Congratulations to all the winners at this year’s World Beer Cup, one of the world’s premier beer judging competitions. The Brewers Association announced the winners earlier today at the Craft Brewers Conference in Minneapolis. (Photo above: The crews from Kulshan Brewing and Wander Brewing celebrate their medals. From Instagram.)
This year Washington breweries brought home 13 medals, which we list below. As with any competition like this, there are things we know and things we do not know. We know who won. We know how many beers were entered into each category. We do not know what breweries did not submit beer to the competition. If your favorite beer is not on the list of winners, perhaps it was not even in the competition.
Changes on the horizon. Historically the World Beer Cup competition takes place every other year — a biennial event. Starting next yet it switches to an annual format. Brewery registration for the 2023 World Beer Cup opens in October 2022, with the awards presented on May 10, 2023, at the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville.
Some basic info/stats about this year’s competition.
- 2,493 breweries submitted beer.
- A total of 10,542 beers were submitted in 103 different style categories.
- 8,058 of the beers entered were from breweries in the U.S.
- Beers were judged by 226 judges representing 28 countries.
The top three most-entered categories:
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
sponsor
- American-Style India Pale Ale, 384 entrees.
- Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale, 343 entrees.
- German-Style Pilsener, 254 entrees.
WASHINGTON GOLD MEDALS
- Gold: Gusto Crema Coffee Ale, Georgetown Brewing Co., Seattle, WA (Coffee Beer – 79 Entries)
- Gold: Smoked Rye Lager, Headless Mumby Brewing Co., Olympia, WA (Rye Beer – 53 Entries)
- Gold: Wander Litely, Wander Brewing, Bellingham, WA (International Light Lager – 154 Entries)
- Gold: Old Scrooge, Silver City Brewery, Bremerton, WA (Old Ale or Strong Ale – 33 Entries)
- Gold: Hazealicious, Reuben’s Brews – The Taproom, Seattle, WA (Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale – 141 Entries)
WASHINGTON SILVER MEDALS
- Silver: Red Patina, Hellbent Brewing Co., Seattle, WA (American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 137 Entries)
- Silver: Correspondent, Wander Brewing, Bellingham, WA (Export Stout – 53 Entries)
- Silver: Transporter, Kulshan Brewing Co. – James Street, Bellingham, WA (Brown Porter – 57 Entries)
- Silver: Lithium, Resonate Brewery, Bellevue, WA (German-Style Altbier – 49 Entries)
- Silver: Steam Tug Tripel, Figurehead Brewing Co., Seattle, WA (Belgian-Style Tripel – 93 Entries)
- Silver: Ryes of the Pumpkin King, Sound2Summit Brewery, Snohomish, WA (Pumpkin Beer – 40 Entries)
WASHINGTON BRONZE MEDALS
- Bronze: Pilsner, Chuckanut Brewery, Burlington, WA (Bohemian-Style Pilsener – 161 Entries)
- Bronze: Happy Little Clouds, Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle, WA (American-Style Pilsener – 100 Entries)
