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Oregon breweries hauled in 16 medals at the World Beer Cup—a decent showing given the fact that this was the largest competition to date, with 10,542 entries representing 57 countries.
The awards ceremony took place May 5 at the Minneapolis Convention Center, bringing the Brewers Association’s Craft Brewers Conference to a close. It was the first time the World Beer Cup has been held since 2018—the contest traditionally takes place every other year, which means the 2020 event scheduled for San Antonio, Texas, was scrapped due to the pandemic.
Similar to the equally prestigious Great American Beer Festival awards, only international competition is allowed; entries were evaluated by 226 judges from 28 countries. The tasting panel selected winners over a nine-day period.
Central Oregon was particularly successful, nabbing eight of the 16 medals, including two golds: Deschutes Brewery’s Dee Wright in the Other Strong Beer category and 10 Barrel’s Money Cat in the Contemporary American-Style Lager category.
Also taking gold elsewhere in the state were Portland-located StormBreaker’s extra special bitter, McMinnville-based Heater Allen’s long-celebrated Pils, and Pelican’s Kiwanda Cream Ale, made at its Tillamook production facility.
“The World Beer Cup showcases the incredible breadth and talent of the global brewing community,” said Chris Swersey, competition director of the World Beer Cup. “Winning an award at this extremely competitive event symbolizes one of the greatest accomplishments in the art of brewing.”
In addition to the return of the World Beer Cup, the conference itself saw a return of normalcy, with robust attendance compared to the version that was held last September in Denver, when many opted to stay home due to concerns about COVID. Brewers use the gathering as a way to gauge industry trends and generally catch up with producers located in other parts of the country, attending sessions that touch on topics ranging from experimental hop evaluation to micromarketing and consumer dynamics.
Participants also learned at the conference that the World Beer Cup will now be held every year instead of biannually beginning in 2023. That means breweries can begin registering their beers in October. The awards will be held on May 10 in Nashville, Tenn.
Here is a complete list of Oregon World Beer Cup winners:
American Wheat Beer
Silver: Hefe, Widmer Brothers Brewing, Portland
Field Beer
Bronze: Cucumber Crush, 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Bend Pub, Bend
Coffee Stout or Porter
Silver: Mocha Porter, Bend Brewing Co., Bend
Non-Alcohol Beer
Silver: Non-Alcoholic Black Butte, Deschutes Brewery, Bend
Other Strong Beer
Gold: Dee Wright, Deschutes Brewery & Public House Bend, Bend
American-Style Sour Ale
Silver: Brilliant, 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Bend Pub, Bend
Kellerbier or Zwickelbier
Gold: Pils, Heater Allen Brewery, McMinnville
Contemporary American-Style Lager
Gold: Money Cat, 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Bend Pub, Bend
Australian-Style Pale Ale
Silver: Bondi Beach Party, Sunriver Brewing Co., Sunriver
Extra Special Bitter
Gold: Extra StormBreaker, StormBreaker Brewing, Portland
Specialty Berliner-Style Weisse
Silver: Coming to Fruition: Cherry, Oregon City Brewing Co., Oregon City
German-Style Altbier
Bronze: Altbier, Rosenstadt Brewery, Portland
Belgian Fruit Beer
Bronze: Valley Mélange, ColdFire Brewing Co., Eugene
Golden or Blonde Ale
Gold: Kiwanda Cream Ale, Pelican Brewing Co. Tillamook, Tillamook
Bronze: Knotty Blonde, Three Creeks Brewing Co. Production, Sisters
American-Style Black Ale or American-Style Stout
Bronze: Dark Thoughts Black IPA, Baerlic Brewing Co., Portland, OR