Local 2012 World Beer Cup Winners

Jay Brooks, of the Brookston Beer Bulletin, recently posted information on 2012 World Beer Cup.  The World Beer Cup, run by the Brewers Association, is an international beer competition that occurs every two years.  The purpose of the competition is to promote the international beer culture and draw attention to the growing craft beer market.  It differs from the Great American Beer Festival competition primarily in that it works hard to pull brewers in from across the globe.  Admittedly, though, the great majority of entering breweries come from the United States.  The World Beer Cup features a panel of internationally renowned beer judges, who evaluate over 90 different categories of beer and award a gold, silver, and bronze medal for each category.

In 2010, the World Beer Cup featured 642 breweries from 44 countries and 47 U.S states.  These breweries entered 3,330 beers in 90 categories.  It also saw Devils Backbone Brewing Company named Champion Brewery and Brewmaster Small Brewpub, which is of particular importance to me because they are one of my local breweries.  It seemed very improbable that a small brewery from rural Virginia would place so highly on the international stage, but they did it and have continued to earn accolades.

This year, as announced by the Brookston Beer Bulletin, the World Beer Cup continued to grow.  The 2012 competition evaluated 3,921 beers in 95 categories from 54 nations.  The 218 judges handed out 284 awards to breweries from 21 countries, representing a 18 percent increase over the 2010 competition.  As in the previous World Beer Cups, the grand majority of the awards were garnered by the United States, with California earning 55 medals and Colorado with 27 medals.  The next closest country was Germany, with 23 medals and then Belgium with 8 medals.  India Pale Ale was the beer style with the most entries, 150, which is hardly surprising.

Local breweries (to Jeff and I) that won medals include:

• Devils Backbone Brewing Company, Roseland, VA - Gold in Vienna Lager
• Blue Mountain Brewery, Afton, VA - Silver in American-Belgo-Style Ale
• Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, Richmond, VA - Bronze in Herb and Spice Beer
• Rock Bottom, Arlington, VA - Bronze in Coffee Beer
• Great American Restaurants, Centerville, VA - Silver in Extra Special Bitter
• Cambridge Brewing Company, Cambridge, MA - Gold in Herb and Spice Beer
• Boston Beer Company, Boston, MA - Gold in Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer
• Cisco Brewers, Nantucket, MA - Silver in Belgian-Style Flanders Oud Brewin or Oud Red Ale
• Wormtown Brewery, Worchester, MA - Silver in Robust Porter

It is a treat to see breweries that we have visited place highly in the World Beer Cup, in some cases with beer we have even tried.  I hope our local breweries do as well in 2014.

Cheers,

TW