A small brewery in Germany, a mid-sized California brewer and international beer giant AB-ImBev each won top awards at the 2012 Brewers Association World Beer Cup awards, described by the group’s president as the “Olympics of beer competition.”
In all 284 awards were presented last week in San Diego, where the bi-annual competition was conducted just prior to the annual Craft Brewers Conference.
“It’s called ‘the olympics of beer competition’ for good reason,” Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, the U.S.-based trade association, said in a statement. The trade group has run the competition every two years since 1996.
“The event brings together great brewers from all corners of the globe. Plus, the awards are highly regarded,” Papazian said. ”A brewer who wins a World Beer Cup gold award knows that their winning beer represents the best of that beer style in the world.
A collection of 211 brewing industry professionals judged the competition, which drew 3,921 entries in 95 beer style categories. The beers came from 799 breweries located in 54 countries and 45 U.S. states.
The big winners for champion brewery and brewmaster were:
Small Brewing Company
Brauerei Michael Plank, Laaber, Germany; Michael Plank
Mid-size Brewing Company
Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, CA; Matthew Brynildson
Large Brewing Company
AB InBev; Claudio Ferro
Small Brewpub
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Media, PA; Iron Hill Brewery Team
Large Brewpub
Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR; Darron R S Welch.
A complete list of all winners is available for download at the association’s site.