Going For Gold! American Craft Beer Excels In European Beer Competitions

From the Brewers Association: (full text here)

American craft brewers performed strongly across two prestigious international European beer competitions this fall—Brussels Beer Challenge and European Beer Star—securing 58 medals in total.

Brussels Beer Challenge

The 12th edition of the Brussels Beer Challenge took place in Turnhout, Belgium over three days at the end of October 2023 and attracted 1,811 beers from 37 countries, judged by 92 independent beer experts. Participating beers were subdivided into categories based on origin, typology, and style, and then tasted.

Brewers Association (BA) Export Development Program (EDP) members were awarded 33 medals in total, eight more than last year. These included nine gold, 11 silver, and 13 bronze, including Breakside Brewery’s “Are You Afraid of the Dark” Imperial Stout aged in Apple Brandy Bourbon and Rye Whisky Barrels, which was voted “Best American Beer of the Competition.”

Breakside Brewery’s brewmaster Ben Edmunds says, “We were thrilled to learn that ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ had been named Best American Beer in the Competition in addition to snagging a gold medal in its category. This win is a wonderful reward. We have been able to send beers to Brussels and the other international competitions before thanks to the support of the EDP. I know that these are extremely competitive events where the judge panels have different sensibilities than our peers and customers in the U.S. The diversity of entries is inspiring, and it is exciting to know that our beers are being evaluated side-by-side with many of the most iconic beers from Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. It is a great opportunity for us to get feedback from an expert audience with a distinctive perspective on world beers.”

Brewery
Name of the beer
Category
Award

pFriem Family Brewers
West Coast IPA
Pale and Amber Ale: Pacific IPA
Gold

River North Brewery
Nightmare Fuel
Flavored beer: Coffee
Gold

River North Brewery
Midnight Hike
Flavored beer: Chocolate
Gold

Belching Beaver Brewery
Hazers Gonna Haze Hazy IPA
Pale and Amber Ale: New England IPA
Gold

Fremont Brewing Company
Golden
Lager: German-Style Pilsner
Gold

Coronado Brewing Company
Weekend Vibes IPA
Pale and Amber Ale: American IPA (Higher than 6.5 ABV)
Gold

Revision Brewing Company
Coconut Pie Face
Flavored beer: Field beer
Gold

Breakside Brewery & Taproom
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Flavored beer: Imperial Stout Barrel- or Wood-Aged
Gold / Best Beer

New Glarus Brewing Company
Enigma 23
Dark Ale: Oud Bruin (Flanders Brown Ale)
Gold

Port City Brewing Company
Port City Porter
Stout or Porter: Porter
Silver

European Beer Star

One of the most recognized beer competitions in the world, the European Beer Star Awards, is committed to the traditional European art of brewing. It recognizes high-quality, authentic beers that are genuine and distinctive and is limited to beer categories that originate in Europe.

This year’s competition took place for the 20th occasion in September 2023 in Nuremberg, Germany, and attracted 2,355 entries in 74 categories which were judged by 149 beer experts from 31 countries. Of these entries, 64.5% were international and 35.5% domestic. EDP members won 24 medals in total, including nine gold, eight silver, and eight bronze. View the full list of winners hereOpens in new window.