Vancouver Island brewers win big at 2019 B.C. Beer Awards

Vancouver Island Brewing's Pod Pack took home the title of Best Packaging Design at the 2019 B.C. Beer Awards. (Vancouver Island Brewing/Facebook)

Several Vancouver Island breweries took home coveted first-place prizes at the 2019 B.C. Beer Awards.

Island brewers from north to south earned the top spots in categories like Rookie of the Year, Specialty Fruit Beer, and Best Merch and Apparel.

While seven craft breweries from the island earned top awards , Victoria newcomer Île Sauvage Brewing Company took home two notable victories. Out of the more than 55 breweries in the running, Île Sauvage scored Rookie of the Year and Best European Sour, a category with 24 other competitors.

Local breweries earned the number one spots for a range of flavour categories, from the season's popular sour categories, to the crowded 64-entry pale ale category, to darker porters and stouts.

The full list of Vancouver Island breweries that won awards at the 2019 B.C. Beer Awards:

Vancouver Island is no stranger to the craft beer industry. Last month, 99 breweries from across the country converged on Vancouver Island to participate in Victoria's 27th annual Great Canadian Beer Festival.

"The craft beer sector continues to grow right across the country," Rick Dalmazzi, Canadian Craft Brewers Association acting director, told CTV News in July.

"With craft breweries in every province and territory in Canada, many of them in small and rural communities, our industry is redefining the role that beer production plays in the Canadian economy.”

The 2019 B.C. Beer Awards and Festival took place on Oct. 20 in Vancouver. The auspicious year also marked the competition's 10th anniversary.