Persephone Brewing Co. of Gibsons has won the inaugural Horseshoe Bay Craft Beer Festival, defeating several longer-established brewers from throughout the province.
Event organizer Kim Kavanagh of the Horseshoe Bay Business Association said more than 425 people attended the June 21 event at Sewell’s Marina in Horseshoe Bay.
The winning entry was Persephone’s APA American Pale Ale. Parallel 49’s Tricycle Grapefruit Radler was voted second.
Persephone opened less than a year ago and is the only craft brewer on the Sunshine Coast. The other participants were Howe Sound Brewing, from Squamish; Bridge Brewing Co. and Deep Cove Brewers and Distillers, from North Vancouver; Parallel 49 Brewing Co. and Stanley Park Brewing, from Vancouver; Longwood Brewery, from Nanaimo; Central City Brewing and Russell Brewing Co., from Surrey; and Driftwood Brewery, from Victoria.
Each of the participating brewers offered two of their products to attendees in small sample glasses. At the end of the day, the attendees voted by dropping a token into a growler — a large bottle used for buying draft beer to go — with the name of each product on it. Persephone won the “golden growler” trophy for capturing the vote.
In addition to its winning pale ale, Persephone offered its Dry Irish Stout.
Kavanagh said it is not known if the festival will become an annual event. The business association uses any money raised from events, after expenses, for such free programs as outdoor movie screenings, a bonfire and Christmas caroling, a children’s art show and the repair of playground equipment at the Horseshoe Bay Park.
