Our 2022 Judges

Beer entered into the Canada Beer Cup were judged by top international judges, helping bring global attention to Canadian craft brewing excellence.

Stephen Beaumont

Head Judge

Canada

Stephen Beaumont is one of the world’s most authoritative voices on beer and the author or co-author of 15 books, including the brand new third edition of the international best-seller, The World Atlas of Beer. As well as writing for a wide and diverse array of publications, from The Globe and Mail to Whisky Advocate to Brewing Business, Stephen has presented lectures and tastings all around the globe and judged in many of the beer world’s most prestigious competitions, including the World Beer Awards, Copa Cervezas de América, and the Brussels Beer Challenge.

beaumontdrinks.com

Canada Beer Cup Judge Pete Brown

Pete Brown

United Kingdom

Pete Brown is a British author, journalist, broadcaster and consultant specialising in food and drink, especially the fun parts like beer, pubs, cider, bacon rolls and fish and chips. Across twelve books, his broad, fresh approach takes in social history, cultural commentary, travel writing, personal discovery and natural history, and his words are always delivered with the warmth and wit you’d expect from a great night down the pub. He writes for newspapers and magazines around the world and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme. He was named British Beer Writer of the Year in 2009, 2012 and 2016, has won three Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards, been shortlisted twice for the Andre Simon Awards, and in 2020 was named an “Industry Legend” at the Imbibe Hospitality Awards.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Maurizio Maestrelli

Maurizio Maestrelli

Italy

Maurizio Maestrelli is a Milan-based journalist and author. His works are focused on beer, spirits and cocktails told from different perspectives: people, markets, travel. Among the publications he currently contributes to are Il Sole 24 Ore, the first daily financial newspaper in Italy; Good Beer Hunting; Bargiornale, the leading Italian magazine about bars and beverages; and the Greek Beer & Bar Magazine. He is also the author of Speakeasy. The most secret bars in the world, Birre. The proof that God loves us, and Anthologin. He travels extensively, researching, tasting, and judging competitions, and is the founder of “Milano Beer Week.”

Canada Beer Cup Judge Kate Bernot

Kate Bernot

USA

Kate Bernot is a beer and beverage reporter whose work regularly appears in Good Beer Hunting and Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine; her byline has also appeared in Imbibe, America’s Test Kitchen, Craft Spirits Magazine, and more. In 2021, she received three awards from the North American Guild of Beer Writers: third place in Best Business Writing; third place in Best Commentary; and second place in Best National/International Reporting. She is a BJCP-certified beer judge and a Certified Cider Professional. She lives in Missoula, Montana.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Tim Webb

Andreas Fält

United Kingdom

Andreas Fält has been working in the beer industry for over 20 years, starting by importing beers to Sweden in 2000. Since 2006 he has been promoting beer across the globe from Leeds in northern England and was for years he was the Brewers Association’s American Craft Beer Ambassador in Europe. In this role, he promoted American craft beers and grew the European market for numerous Brewers Association members.

Today he is an export consultant/agent, helping setting the stage for breweries around the world on the international stage. He has also spoken at the Craft Brewers Conference in the USA, the Great American Beer Festival, Brussels Beer Challenge 2012 and Russian Brew World 2017, and judged at competitions like the World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, Great British Beer Festival, Mondial de la Bière, European Beer Star, and many others.

Canada Beer Cup Judge John Holl

John Holl

USA

For nearly 20 years John Holl has been covering the beer industry as a reporter and editor. He is the editor of All About Beer. On-air he hosts the Drink Beer, Think Beer podcast, co-hosts Steal This Beer, and the BYO Nano Podcast. John reviews beers for Wine Enthusiast Magazine and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and NPR. He is the author of several books including the recently published The Craft Brewery Cookbook.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Jay R. Brooks

Jay R. Brooks

USA

Jay R. Brooks has been writing about beer for 30 years, and is currently a syndicated newspaper columnist for the Bay Area News Group with his bi-weekly column, “Brooks On Beer.” He contributes to many major beer periodicals and general circulation magazines, and has given numerous presentations for the California Craft Brewers Association and the Brewers Association, among other organizations. He has judged in beer competitions on five continents, including the Great American Beer Festival, the Great British Beer Festival, the World Beer Cup, The Brussels Beer Challenge and many others.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Marty Nachel

