Highlights From The 2018 World Beer Cup

One of the beer industry’s most prestigious competitions, the World Beer Cup took place in Nashville this week and awards were presented at the conclusion of Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America on Thursday night.

Considered by many to be the “Olympics of Beer” this biennial competition is a big deal.

Winning a World Beer Cup is like winning a Grammy or an Oscar…it brings the world’s attention to even the smallest brewery’s doorstep…and like a hit song or film, it can make a career.

2018’s competition was their largest to date. A record 8,234 beers from 2,515 breweries were judged by an elite international panel of 295 judges from 33 countries.

Judges oversaw 302 award this year – that’s basically your gold, silver and bronze in 101 different style categories.

And here are just some of the highlights from this year’s World Beer Cup…

Competition Highlights

 

• Average number of beers entered per category: 82 (a 13 percent increase from 2016)
• Most-entered categories in 2018:
  • 377 entries in Category 93, American-Style India Pale Ale
  • 196 entries in Category 94, Imperial India Pale Ale
  • 196 entries in Category 28, Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer
  • 190 entries in Category 29, Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout

 

• Number of countries represented: 66 (a 20 percent increase from 2016)

 

• Countries with the most awards:
  • United States: 242
  • Canada: 14
  • Germany: 9

 

• Country with the highest winning rate: Belgium (10 percent)

Panama won its first-ever World Beer Cup award. All other award-winning countries were previous winners.

This from Charlie Papazian founder and past president of the Brewers Association…

“Beer brings people together…The World Beer Cup showcases the breadth of the global brewing community and winning an award symbolizes one of the greatest brewing achievements. Congratulations to all the winners on this remarkable accomplishment.”

 

And as usual Charlie couldn’t be more right…

 

Congratulations to all!

 

View 2018 World Beer Cup Winners List and Fact Sheet