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American craft brewers are big winners at 2013 International Brewing Awards

Beer judging session at UK's National Brewery Centre

Beer judging session at UK’s National Brewery Centre

American craft brewers once again have shown the world that they can bring home the gold – and silver and bronze – in international beer competitions.

Three U.S. breweries walked away with a combined trove of 21 medals—more than a fifth of all the medals awarde, 11 of them gold, at the International Brewing Awards 2013. The competition held earlier this month at England’s National Brewery Centre in Burton-upon-Trent.

roundLogoMedals went to 96 beers and ciders – just under 10 percent of the more than 1,000 beers and ciders entered, said Ruth Evans, director of the competition organizers, Brewing Technology Services. Beers and ciders were submitted from more than 45 countries by a broad spectrum of producers from regional micro-brewers to multi-national companies.

Boston Beer Co.’s Samuel Adams led the pack with nine medals, including four gold; Deschutes Brewing Co., of Bend, Ore., won five including three gold; Sierra Nevada Brewing, of Chico, Calif., took three medals two of them gold; Bridgeport Brewing, of Portland, Ore., won two silver; Kona Brewing won a gold and Alaskan Brewing, a single bronze.

America brewers have won an increasing number of medals in each succeeding IBA competition. Boston Beer Co. Sierra Nevada and Deschutes also were winners in 2011, when American brewers took home nine medals, five of them gold.

bottledetaillargecream--en--e641e338-b600-482f-a138-347ab1928330Sam Adams Cream Stout won gold in the dark beer category and silver in the bottled ale category. Sam Adams also was recognized for gold with its Cinder Bock, White Lantern, Black Brew and Latitude 48. The brewer’s other silver winners were Third Voyage and Double Agent IPL. Utopias 2012 was a bronze winner.

OBS_ovalDeschutes’ won gold with its Obsidian Stout, Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and Inversion IPA; silver with its Black Butte Porter and bronze for its Northwest Pale Ale – Red Chair NWPA, Deschutes Brewery.

palealeSierra Nevada Pale Ale won a gold for the keg version and bronze for the bottled version. Sierra Nevada’s Narwhal Imperial Stout was a gold medalist.

Bridgeport won silver medals for its IPA and its Ebenezer Ale.

Kona’s Big Wave Golden Ale was a gold medal winner, while bronze went to Alaskan Smoked Porter.

The awards will be presented on April 24 at Guild Hall in London, when the overall championship winners of the competition will be announced. The complete list of winners is available at the competition’s web site.

Perhaps less known in the U.S. as other competitions, such as the World Beer Cup, the International Brewing Awards have been around for more than a century. They date to 1886 and long were known as the United Kingdom Bottled and Draught, European and Commonwealth Beer Competitions. Until 1987 European and Commonwealth brewers were allowed to enter only bottled beers. The biennial competition was suspended in for six years, beginning in 2005, and revived in 2011 with new rules to reflect the changing industry landscape.

The competition, judged by professional brewers, was organized by Awards, Brewing Technology Services Ltd (BTS), which is owned by Brewing, Food & Beverage Industry Suppliers’ Association.

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Boston Beer tops craft brewer rankings

Who was America’s biggest craft brewer in 2011?

No surprise, according to the latest rankings from the Brewers Association of Boulder, CO. The answer: Boston Beer Co.

The Brewers Association. a not-for-profit trade group for U.S. breweries, today released its annual lists of the top 50 craft and overall brewing companies in the U.S., based on 2011 beer sales volume. Of the top 50 overall brewing companies, 36 are small and independent¹ craft brewing companies.

Long Island’s Blue Point Brewery ranked No. 34 among craft brewers and No. 46 overall.

The association, however, listed no statistical data with its rankings, but did say that the ranking was based on beer sales volume.

Boston Beer, brewers of Samuel Adams, was followed in order by Sierra NevadaNew Belgium, The Grambrinus Co., of Texas, and Deschutes Brewery, of Oregon.

“In the last 15 years, craft brewing has gone from one percent of the overall beer market to almost six percent in 2011,” Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, said in a press release. “We attribute a large part of that growth to the many talented brewers who are providing beer lovers with more beer style and flavor choices than ever before.”

The Brewers Association defines an American craft brewer as small, with production of less than 6 million barrels; independent (less than 25 percent owned by another producer of alcoholic beverages), and traditional, with either an all malt flagship or has at least 50 percent of its volume in either all malt beers or in beers which use adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor.

Boston Beer also ranked as America’s No. 5 overall brewery–behind  Anheuser-Busch, MillerCoors, Pabst and Yuengling.

Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies
(Based on 2011 beer sales volume)

1.  Boston Beer Co. (Samuel Adams)

2.   Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

3. New Belgium Brewing Co.

4. The Gambrinus Company (Shiner, Bridgeport, Trumer Pils)

5.   Deschutes Brewery

6.  Matt Brewing Co. (Saranac)

7. Bell’s Brewery, Inc.

8. Harpoon Brewery

9. Lagunitas Brewing Co.

10. Boulevard Brewing Co.

11. Stone Brewing Company

12. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

13. Brooklyn Brewery

14. Alaskan Brewing & Bottling Co.

15. Long Trail Brewing Co.

16. Shipyard Brewing Co.

17. Abita Brewing Co.

18. Great Lakes Brewing Co.

19. New Glarus Brewing Co.

20. Full Sail Brewing Co.

21. Summit Brewing Co.

22. Anchor Brewing Co.

23. Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

24.  Sweetwater Brewing Co.

25. Rogue Ales Brewery

26. Flying Dog Brewery

27.  Victory Brewing Co.

28. CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants

29. Oskar Blues Brewery

30. Odell Brewing Co.

31. Stevens Point Brewery Co.

32. Ninkasi Brewing Co.

33. BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery, Inc.

34. Blue Point Brewing Co.

35. Bear Republic Brewing Co.

36.  Lost Coast Brewery Cafe

37. Big Sky Brewing Co.

38. North Coast Brewing Co. Inc.

39. Saint Louis Brewery, Inc./Schlafly Bottleworks

40. Gordon Biersch Brewing Co.

41 Breckenridge Brewery

42 Founders Brewing Co.

43 Saint Arnold Brewing Co.

44 Karl Strauss Brewing Co.

45. Real Ale Brewing Co.

46. Mac and Jack’s Brewery Inc.

47. Smuttynose Brewing Co.

48. Utah Brewers Cooperative (Wasatch, Squatters_

49. Left Hand Brewing Co.

50.  Anderson Valley Brewing Co. (tie)

Four Peaks Brewing Co. (tie)

 

Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies 

1 Anheuser-Busch Inc. (Includes Bass, Beck’s, Busch, Goose Is, Landshark, Michelob, Rolling Rock, Shock Top, Wild Blue)

2 MillerCoors ( includes A.C. Golden, Batch 19, Blue Moon, Colorado Native, Herman Joseph, Keystone, Killian’s and Leinenkugel’s)

3. Pabst Brewing Co.  (Schlitz and 28 other brand families)

4. D. G. Yuengling and Son Inc.

5. Boston Beer Co.

6.North American Breweries (Dundee, Genesee, Labatt Lime, Magic Hat and Pyramid)

7. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

8. New Belgium Brewing Co.

9. Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc. (Kona, Red Hook and Widmer Brothers)

10. The Gambrinus Company (BridgePort, Shiner and Trumer)

11. Deschutes Brewery

12. Matt Brewing Co. (Includes Saranac, Flying Bison)

13. Bell’s Brewery, Inc.

14.Minhas Craft Brewery (Huber,  Mountain Crest and 9 other brand)

15. Harpoon Brewery

16. Lagunitas Brewing Co.

17. Boulevard Brewing Co.

18. Stone Brewing Co.

19. Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

20. Brooklyn Brewery

21. Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co.

22. Long Trail Brewing Co.

23. August Schell Brewing Co. (includes Grain Belt)

24. Shipyard Brewing Co.

25. Abita Brewing Co.

26. World Brews/Winery Exchange (private labels)

27. Great Lakes Brewing Co.

28. New Glarus Brewing Co.

29. Full Sail Brewing Co.

30. Pittsburgh Brewing Co.

31. Summit Brewing Co.

32. Anchor Brewing Co.

33. Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

34. Cold Spring Brewing Co. (Gluek and 17 other brand families)

35. Sweetwater Brewing Co.

36. Rogue Ales Brewery

37. Mendocino Brewing Co. (includes Butte Creek, Kingfisher and Olde Saratoga)

38. Flying Dog Brewery

39.Victory Brewing Co.

40. CraftWorks Breweries & Restaurants (A1A, Big River, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, Rock Bottom Restaurants, Ragtime and Seven Bridges brewpubs)

41. Oskar Blues Brewery & Tasty Weasel Tap Room

42. Odell Brewing Co.

43. Stevens Point Brewery Co. (includes James Page and Whole Hog brands)

44. Ninkasi Brewing Co.

45. BJ’s Chicago Pizza & Brewery

46. Blue Point Brewing Co.

47. Bear Republic Brewing Co.

48. Goose Island Brewing Co. (sold in 2011 in Anheuser-Busch)

49. Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe

50. Narragansett Brewing Co.

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