Steam Whistle has received many awards over the years – some by established Beer Competitions and their esteemed judges, and others by 'joe public' who appreciate a great brew. We've been recognized for the outstanding beer that we make, for our business success and sometimes just for the contribution that Steam Whistle Brewery makes to the community. We are flattered by all of the awards, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for recognizing our efforts!
In April 2008, Steam Whistle takes home the Favourite Domestic Lager Award at the Edmonton International Beerfest. Brad Goddard, Regional Manager for Alberta (pictured left) shared the booth with Mike Garth, Sales Rep for Alberta, and Ontario imports Chris Goddard, Steam Whistle's Marketing Manager, and Meghan Meshau Marketing Coordinator (also pictured).
In April 2008, Steam Whistle Pilsner takes the highest award presented in the Lager Category at the annual Toronto Wine & Cheese Show.
In January 2008, Cam Heaps and Greg Taylor were invited to the Gold Awards Dinner of the Ontario Hostelry Institute as Fellows of the Institute. This award was bestowed upon the two founders of Steam Whistle Brewing for their contributions to the culinary, beverage, hospitality and tourism industry, along with their personal and industry achievements, and their unwavering dedication to professional education for this industry.
In December 2007, eye Magazine published its annual Reader's Poll: thanks for voting Steam Whistle 'Ontario's Best Microbrewery' once again!
In October 2007 and previously in October 2006, Cam Heaps and Greg Taylor,
co-founders of Steam Whistle Brewing, were jointly named Finalists in the "Entrepreneurs of the Year" competition held annually by Ernst and Young to recognize the outstanding business success of Canada's Entrepreneurs.
In September 2007, Steam Whistle was awarded the Immigrant Success Award, in the Small Employer category, by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council. More than half the Steam Whistle management team is comprised of skilled immigrants, including a Czech Brewmaster, Sri Lankan CFO and Director of Marketing, Portuguese Bottling Supervisor, and Cuban Quality Assurance Manager.
Listen In! Hear the CBC Radio interview with Director of Marketing Stefan Atton, and Communications Manager, Sybil Taylor, discussing the award
In June 2007, we were proud to have our Premium Pilsner win the People's Choice Award at the Calgary Beer Fest. Being relatively new to Alberta, this award was extra special for us, showing how Calgarians have opened their hearts to our independent Canadian brew.
In June 2007, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario recognized Steam Whistle Brewing as this year's Best Special Event award recipient for our series of high energy events in LCBO stores. Our "Indie Spotlight at the LCBO" featured live performances by the indie band "The Suits XL" and cooking demos by Food TV's Chef Ellen McKinney. One lucky customer won a coveted Gibson Guitar.
In July 2007, Team Cedar Grilling was crowned Canadian Open BBQ Champions for a second year in a row! They took 1st place in ribs with their delectable Steam Whistle BBQ sauce. While they're still competing this summer they won't release that recipe, but stay tuned to their website for other great Steam Whistle-inspired fare. Cedar Grilling
In May 2007, the younger of our Steam Whistle Co-founders, Cam Heaps, was named one of the TOP 40 UNDER 40 young business leaders in the country.
Steam Whistle Brewery was proud to be honoured in May 2007 by Toronto's Clean Air Partnership as only one of 21 'Green Buildings' named in their Green Companion Guide. It was our many environmental initiatives that helped us to win this recognition, such as adopting 100% green electricity from Bullfrog Power; foregoing nasty Freon air conditioning and instead using Enwave's Deep Lake Water Cooling; replacing our own boiler on site with Enwave's efficient District Steam Heat for bottle washing, heating our brewing water and warming our building; all of our packaging is either reused or recycled; we use Biodiesel in our delivery fleet and our beer cups are made of a corn resin that is 100% biodegradable.
On April 4, 2007 the Ontario Brewing Awards announced this year's winning brews – Steam Whistle Pilsner, for the second time, takes Gold in the Pilsner Category. We're proud when our efforts are noticed. Marek Mikunda, Brewmaster for Steam Whistle, accepted the award. He hails from Prague, Czech Republic, the birthplace of Pilsners. Marek's passionate commitment to quality is what makes us Canada's Premium Pilsner.
For the three years (2002, 2003, 2006), Steam Whistle Pilsner is voted Toronto's Best Microbrew and in 2007 NOW changes the category, which we still capture, Best Local Brewery!
In August 2005, The Ontario Brewing Awards named Steam Whistle the province's Best Pilsner.
In August 2004, The Golden Tap Awards were announced and the public named us GTA's BEST LOCALLY-PRODUCED BEER. We are honoured to receive this acknowledgement of our efforts.
Also in August 2004, the Judges from Toronto's Festival of Beer – Ontario's largest beer celebration ñ proclaimed our beer the winner in the BEST PILSNER category through a blind taste panel.
In 2002, we were voted the Best Beer at the Capital City Beer Festival, Ottawa.
November 2002, Steam Whistle wins Best Beer in Ottawa by the readers of Ottawa's Xpress Magazine.
Attendees at Ottawa's annual Wine & Cheese Show vote Steam Whistle Pilsner Ottawa's Favourite Beer, Fall 2002
May 2001 Steam Whistle Pilsner received a perfect score in a 45 beer blind taste test by NOW Magazine, Toronto. They rated Steam Whistle as an "Excellent" beer.
November 2000, Harald Sowade, our original Brew Master, receives his career-best: a score of 95% (A+) on samples of Steam Whistle Pilsner sent to Doemens state-of-the-art Testing Institute for the international brewery and beverage industries. Having studied at Doemens, Harald made it a life practice of sending his brews to be tested – as a means to measure his personal achievement at different breweries against Doemens highly regarded standards.
In July 2000, The Globe assembled a panel of beer experts for a blind tasting of beers representing different styles and regions from across Canada. Steam Whistle Pilsner was voted "Tastiest Canadian Beer".
