The World Beer Cup (WBC) bills itself as the world’s most prestigious beer competition, but it’s actually more than that. Held every two years, it’s also a celebration of beer from around the world. It’s a chance for brewers to receive valuable feedback–or, even better, the euphoria of a win. After taking a pause in 2020 due to COVID, the competition will be held again in 2022.

Launched in 1996, the WBC attracted 8234+ beer entries from 2525 breweries in 66 countries at its last iteration in 2018. At that time, a whopping 101 categories were offered, from traditional styles to newer ones that have exploded in popularity in recent years (think barrel-aged beers and certain styles of IPAs). This upcoming WBC introduces 111 categories. How about this one: the experimental beer category now has a sub-category for “ginjo beer or sake-yeast beer” due to the number of sake-inspired beers increasingly submitted over the years.

Japan has certainly left its mark on this competition in other ways. Since the 1996 competition, Japanese breweries have consistently won medals, though the competition has without a doubt increased in the last decade. The judges–295 of them in 2018 hailing from 33 countries–include a contingent from Japan. Judges are tasked not only with judging beers and advancing them to elimination rounds, but also providing valuable feedback to brewers. Judges are all industry professionals (including media) that are trained in sensory analysis and have been carefully vetted by the Brewers Association in the U.S., which operates the event.

Brewery application and beer registration begins October 26th and runs through November 10th. Brewers interested in entering might want to get a head start by checking out the categories and style descriptions. Breweries outside the U.S. are expected to ship their beer to international consolidation points between February 28th and March 9th, 2022 (in Japan, Nagano Trading will be handling the logistics for brewers; more information below). The awards ceremony will be held on May 5th, 2022, in conjunction with the Craft Brewers Conference in Minneapolis, MN (5/2~5).

We highly encourage Japanese breweries to take the challenge. It’s fun for all fans of Japanese beer when a brewery wins big. It’s great for worldwide awareness of Japanese craft beer, too.

For more information (in English): www.worldbeercup.org

Consolidation and shipping:
Isewan Kaiun Warehouse (handled by Nagano Trading Co.,ltd.)

Attn: WBC 2022

2-17, Aomi 3-chome, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0064

World Distribution Center (Warehouse building)
CONTACT: Takayuki Myohoji
EMAIL: t.myohoji@naganotrading.com

Disclosure: The BA advertises WBC in the Japan Beer Times. We receive no further compensation for breweries that enter.