The golden age of beer in Cranbrook reached new reputational heights this month, with Fisher Peak Brewing Company’s gold medal at the Canadian National Brewing Awards.
Fisher Peak took top honours in the Porter category at the Awards, held in Calgary May 12-14, for Brewmaster Jordon Aasland’s Dark and Stormy Porter.
More than 1,300 breweries from across Canada submit brews for the annual awards. This year more than 10,000 different beers were entered — representing 5,000 litres of beer for the judges to sample.
In the five years the Fisher Peak Brewing Company have been submitting beers to the competition, Aasland has been on the podium five times.
The HeidOut and Fisher Peak Brewing Company opened nine years ago as Cranbrook’s first brewhouse (and currently still its only brewhouse, for the time being).
“We started with six brews, nine years ago,” Aasland said. “We now have 12 on tap … we’ve had 22 over the years, including seasonal.”
Aasland stressed that Fisher Peak was Cranbrook’s brewery, and in spite of the national renown it’s achieved, its beer was still Cranbrook’s beer. He wanted to thank the residents of Cranbrook for all their support over the years.
“You can still only get this beer in Cranbrook,” he said, hefting a pint of Dark and Stormy, and passing it over to a thirsty reporter.