It felt like a sacred Mecca, a life journey: this coming together of Beer Judges from six continents. As a judge from North America, and more specifically from the United States, I fit into a smaller group as the minority. Sixty-two percent of the 2010 World Beer Cup judges traveled to Chicago, Illinois, USA from outside the United States to judge at the 8th biennial competition, the largest-ever commercial beer competition on the globe. They hailed from 26 countries.

During judging sessions, it is not unusual to sit at a table with beer experts from New Zealand, Belgium, Germany, or Switzerland. In one afternoon session, I was the only person at the judges’ table with English as a primary language, and the sole individual who was limited to but one language. My tablemates displayed a broad range of diversity, both in their professional vocations and in their culture. My table included beer consultants from Belgium and Japan, Brewmasters from Iceland, the Czech Republic, and South Korea (originally from Spain), and a brewery manager from India.

Judges generally taste as many as 50 beer samples in a day, interspersed with palate cleansers such as water, bread and matzo, or table breaks and lunch. Their assessment of each beer follows the Style Guidelines developed by the Brewers Association for description and specifications; at the same time, they seek beers that display a distinctive, organoleptic quality that propels them into the category of true “World-Class” prominence. If World Cup Beer Judges do not determine the selections are befitting of a medal, they may choose to bypass awarding one for a particular category, although this is rare. In the 2010 competition, Gold medals were not awarded in categories for American-Belgo Style Ale or for Foreign-Style Stout.

Five Champion Awards were given for World Beer Cup Brewery/Brewmasters in Large, Medium, and Small Brewery categories and Large and Small Brewpub categories at the gala awards dinner held on Saturday evening, April 10, 2010. Charlie Papazian, President of the Brewers Association, spoke with passion about the creativity and ability of these World-Class brewers, saying, “For a brewer, a World Beer Cup gold award allows them to say that their winning beer represents the best of that beer style in the world.”

2010 World Beer Cup Statistics:

3,330 Beers entered from 642 breweries in 44 countries
90 style categories
179 Judges from 26 countries – 62% from outside the USA

The USA had the greatest amount of entries with 2,371 beers entered from 47 of the 50 U.S. states. No entries were received from North Dakota, South Dakota, or West Virginia. The U.S. walked away with 204 medals across 37 states, but only 9% of the U.S. beers entered received medals. This was the same percentage of wins by entry as Germany – 186 entries with 16 medals – and 1% less than the UK – 51 entries with 5 medals awarded. The average number of beers entered per category was 37.

Largest categories

Wood-and-Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – 115 Entries

Gold - The Legend of the Liquid Brain Imperial Stout, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver, Colorado, USA
Silver - Barrel Aged La Petite Mort, Black Raven Brewing Company, Redmond, Washington, USA
Bronze - Rudolf's Bourbon Scotch Ale, Rock Bottom Brewery – [Cincinnati location], Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Herb and Spice or Chocolate Beer – 109 Entries
Gold - Coco Jones Porter, Black Raven Brewing Company, Redmond, Washington, USA
Silver - Lemon Grass Wheat Ale, Outer Banks Brewing Station, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA
Bronze - Black Licorice Lager, Short's Brewing Company, Bellaire, Michigan, USA

American-Style India Pale Ale – 106 Entries
Gold - Norm's Raggedy-Ass IPA, Big Rock Chop House & Brewery, Birmingham, Michigan, USA
Silver - Centennial IPA, Founders Brewing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
Bronze – Duet, Alpine Beer Company, Alpine, California, USA

Gluten Free Beer

Gluten Free Beer competed in the newly-established Gluten Free Beer Category, and not within the Experimental Categories of past years. This Gluten Free Beer competition became an anecdotal win of David over Goliath in which the small-town American brewery, The Alchemist, and Australian-born O’Brien Brewing won Gold and Silver, respectively, over mega-brewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev who received Bronze. Note: The Alchemist also won Gold and Bronze at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Winners in the Gluten-Free Beer Category were:

Gold - Celia Saison, The Alchemist, Waterbury, Vermont, USA
Silver - O'Brien Brown Ale, O'Brien Brewing, Bakery Hill, Australia
Bronze – RedBridge, Anheuser-Busch InBev, St Louis, Missouri, USA

Brewers Association World Beer Cup 2010 Champions

Large Brewing Company Category
Asia Pacific Breweries Limited, Singapore
APB Brewing Team

Mid-Size Brewing Company Category
Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, California, USA
Matthew Brynildson

Small Brewing Company Category
Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego, California, USA
Ballast Point Brewers

Large Brewpub Category
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, Delaware, USA
Iron Hill Brewery Team

Small Brewpub Category
Devils Backbone Brewing Company, Roseland, Virginia, USA
Jason Oliver

What pushed the winning breweries and brewpubs into champion status?

Asia Pacific Breweries Limited, Singapore:
Gold – International Style Lager - Tiger Beer
Gold - Australasian, Latin American or Tropical-Style Light Lager - Tiger Crystal
Silver - International Pale Ale - Straits Pale

Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, California, USA:
Gold - South German-Style Hefeweizen/Hefeweissbier - Hefeweizen
Gold – American Style Pale Ale - Pale 31
Silver – Oatmeal Stout - Velvet Merkin
Silver – Session Beer - Firestone Extra Pale Ale
Bronze – American Style Pale Ale - Mission Street Pale
Bronze – International Pale Ale - P.L. IPA

Ballast Point Brewing Company, San Diego, California, USA:
Gold - Out of Category – Traditionally Brewed Beer – Fathom IPL
Gold – Wood-and-Barrel-Aged - Bourbon Barrel Aged Piper Down Scottish Ale
Gold – International Pale Ale - Sculpin IPA

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, DE:
Gold – British-Style Imperial Stout – Russian Imperial Stout
Gold – American Style Sour Ale - Raspberry Torte
Silver – British-Style Imperial Stout - Crazy Ivan
Bronze - Belgian Style Sour Ale - Lambic de Hill
Bronze –Belgian-Style Dubbel - Abbey Dubbel

Devils Backbone Brewing Company, Roseland, Virginia, USA:
Gold – Baltic Style Porter – Danzig
Bronze - Traditional German-Style Bock – Kollaborator
Bronze - German-Style Schwarzbier - Schwartz Bier
Bronze - Coffee Flavored Beer - Morning Bear


A complete list of winners can be found at the Brewers Association 2010 World Beer Cup website:
https://worldbeercup.org/winners.html

Cheers!