Waypoint with Thom

Who makes the best beer in the world?

If you were to turn to a close friend at the local pub and ask them “who makes the best beer in the world?” you’d easily be faced with thousands of possible answers.  The list of top caliber beers long, subject to preference, and only getting longer as more and more breweries are throwing their hats into the ring for the title ‘World’s Best.’

Beer competitions exist on every scale and scope imaginable, just like the brews featured at them. They’ve acted as a fantastic litmus test for brewers to perfect the science and grow the art of brewing. But to scrupulously inspect and award these honours on an international scale year after year, it’s the palates of some of the brewing world’s most knowledgeable judges that we trust in at competitions like the World Beer Awards..

World Beer Awards

Started in 2014, World Beer Awards annually hosts breweries from around the world, all showcasing their best offerings, hoping to stand apart from the other entries in their category.  Presented blindly, judges are required to scrutinize everything from colour, aromas and clarity to alcohol percentage and perceived bitterness to ensure the liquids meet the standards for the beer category within which they are entered.  And with judges assessing nearly 100 distinct styles, their knowledge of style history, properties and off-flavours needs to be ace..

Hazy Pale Ales

One category facing huge growth in its number of entries at the WBA is Hazy Pale Ale.  Hitting that perfect mark between fruity, hoppy and easy-drinking, it’s no wonder the style has continued to grow more popular.  For Stanley Park Brewing, our journey with the World Beer Awards started in 2018, when we started our hazy program at our brewpub titled The Evergreen Series.  Several renditions later, we launched our Waypoint Hazy Pale Ale in May of 2020.

Following our ethos of creating innovative beers with a nod to tradition, Waypoint gives craft beer fans a fresh take on the hop-forward beers the Pacific Northwest has been known to offer; while late additions of African Queen, Comet and Crystal hops allowed our brewers to focus more on extracting tropical, citrus fruit aromas than the bitterness typically found in a traditional pale ale..

Waypoint Hazy Pale Ale - World's Best Hazy Pale Ale

In September of 2021, Canadian breweries dominated at the World Beer Awards, taking home a whopping 17 ‘World’s Best in Style’ awards- more than any other country.  And Stanley Park Brewing was able to shine even more light onto Vancouver’s vibrant brewing scene by winning “World’s Best Hazy Pale Ale” for Waypoint Hazy Pale Ale..

Brewmaster Thom Riley

We caught up with our Brewmaster Thom Riley, to have a beer, get his thoughts on the award and insight into his process for piecing together this award-winning recipe: We’re grateful for the recognition this amazing beer has received and think Thom and our brew team really knocked it out of the park with this bright, citrusy brew.  We hope you’ll grab a 6-pack and judge for yourselves.

Cheers!