Congrats to Our Local Breweries That Earned Hardware at the World Beer Cup!

The World Beer Cup is one of, if not THE, most prestigious beer competition in the world. You could call it the Olympics of beer.

The best beers in 103 beer categories covering 176 different beer styles (including all subcategories) received gold, silver, and bronze awards, setting new standards for craft beer globally. Judging for the World Beer Cup took place over 18 sessions and 9 days. A panel of 272 judges from 26 countries evaluated 10,213 entries from 2,376 breweries representing 51 countries

This year’s edition saw a few breweries from our neck of the woods take home some hardware! This is a big deal for the winners, as they get to promote that they have one of the best beers in the world, and that drives in quite a few customers who want to try it!

Congrats to Pollyanna Brewing Company in Lemont for winning a silver medal in the German-Style Bock or Maibock category for their beer called Nose Over Tail!

Congrats to Noon Whistle in Lombard for winning a gold medal in the American-Style Amber Lager category  for their beer called Bruski (hilarious name)!

Congrats to Roaring Table Brewing Co. in Lake Zurich for winning a silver medal in the German-Style Altbier category for their beer called Easy Hour!

Congrats to Sketchbook Brewing Co. in Skokie for winning a bronze medal in the American-Belgo-Style Ale category for their beer called Beer for the Soul!

🥰🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/FGBOTBsxCg

— Sketchbook Brewing (@Sketchbookbrew) May 11, 2023

Congrats to Tighthead Brewing Co. in Mundelein for winning a bronze medal in the Strong Red Ale category for their beer called Bear’s Choice!

Congrats to Kishwuakee Brewing Co. in Woodstock for winning a silver medal in the American-Style Brown Ale category for their beer called Buffelhead Brown!
(They seem to be playing it cool and haven’t posted about their win! Maybe they are still recovering?!)

A special congrats also to my guy Neil at Horse Thief Hollow in Chicago for winning a gold medal in the International Pilsener category for their beer called Little Wing!

Brownie points for naming it after a Hendrix song! I also believe HTH is the brewery in Chicago to take home a medal, which is pretty surprising!

World Beer Cup Competition Statistics

1. 14th competition (skipped 2020; annualized starting 2022)
2. Entries: 10,213
3. Breweries: 2,376
4. International breweries: 22.9% (546 international)
5. Countries: 51
6. First-time brewery entries: 522
7. Judges: 272
8. International judges: 105
9. Judge countries: 26
10. First-time judges: 44
11. Judging sessions and days: 9 days, 18 sessions
12. Beer Style Categories: 103
13. Beer Styles: 176 (includes all subcategories)
14. Avg. number of beers in each category: 99

WORLD BEER CUP COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS

Most entered style categories: 

1. Category 102, American-Style India Pale Ale: 412 entries

2. Category 103, Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale: 374 entries

3. Category 40, German-Style Pilsener: 233 entries

4. Category 35, International Light Lager: 220 entries

5. Category 30, Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout: 202 entries

Countries with the most entries:

1. United States: 8,135

2. Canada: 444

3. Japan: 223

4. Germany: 189

5. Australia: 152

*Out of a total possible 309 awards in 103 beer style categories, 307 were awarded. Gold awards were not given in Category 20, Experimental India Pale Ale, or in Category 77, English Ale.