British brewers win big at World Beer Cup
Across all categories, six UK brewers came away with medals at the competition, which takes place every two years.
The seven overall medals for UK brewers is the same number of winners as in the previous World Beer Cup in 2016, but is higher than the number of winners in 2014 (5) and 2012 (2).
London’s Camden Town brewery was the most successful UK brewer, winning gold in the Belgian-style Witbier category for it’s Gentlemans Wit, and silver in the Other International-style Lager category with Camden Pils.
Cromarty Brewing Co, from Scotland, also took home a gold in the Rye Beer category for Red Rocker, a red rye-based beer laced with American and New Zealand hop varieties.
'Proud and humbled'
Other UK winners included Fourpure Brewing Co (German-style Pilsener, Pils Lager), Burning Sky Brewery (Specialty Saison, Saison Anniversaire), Siren Craft Brew (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer, Odyssey 008) and Lacons Brewery (Ordinary or Special Bitter, Encore).
Speaking about the brewery's two medals, Camden Town founder Jasper Cuppaidge said: “We’re excited to bring home our first gold and another silver for the trophy cabinet. For us it’s always been about doing it for great beer or not at all – and we’re so glad the experts agree. The success of UK breweries at this year’s World Beer Cup has been phenomenal!”
“We’re proud and humbled to have picked up our first ever World Beer Cup medal,” added Andy Nowlan, head of marketing for Siren Craft Brew. “Of the multitude of beer awards you can enter, this is the one! Our love of barrel ageing began on day one and still epitomises what we’re about as a brewery today. This is amazing recognition for the dedicated team here at Siren, and especially for our barrel manager, Steve Hoile.”
Adrian Lugg, head of marketing at Fourpure Brewing Co said: "We're really excited with the win, it really feels like all the hard work and investment is starting to pay off. I think the most exciting thing for us is that it’s one of our staple, flagship beers. The fact that it’s broadly available through good beer venues and grocery stores alike is an indication of the direction the British beer market is going. You can now find world-class, award winning beers in more accessible locations than ever, hopefully a sign of more good things to come."
US domination
The beers were among 8,000-plus entries from 66 countries evaluated over three days, according to the Brewers Association. Only 302 of those beers won awards in total. Beers were judged during six sessions over a period of three days by an elite panel of 295 judges from 33 countries.
The United States was the most successful country at the competition, taking home 242 of the 302 awards. This was followed by Canada (14 awards) and Germany (9 awards).
“Beer brings people together,” said Charlie Papazian, founder and past president of the Brewers Association. “The World Beer Cup showcases the breadth of the global brewing community and winning an award symbolises one of the greatest brewing achievements. Congratulations to all the winners on this remarkable accomplishment.”
The Brewers Association introduced the World Beer Cup competition in 1996 to celebrate the art and science of brewing by recognising outstanding achievement in the field.
