2010 World Beer Cup Goes Gold

BOULDER, Colo.The 2010 Brewers Association World Beer Cup, the worlds largest commercial beer competition, was held last week in Chicago where brewers from six continents earned awards from an elite international panel of judges. The eighth biannual competition presented awards to brewers from 19 countries ranging from Australia and Italy to Iceland and Japan.

This year, 642 breweries from 44 countries and 47 U.S. states vied for awards with 3,330 beers entered in 90 beer style categories. The entries in each category were eligible for gold, silver and bronze awards. Judges presented a total of 268 awards.

Highlights and trends included:

The average number of beers entered per category was 37.

The category with the most entries was Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer, with 113 entries. The second most-entered category was Herb and Spice Beer or Chocolate Beer, with 108 entries. The German-Style Sour Ale category had the fewest number of entries at 9.

The 2010 World Beer Cup saw the growth of sour category beers to 85 entries in four categories (46 entries in 2008). Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour nearly tripled in size (39 entries in 2010 versus 14 entries in 2008); American-Style Sour Ale more than tripled (14 versus 4).

Certain categories essentially doubled in size: Coffee Flavored Beer (47 versus 24); Baltic Porter (28 versus 15).

The American IPA (106 versus 77) and Imperial IPA (71 versus 39) categories continue to grow. American IPA was the third most-entered category, relinquishing its spot as most-entered category over the past several World Beer Cup competitions.

Two new categories came in with very strong showings in 2010: Out of Category/Traditionally Brewed Beer (48 entries) and American-Belgo-Style Ale (46).

Two breweries tied for taking home the most gold awardsBaird Brewing Co. from Numazu, Japan for its Numazu Lager (American-Style Amber), Country Girl Kabocha Ale (Specialty Beer), and Saison Sayuri (Belgian- and French-Style Ale); and Ballast Point Brewing Co. from San Diego for its Bourbon Barrel Aged Piper Down Scottish Ale (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer), Fathom IPL (Out of Category-Traditionally Brewed Beer), and Sculpin IPA (International Pale Ale).

Click here for a complete list of winners.