Pilsner Urquell Announces Homebrew Winners

CHICAGO, Aug. 6, 2012 – Pilsner Urquell, the world’s first golden beer, announced today the winners of its 2012 Master Homebrewer Competition at events held in New York City and Chicago. The homebrewers were tasked with re-creating the iconic Czech-style pilsner made famous by Josef Groll in 1842. Out of 88 competitors, only two were able to claim the title of Pilsner Urquell Master Homebrewer.

The winning homebrewers were: William Pozniak of Cinnaminson, New Jersey and Jeff Lewis of Hilliard, Ohio. Each winner will travel to Plzen, Czech Republic later this year to tour the historic brewery and brew a batch of beer with Pilsner Urquell’s Brew Master Vaclav Berka.

"It was great to see the homebrewers come back again this year with the same, if not more, enthusiasm for this competition as last year," said Vaclav Berka, one of Pilsner Urquell’s few brew masters in the brand’s 170-year history. Along with a panel of experienced beer judges, Berka judged the homebrews at each event. "This is not an easy style to recreate. These homebrewers really put in the extra effort this year, and it’s very exciting to see how much homebrewing is growing throughout the United States."

The Master Homebrewer judging panel selected the top three at each event. Here are the final results:

New York, July 23^rd

Chicago, July 26^th

Radegast Hall & Biergarten

Sully’s House

1^st Place— William Pozniak: Cinnaminson, NJ

1^st Place—Jeff Lewis: Hilliard, OH

2^nd Place— Philip Jensen: State College, PA

2^nd Place—Jeff Gladish: Tampa, FL

3^rd Place—Alastair Hewitt: Wakefield, MA

3^rd Place—Mike Sutor: Onalaska, WI