A Lloydminster brewery has been ruled to have the best porter in Alberta.
4th Meridian Brewing Company won a gold medal for their Border Porter beer by the Alberta Beer Awards.
“We’re always happy to win. Any of the placements would have been good but getting the gold is extra nice,” says co-owner Brad Hoffman.
Hoffman says the Border Porter is what you want in a dark beer with a rich dark chocolate or roasted coffee flavour. It’s taken them many tries to get the brew perfect as they make tweaks to the process.
“Recently we’ve been treating our water with reverse osmosis and getting the exact pH we want in the mash. Everything worked out this time and had a really great beer.”
Hoffman says the prize could bring more traffic to the brewery when they will be able to fully reopen. As of now, the business is still running as an off-sale liquor store and can sell their prize winning beer in bottles.
“We offer delivery and curbside pickup. Payments can be made online and we don’t have to have any contact if people don’t want to.”
4th Meridian has been feeling the same effects as other small businesses around the country and has seen a significant drop during the pandemic.
“We’re in the same boat as most businesses. We rely on our customer base in Lloydminster and they’ve been good but with all the restaurants being closed it really narrows your avenues to be able to sell beer outside of the taproom.”
Hoffman is staying positive and thanks the community for their support.
“We want to thank our customers and everyone in Lloydminster that’s kept us open for the last two years.”
This was the third year for the Alberta Beer Awards, which gave out awards in 29 different categories for beers and two for breweries.