USA

Marty Nachel is the author of “Beer for Dummies” and “Homebrewing for Dummies,” a beer educator at the College of DuPage Business of Craft Beer Program, and a BJCP Certified International Beer Judge.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Maggie Cubbler

USA

Maggie Cubbler is a writer with a passion for beer. She began homebrewing in the late 2000s and continued that passion after she moved to England by becoming one of the first female Beer Sommeliers at the Beer Academy UK. During her time in the UK, she worked at Beer Hawk as their beer expert and wrote for magazines like Original Gravity. In 2017 she moved to Frankfurt, Germany, where she wrote a book about travel and the breweries of the Rhine-Main region.

Maggie has judged at Great British Beer Festival and several local SIBA competitions in the UK. She has presently returned to Denver to work on her Master’s degree in creative writing and catch up on the local beer scene.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Craig Pinhey

Canada

Craig Pinhey had his booze epiphany circa 1985 with his first pint of Ginger’s Best cask conditioned real ale at the original Ginger’s Tavern in Halifax and has been a beer lover ever since. After graduating with a Masters in Engineering, Craig moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 1987 to work, and immediately got heavily involved in local beer and homebrewing. He became a BJCP Judge, won some brewing awards, and started freelancing  at Great Lakes Brewing News. He ran national homebrewing competitions for CABA (Canadian Amateur Brewers Association), edited their magazine, and became President.

On moving to New Brunswick in 1999 to work full time as a writer, Craig became a Sommelier in 2000, and started his Good Drink column for Brunswick News. He is still their drinks writer, 22 years later.  Published in regional (Atlantic Business, East Coast Living, Progress, The Coast) and national magazines (Maclean’s, Wine Access, Mash, TAPS, Quench, RE:Porter), Craig makes his living writing, judging, consulting, and conducting wine, beer, spirits and food pairing events. He lives in Rothesay, New Brunswick with his wife and travels regularly in the region, and around the world, hunting for great food & drink, and stories. Craig is a Riesling fanatic and a lover of English Real Ale.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Ren Navarro

Canada

With nearly a decade of experience in the alcohol industry, a passion for encouraging personal and professional growth, and her trademark wit, Ren Navarro is here to educate, enlighten, and engage. Since launching Beer. Diversity. in 2018, Ren has become a known name at breweries, wineries, distilleries, and beyond. She has given talks on diversity and inclusion at several colleges and countless festivals, panels, radio shows, and podcasts throughout North America. In addition to being a diversity educator, she is a craft beer consultant for bars and restaurants in Ontario and an educator for countless businesses throughout the country.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Joe Wiebe

Canada

Joe Wiebe is the “Thirsty Writer,” the author of Craft Beer Revolution: The Insider’s Guide to B.C. Breweries, the definitive guidebook to British Columbia’s burgeoning craft beer industry. Joe writes regular columns for the Growler, Northwest Brewing News, Vancouver View, UrbanDiner.ca, and the BC Craft Beer News, as well as beer-soaked stories in British Columbia magazine, BCBusiness, WestWorld, Beer West, Taps, Publican, NUVO, Taste, Alive and Boulevard. Joe is a co-founder and co-producer of Victoria Beer Week and the BC Ale Trail project. He produced the Victoria Beer Map, and is the beer columnist for CBC Radio’s All Points West and BC Almanac programs. He acts as a beer judge for the Okanagan Fest of Ale and the BC Beer Awards.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Don Tse

Canada

Don Tse is a beer writer and consultant known globally as The Don of Beer. He has been active in craft beer for over 20 years and is a BJCP National ranked judge. He has sampled and written tasting notes on over 24,000 different beers. Don has also written for magazines and presented on beer in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Ukraine and Singapore.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Paddy Finnegan

Canada

Paddy Finnegan designs and builds equipment for the brewing industry, and also provides service and installation support for said equipment. He is an avid homebrewer and an active judge of both amateur and professional competitions.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Isabelle Netto

