Ides 34: The Henderson Cup

Remember the incredible 1942 bowling rivalry between Toronto’s own Tommy Sutcliffe and Jimmy Morris from Hamilton? The one finally settled by a 20-game showdown? Yeah, we thought not; but this town loves a friendly contest, in whatever pastime, so we thought it would be fun to host our own. Homebrewing is in our DNA, so we decided to launch the Henderson Cup, as a way of celebrating Toronto’s homebrewing community.

Participation in the 3rd Annual Henderson Cup was open to anyone living in the GTA, and we received over 600 entries which were pared down to just ten finalists. The winner of the finals was then invited to do a collaboration brew, inspired by their winning beer, with the Henderson brewing team.

This year’s winner was Marcelo Paniza, an IT. professional who (thanks to the patience of his wife and kids) has been homebrewing since 2011 and, in 2018, has won seven medals in various homebrewing contests across Canada.

Marcelo loves Belgian styles and lagers so, together, we brewed this Traditional Bock, a dark, strong, malty lager. Rich, smooth and toasty with a bountiful off-white head, this German winter classic is perfect beer to accompany our anticipation of warmer weather to come.