Brewers Association Export Development Programme (EDP) members have seen excellent results in three international brewing competitions.
EDP members took home 25 medals from the Brussels Beer Challenge — seven gold, nine silver, and nine bronze. Fremont Brewing Co’s Legend cold IPA was voted best American beer of the competition.
EDP members also took away 25 medals from the European Beer Star competition, held near Munich : eight gold, eight silver, and nine bronze.
And American craft brewers scooped 35 medals at the Japan International Beer Cup. These comprised 14 silver and 16 bronze, and two best in category awards.
Neil Reinhardt, director of sales at Destihl Brewery, said: “Winning the awards has been completely unexpected and also extremely gratifying. We were blown away when Tourbus won gold at the Great American Beer Festival in 2021, and the international awards have been a great validation of the beer.
“I’m especially proud of our brewery team and the quality product they’re turning out. Will it make a difference to sales? We certainly hope so, and have been in contact with new importers as a direct result and will feature our success in marketing content for Tourbus.”
Matt Lincecum, owner, Fremont Brewing Co, added: “Winning best American beer in Brussels for Legend cold IPA validates the months and months of R&D, the endless experiments with fermentation temperatures, water chemistry, and hopping theory as we sought to create the cold IPA we had envisioned — clean, crisp, bright, and slightly bitter. For
our larger brewing team, it is always a boost to have external validation from a respected international competition.
“Entering and winning these competitions helps spread the word of American Craft Beer as well as seed the market for us to sell in that country one day, and I absolutely think this will help Legend jump off the shelf in our European markets.”
Lotte Peplow, Brewers Association American craft beer ambassador for Europe, said: “Having judged at both European Beer Star and the Brussels Beer Challenge, I can testify that the standard of entries was extremely high. To see American craft brewers securing 85 medals across the three competitions demonstrates the skill, craftmanship, and brewing expertise of America’s small and independent craft brewers, and I’m immensely proud of each and every
one of them.
“American craft beer built its enviable reputation on quality, innovation, and style diversity, and winning medals on the world stage reinforces that reputation and provides a valuable point of difference in today’s competitive market.”
Success at international beer competitions helps raise awareness for American craft beer abroad and assists EDP member breweries with generating publicity for their brands in overseas markets.
As part of its programming, the EDP helps facilitate US brewery participation and performance in select competitions by covering entry fees and consolidated airfreight shipment to judging sites.