Canada

Iz Netto, M.Sc. is a food & beverage microbiologist and graduate of the Niagara College Brewmaster program. she has presented on brewing R&D, quality control, and other fermentation topics at conferences, workshops, webinars and podcasts, and continues to work on collaborative projects with breweries across Ontario.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Lesli Schneider

Canada

Lesli Schneider has been working in the hospitality industry since she was wee, and was fated to a life of beer-nerdery—being named after a German brewery will do that to you!) Working behind the bar for many years, she enthusiastically champions the beer lifestyle to guests and converts as many as possible to the right way of drinking!
Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

John Tyler

Canada

John Tyler is an award winning homebrewer and National level BJCP judge. John enjoys teaching how-to-brew classes and style discovery tasting sessions in the local homebrewer community, as well as experimenting with cheese and beer to discover the next really good pairing.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Jesse Vallins

Canada

Jesse Vallins is the executive chef at Barberian’s Steakhouse in Toronto and a co-founder and partner at Merit Brewing in Hamilton. He is an Advanced Cicerone, a BJCP certified beer and mead judge, and really just a giant beer geek in general. When he’s not working or dorking out on drinks, he teaches and develops curriculum for George Brown College and contributes content to Food & Drink magazine.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Josh Rubin

Canada

Josh Rubin is a journalist at the Toronto Star. He spent twelve years as the Star’s beer columnist, and has been a judge at the World Beer Awards since 2016.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Lauren Richard

Canada

Lauren Richard is an Advanced Cicerone specializing in staff education, menu curation, and food pairing. She is currently writing her first book – a hybrid homebrew/ cookbook.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Tara Luxmore

Canada

Tara Luxmore is a Certified Cicerone, Certified Beer Judge and Prud’homme Beer Sommelier.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Pat Thomson

Canada

Patrick Thomson has over ten years of beer related service experience and is dedicated to serving and presenting beer the right way. He is currently the Operations & Events Manager at Godspeed Brewery.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Max Morin

Canada

Max Morin is a Sales and Communications Coordinator at Godspeed Brewery, BJCP Judge, and Prud’homme Beer Sommelier based in Toronto.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Paul Dickey

Canada

Paul Dickey is a BJCP Grand Master beer judge and veteran brewer. After apprenticing with Michael Hancock at Dennison’s Brewing, he took on the role of head brewer at the Pepperwood Bistro in Burlington and then Black Oak Brewing in Toronto. More lately, he started contract brewing as Cheshire Valley Brewing and consulted on new products for a number of start-up breweries including Double Trouble, North American Craft and the Trailer Park Boys.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Bruce Halstead

Canada

Bruce Halstead founded the County Durham Brewing Company in 1995 and retired from brewing there in July of 2022 at the age of 70. He is a BJCP judge and former member of both the CABA and AHA.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Ady Floyd

Canada

Ady Floyd is a Certified Beer Specialist, a social media beer influencer under JustBeerBanter, a Cicerone Certified Beer Server, and has participated in judging competitions including the World Beer Awards. She also writes and publishes articles on LinkedIn and in magazines such as Menu Mag, a part of Restaurants Canada. 
Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Kevin Freer

Canada

Kevin Freer is the head brewer at Block Three Brewing and has been working in the brewing industry for 11 years. He has also been a BJCP judge for 10 years.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Ian Evans

Canada

Ian Evans is a graduate of Niagara College’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations program and since June of 2020 has worked as a brewer for the Kensington Brewing Company. He is a Certified BJCP judge and is currently working towards completing his Cicerone Certification.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Matt Tweedy

Canada

Matt Tweedy is the co-founder and brewing director at Tooth and Nail Brewing Company.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Jason Tremblay

Canada

Jason Tremblay is an award-winning brewer. He’s currently looking forward to brewing in-person collabs, including another much-anticipated durian beer.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Mark Misener

Canada

Mark Misener is a Certified Cicerone from Prince Edward Island who has worked with & in beer bars and breweries for the last eight years. He is currently a supervisor at the Bellwoods Brewpub in Toronto.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Dane Glyn-Williams

