Lotte Peplow, American craft beer ambassador in Europe for the Brewers Association, looks at why it’s important for American craft brewers to shine at international beer competitions
It’s exciting to see brown ale winning top honours at an international beer competition. This humble, unsung, taken-for-granted beer style often gets overlooked alongside the more eye-catching barrel-aged or imperial stouts and porters, but brown ale has a range of delicious flavours, like toast, chocolate, toffee, coffee, raisins, and nuts, and its sessionability makes it easy drinking for any occasion.
So it was very gratifying to see Cigar City Brewing Co’s Maduro Brown Ale win best American beer of the competition at the Brussels Beer Challenge recently. This is an annual international beer competition that aims to promote the beer industry in a market that is not only a benchmark for beer, but also home to connoisseurs.
Winning formula: a classic brown ale
It was the tenth running of the competition and attracted nearly 1,800 beers from 35 different countries. It was judged by an international jury of 75 independent beer experts (including yours truly!). In total, 32 American craft beers were awarded medals: eight gold, 13 silver, and 11 bronze.
A week later, the European Beer Star Awards took place in Munich, Germany. One of the most recognised beer competitions in the world, it is committed to the traditional European art of brewing. It rewards high quality, authentic beers that are genuine and distinctive, and is limited to beer categories that originate in Europe.
This year’s competition attracted 2,395 beers from 44 countries, judged by more than 120 beer experts, including Steve Parr, Brewers Association export development programme manager. American craft beers won 18 medals in total: five gold, four silver, and nine bronze.
Medal winning at international beer competitions shows that American craft beer can compete among the best beers in the world and, in many cases, win. Such success demonstrates the world-class quality of American craft beer and is testimony to the skill, expertise, and precision of American craft brewers. It underpins the enviable reputation of American craft brewers for producing innovative, creative, and/or classic beers, and winning medals provides a valuable point of difference in today’s competitive marketplace.
Success at international beer competitions helps raise awareness for American craft beer abroad and assists American craft breweries with generating publicity for their brands, both at home and in overseas markets.
I’m often asked ‘Why drink American craft beer?’ and my main response is to highlight its success at international competitions. If it’s good enough for some of the finest judging palates in the world, it’s good enough for me!
American craft breweries benefit from close proximity to some of the most fertile hop growing regions in the world and are able to immerse themselves in the hop growing process, which helps them create high-quality beers. The use of high-quality raw materials, technical brewing expertise, and a relentless commitment to quality ensure beer reaches the drinker exactly as the brewer intended.
Many award-winning American craft beers can be found in the UK from online retailers such as The Cascade Club, Beer Hop, The Malt Miller, Beer Merchants, Beer Bruvs, Suds and Soda, or selected bottle shops, off-licences, online subscription services, and supermarkets, selected pubs, and bars.
About the Brewers Association
The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts.
The BA represents 5,700-plus US breweries. The BA’s independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers.
The BA organises events including the World Beer Cup, Great American Beer Festival, Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America, SAVOR: An American Craft Beer and Food Experience, Homebrew Con, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week.
The BA publishes The New Brewer magazine, and Brewers Publications is the largest publisher of brewing literature in the US.
Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association and the free Brew Guru mobile app.
