Langley Farm Country Brewing Inc. has now earned the right to call its drinks ‘award-winning.’
The local brewery won two gold medals at the Canada Cup of Beer and one gold plus one bronze at the British Columbia Beer Awards (BCBA).
At the Canada-wide competition, a panel of certified judges awarded the local brewery’s Farm House Ale and Sausage Party Festbier as the winners in the grisette/farmhouse ale category and oktoberfestbier/Marzen category, respectively.
A few weeks after, their Farm Country German Pilsner was awarded first place at the B.C. competition, and the Sausage Party Festbier was ranked the third best in the competition, which had dozens of entries.
For the Canada Cup, the brewery had made special arrangements at their location. They had the event streaming on a big screen, and it was a packed house, shared Arnold Tobler, the co-founder.
“When they announced that we had won gold for the Farm House the room let out a big cheer, that one caught us a little off guard,” said Tobler with a grin.
Soon after, Farm Country’s name was announced again – this time for Sausage Party Festbier, which had won gold.
The B.C. competition, too, was exciting, Tobler commented. He added that the win also made the team proud, as the Sausage Party is one of their favourite beers.
“Winning for both the Pilsner and Sausage Party is something we are really be proud of. Lagers are the hardest beer style to make, the quality of the ingredients and the time that goes into producing these beers are so important. You can’t hide imperfections in a lager. It just goes to show how talented our brewing team is.”
Tobler gave the credits to his team, and appreciated brewers Jack Bensley and Agnus, who he said: “surely know how to brew some damn tasty beers.”
Both wins came just about a month before the brewery’s third anniversary. Farm Country Brewing Inc. was founded just three months before the pandemic hit by three friends who grew up in Willoughby – Arnold Tobler, Travis Keyworth and Richard McCamley.
“Lots of threes here,” joked Tobler, who added that opening a brewery was like a dream come true for the trio.
“But the timing was horrible and the pandemic was devastating for us,” he said.
“[Pandemic] definitely set us back a few years as we dealt with all the different levels of restrictions that came our way, but with that hopefully behind us now, it’s full steam ahead.”
Now the brewery plans to keep pumping out award-winning beers to help the company recover from the pandemic. They also intend to expand their wholesale operation and make products available at restaurants, stores, and bars.
The co-founder thanked the Langley community for their support and shared his plans to get involved in the community as much as possible.
About the award-winning beers as described by Tobler
“The Pilsner is our take on a classic German Pilsner.”
The drink is pale in colour and balanced with Tettnang hops to provide bitterness and spicy hop flavour.
Sausage Party is brewed in the style of an Oktoberfest/Märzen, and it is an amber lager with hops from the Hallertau.
Both of these beers are lagers (stored cold) for many weeks to make them “as clean and bright as possible.”
Farm Country Farmhouse Ale is a hybrid farmhouse ale, using a mix of both malted barley and flaked wheat, Lemondrop hops, local honey and lavender, and Lithuanian farmhouse yeast.
“The result is a slightly hazy beer with aromas and flavors of pepper and lemon.”
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For more information, people can visit the brewery at 20555 56th Ave.
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