May 6, 2016
Many San Diego brewers headed to Philadelphia this week for the Brewers Association's largest commercial beer competitions to date - the 2016 World Beer Cup. The biennial event is considered to be one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind, and this year, San Diego breweries brought home 14 awards.
The 2016 edition of the World Beer Cup saw 6,596 beers from 1,907 breweries representing 55 countries - a 38.5 percent increase in the number of entries from the 2014 World Beer Cup, which had 4,754 entries. At the 2014 event, San Diego breweries won 11 awards, including Coronado Brewing won the honors of top mid-size brewing company.
"Brewing has no boundaries or borders," said Charlie Papazian, founder, Brewers Association. "The World Beer Cup recognizes the very best in the global community of brewers - their innovation, creativity and the craft of beer and brewing."
In total, San Diego breweries brought home 14 awards. Bronze medals were awarded to Legacy Brewing for That Guava Beer (Fruit Beer), Ballast Point Scripps Ranch for its Pumpkin Down (Pumpkin Beer), Toolbox Brewing for its Bramble of Rose (Wood and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer), New English Brewing for its Brews Special Brown Ale (English-Style Brown Ale), and Novo Brazil for the Corvo Negro (British-Style Imperial Stout). Silver medals were brought back to America's Finest City by Mother Earth for its End of Summer Beer (Extra Special Bitter), Alesmith for the Wee Heavy (Scotch Ale), Ballast Point for Piper Down (Irish-Style Red Ale), and Thorn Street Brewing for December Nights (Imperial Red Ale category). Bringing home the gold to San Diego at this year's awards were Amplified Ale Works for their Whammy Bar Wheat (American-Style Wheat Beer), Breakwater Brewing Company for their Rye Dawn (Rye Beer), Fall Brewing Company for the Bourbon Barrel Aged Jinx Remover (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer), Monkey Paw Pub & Brewery for its Ashes from the Grave (Smoke Beer), and Mike Hess Brewing for its Claritas (German-Style Koelsch).
Entries were judged by an international panel of 253 judges from 31 countries. Judges awarded 287 out of 288 total possible awards, reflecting the chance for one gold, one silver and one bronze award in each of 96 beer style categories. A gold award was not presented in the Fresh or Wet Hop Ale category. The category with the most entries was American-Style India Pale Ale with 275 entries. A detailed analysis of the entries and awards can be found in the 2016 World Beer Cup Fact Sheet.
"This year’s judge panel was our most international ever, with three-quarters of judges travelling to Philadelphia from outside the U.S.," said Chris Swersey, competition manager, World Beer Cup. "Judges commented throughout the week that overall beer quality continues to improve across the spectrum of world beer styles. While breweries may hold the awards, beer drinkers around the world are the true winners."
The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent brewers. The company introduced the World Beer Cup competition in 1996 to celebrate the art and science of brewing by recognizing outstanding achievement. The Brewers Association represents more than 70 percent of the brewing industry, and its members make more than 99 percent of the beer brewed in the U.S.
For more information, visit worldbeercup.org.