Canada

Dane Glyn-Williams is an Advanced Cicerone, Certified BJCP Judge and Prud’homme Master Beer Sommelier based out of Toronto, Ontario. Dane has worked in the beer industry for the past six years and is currently part of the ownership team at Rouge River Brewing Company.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Paddy Treacy

Canada

Paddy Treacy is the owner of Northern Lines and has a passion for draught quality. He has built a career in field quality in Canada and the United States for over a decade.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Jan-Philippe Barbeau

Canada

Jan-Philippe Barbeau has been a professional brewer in Québec for close to 25 years and is presently the Regional Sales Manager Canada for Fermentis by Lesaffre.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Steve Beauchesne

Canada

Steve Beauchesne is the co-founder of Beau’s Brewery, established in 2006. Beau’s has won more than 125 national and international awards for beer-making, marketing and packaging design, sustainability and business practices, and has raised more than $2 million for charity, community, and the independent arts. Steve certified Beau’s as Canada’s first-ever B-Corp brewery, founded February 1 as International Gruit Day, helped found the first craft brewery in Rwanda, and helped found the Canadian Craft Brewers Association.

Steve also plays guitar and sings in a punk band called Audio Visceral. His kids think he’s a bit of a goofball.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Mathew Renda

Canada

Mathew Renda entered the craft beer industry with a part-time beer blog that launched him into his dream career.  From homebrewing to now overseeing day-to-day operations of two breweries, Mathew has a vast array of knowledge in the industry. Mathew is GM of Boshkung Brewing with locations in Minden and Carnarvon, Ontario. When he is not at the brewery, you can find him on the golf course with a craft beer and cigar in hand.
Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Abhijeet Pathak

Canada

Abhijeet Pathak is a Certified Cicerone who currently works as a cellarman and packaging supervisor at Northern Maverick Brewing. He is also an avid homebrewer with a keen interest in Belgian, British and mixed fermentation style ales.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Jeffrey Kurkowski

Canada

Jeffrey Kurkowski is currently the head brewer at the Collective Arts Toronto brewpub. He have been brewing professionally in Ontario for almost 10 years, with stints at the King Brewery, Amsterdam Brewing, and Common Good. In 2019, he attended the Siebel Doemens world brewing academy in Chicago and Munich and graduated with honours.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Adam Shier

Canada

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Kyle Smith

Canada

Kyle Smith is a consultant for the beverage industry, helping companies such as Black Lab Brewing, Escarpment Yeast, and Stonehooker Brewing. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering Science degree with a specialization in Biochemical and Environmental Processes. Kyle has been judging beer since 2015, where his reputation for technical aptitude has resulted in him sitting on several best of show panels.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Dennis Kinvig

Canada

Dennis Kinvig is an avid homebrewer who has been a BJCP judge since 1985. His hobbies include going on ‘beercations’ to find good beers in new places.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Leah Kitagawa

Canada

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

George Milbrandt

Canada

George Milbrandt is a founder of C’est What, Toronto’s original craft beer bar, and co-founder of Toronto Beer Week.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Ren Navarro

Adrian Popowycz

Canada

Adrian Popowycz is a Professor and Program Coordinator at Niagara College’s Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management Program. He is a multi-award winning brewer both who has developed many unique beers that were firsts in the Ontario market and a National Level certified BJCP Judge. He enjoys introducing his  students to  beer styles from around the world!

Canada Beer Cup Judge Joe Wiebe

Ralph Morana

Canada

Raffaele ‘Ralph’ Morana is the co-owner & founder of Volo, Cask Days & Keep6 Imports. He received his Sommelier Certification from George Brown College 2007 and a Diploma in British Brewing Technology at Brewlab, Sunderland, UK, in 2010.

Canada Beer Cup Judge Don Tse

Mark Horsley

Canada

Mark Horsley is the brewer and owner of Barrel Heart Brewing & Blending, a new brewery focused on barrel-aged saison using Ontario ingredients. He is also a professor in the Niagara College Brewmaster program with focus on sensory analysis.

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Canadian Craft Brewers Association
Association des Microbrasseries Canadiennes
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