This past April, the brewers association based in Boulder, Colorado (USA) hosted its fourth World Beer Cup. The competition once again highlighted the diversity and quality of this most social of drinks, with 642 breweries from around the world entering 3330 beers in 90 categories. There were also 179 judges from 26 different countries deciding which beers would win the prestigious medals.
Japan had a big showing in Baird Brewing, which took home golds in three categories: Specialty Beer (Country Girl Kabocha Ale), American-Style Amber Lager (Numazu Lager), and Belgian-and-French Style Ale (Saison Sayuri). Coedo followed Baird with a silver in the Specialty Beer category for its Coedo Beniaka (made with red sweet potatoes). Fujizakara’s Kogen Beer Rauch Boch also won a bronze in the Smoked Beer category (see last month’s issue about smoked malts).
Some of the results were not surprising to many observers. American breweries had by far the most impressive results, owing in large part to the thriving craft beer culture there. Germany and Belgium cleaned up in the German and Belgium-Style beer categories, with some exceptions. Beyond Baird winning in one of those categories, gold went to New Norcia’s Abbey Ale, from Australia, in the Other Belgian-Style Ale category. VuDu of Birrificio Italiano won gold in the German-Style Dark Wheat Ale category. Similarly, Cerveceria Minerva in Mexico won the gold for its Minerva Pale Ale in the English-style Mild Ale category and Morgan Street Brewery’s Golden Pilsner (USA) in the Bohemian-style Pilsner category beat out two Czech breweries.
Some other interesting notables, if only because they challenge our notion of regions where beer is traditionally brewed, include Lithuanian brewery UAB “Kalnapilio Tauro grupe” winning a gold in Specialty Honey Beer and a silver in German-Style Heller Bock/Mailbock. Singapore Brewer, Asia Pacific Breweries, won a gold for their Tiger Crystal in the Australasian, Latin American or Tropical-Style Light Lager Catergory, and another gold for their Tiger Beer in the International-Style Lager. A final brewery that international beer drinkers should definitely follow (in my opinion, having visited several times) is Nørrebro Brygus, in Copenhagen, Denmark, which won gold in the American-Style Imperial Stout and Barley Wine-Style Ale categories.
This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.
