my pre-existing love of craft beer, and learn more about it.

I had become really into beer while in university (~2008), and I even co-authored a column called Beer Buzz in the Engineering Society Newspaper (Iron Warrior). I had seen my friend (Kyle Smith) brewing up a storm on social media, so shortly after I graduated I bought myself a Brooklyn Brewshop kit from Chapters (Tip: Go to a homebrew shop instead, way fresher!). I brewed my first batch in January 2013 and the rest is history!

Continue reading Member Profile: Eric Cousineau →

November Meeting: Brewing Science with Escarpment’s Nate Ferguson

Club Meeting, , , , , , ,
Monday September 9th at 7:00 PM Muddy York Brewing Co. 22 Cranfield Road, Toronto, Ontario, M4B 3H1  MAP

This month we have five exciting meeting elements!

    • Presentation: Brewing Science by Nate Ferguson of Escarpment Labs
    • Style of the Month: American Pale Ale and Other Pale American Ale
      • Presented by: Emily Storey
    • Homebrew Advent Swap
    • Structured Tasting
    • Bottle Swap
We are going back to our gracious host, Muddy York Brewing Co! We request that everyone spend some money to support our wonderful host. Don’t forget to buy some bottles from their shop!
Continue reading November Meeting: Brewing Science with Escarpment’s Nate Ferguson →

Brew Slam 2019 – Results Are Posted on torontobrewing.ca

Brew Slam, Competitions

(Dec 4th, 2019) Edit: They are are also now available on gtabrews.ca

The Award Ceremony has concluded for 2019, and the results have been announced! If you weren’t able to attend, your medal(s)/prizes will be shipped. If you are a local that couldn’t attend, please arrange to pick up your prizes directly from us.

Results

Click Here to view the Brew Slam 2019 Results

Scoresheets

Scoresheets have been uploaded to the entry software, all you need to do is login, go to your Account page, and look for the “gavel” icon next to each entry. You might also notice a miniBOS checkmark next to your entry, this means it was in contention for a medal. This will allow you to download the scoresheets for that entry. Direct link to profile
Gavel Icon: 

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Scoresheets From John Palmer

This year our special guest for the judging weekend was John Palmer, and our volunteers had a blast hanging out with him all weekend. A lucky 34 entrants will notice a 3rd scoresheet in their PDF file, completed by Palmer himself while our judge pairs took turns judging a beer with the king of homebrewing.

I will follow up with a more complete wrap up post, but for now, congrats to all the winners!

Cheers,
Eric Cousineau
Organizer, Brew Slam 2019

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Audio Recording of Kveik Q&A with Lars Marius Garshol

Club Meeting, Learning Material,

This past September we were lucky to have Lars Marius Garshol attend our September Meeting for a special Q&A session, along with our friends from Escarpment Labs. Lars also shared news about his upcoming book from Brewers Publications, Historical Brewing Techniques.

Big thanks to Escarpment for bringing Lars to Toronto, and sharing him with us! Also thanks to Muddy York Brewing Co for hosting the meeting!

James Kennedy was ready with his audio recorder and has assembled a bootleg soundtrack of the Q&A for anyone too listen to. Check it out below!

Find Us in the Cask Days 2019 Homebrew Section!

Cask Days, Event

Cask Days is coming up this weekend and we’re very excited to have coordinated a whole section of the festival devoted to featuring homebrewers. Check out the full cask list here.

While these beers were brewed by many of the most talented homebrewers around, they don’t technically qualify as homebrew since they were brewed at commercial breweries. In addition to beer brewed by GTA Brews members, we also have casks from Durham Homebrew Club, Maple City Brewers Alliance, and Toronto Brewing!

Which one are you most excited to try? Hint, you want 182…

Our club member Guillaume (cask 183) has setup his Cask Helper website again, to help you track and plan your time at the festival!

Group Photo @ 3 PM (Session 1 Only)

As is tradition, we will be taking a group photo of homebrewers at 3:00 PM during session 1, in front of the homebrew section sign. Make sure to wear your GTA Brews swag for the photo, and don’t forget to set your phone alarm for 2:50 PM so you remember to make you way over.

Thank You To Our Partners

Big thanks to all our brewery partners for letting us brew with them! Please stop by breweries and say thanks by buying a pint, or some beer to go!

Big thanks for Nik Cole for coordinating the homebrew section again this year! Also thanks to Toronto Brewing for storing the empty casks, and Bear for storing the full casks!