Beer Competitions in USA

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On this page you will find a list of leading Beer Competitions in USA

US Beer Competitions

(Image: New York International Beer Competition)

New York International Beer Competition

The New York International Beer Competition (NYIBC) is founded by Adam Levy aka the “Alcohol Professor”.
Following the success of the New York International Spirits Competition and New York International Wine Competition we were approached by the beer community to operate a similar competition with the same format. This is the first major international beer competition with TRADE ONLY judges from top to bottom that consist of people who are buyers from the top retail stores, restaurant owners, beverage directors, distributors and importers. Unlike other competitions, these judges have purchasing power and the ability to make a direct impact on brand sales. Award levels are Double Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Double Gold award winners will be re-tasted by all panelists to establish which brands may be eligible to receive a ‘Best of Category’ endorsement in its pricing category. Bronze means the trade buyer judge will buy it, Silver they really like it and Gold if they love it. If no beer in a category meets the judges criteria for a medal then no medal will be awarded in that category.

The competition is open to all commercially produced beers and sakes from around the world. On average over 30% of the submissions are not available in the NY Market or even in the United States. We encourage international breweries looking to increase awareness of their beers to submit to the competition

Adam Levy is a alcohol writer and judge who first started off as a self-confessed beer freak. He is the founder of the 4th Annual New York International Spirits Competition and 4th Annual New York International Wine Competition He has organized various spirits, wine and beer tasting events and is the President of All Spirits Events. All Spirits Events creates and organizes private and consumer tasting experiences. Mr. Levy has a BA from Rutgers University and an EMBA from Baruch College, and currently sits on the Baruch College’s International Business Curriculum Advisory Board. He resides in the New York area with his dog “Garrett Oliver” and is overjoyed that Rutgers will be joining the Big Ten! More Information: New York International Beer Competition

 

USA Beer Ratings

USA Beer Ratings which will take place on 23-24 July 2018, is going to identify and reward those brands and products that consumers actually want to buy. The USA Beer Ratings will single out and highlight the beer brands on sale in the US and International markets that are truly commercially successful. Beers will be judged by three factors, quality, value and package. Quality will be assessed based on how agreeable the beer is for its target customer and chemical analysis. Value means how well the beer is priced based on its quality. And packaging will be measured by how well you think the beer will be perceived by the consumer. This includes label, bottle colour, bottle shape and closure.

More Information: USA Beer Ratings

 

U.S. Open Beer Championship

Breweries from around the world sent in more than 2500 beers representing 68 different categories. U.S. Open Beer Championship, the only brewery competition to include professional breweries and award-winning home-brewers. Judges from England, Canada and the United States announced the winners this week, noting that “The Dairy State” could earn a new moniker, “The Beer State,” based on how well Wisconsin beers fared in the national event. The oldest brewery in the United States and the oldest brewery in the world also medaled.  Capital Brewery out of Middleton, Wisconsin, was named Grand National Champion, winning three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. Last year’s champion, Sweetwater Brewing out of Atlanta, took second, and one of the nation's oldest breweries, Stevens Point Brewing in Stevens Point Wisconsin, took third.
More Information: U.S. Open Beer Championship

 

The Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition

Welcome to the Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition. Since introducting a beer competition in 2000, each year an esteemed panel of judges use a blind-tasting method to award medals to the best beers from around the world, maintaining the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. More Information: The Los Angeles International Commercial Beer Competition

 

Denver International Beer Competition

The Denver International Beer Competition! Our blind competition focuses on food-friendly beer styles. A unique Gold Medal event called "Pairsine, Chefs Food & Beer Pairing Competition is held to celebrate the winners
More Information: Denver International Beer Competition

 

America Homebrew Competition

The National Homebrew Competition is the world's largest international beer competition recognizing the most outstanding homebrewed beer, mead, and cider produced by amateur brewers worldwide. The First Round of the National Homebrew Competition takes place at eleven (11) judging locations across the U.S. in March and April. The best of the beer, mead, and cider entries in the first round competitions advances to the Final Round of the competition at the AHA National Homebrewers Conference. Competition winners receive gold, silver or bronze medals in 28 style categories. More Information: Homebrew Competition

 

World Beer Cup

The quality and diversity of beers available around the world prove that brewing excellence knows no borders. Large and small brewing companies located outside of a style’s area of origin are crafting quality beers brewed to traditional styles. Belgian styles in Japan, altbiers in the USA, pale ales in Germany and bock beers in Brazil are just some of the interesting developments in the changing international marketplace. Traditional beer styles are not only celebrated in their native lands, but are now being shared, brewed and enjoyed worldwide. Consumers are discovering and enjoying a wider variety of both traditional and new beer styles, some brewed close to home and others brewed on the other side of the world. The number of new styles and style interpretations appears to be limited only by the creativity of the world’s brewing community.
As consumer choices expand, the availability of information becomes more important. With this in mind, the Brewers Association developed the World Beer Cup International Competition in 1996 to celebrate the art and science of brewing by recognizing outstanding achievement. More Information: World Beer Cup

 

Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer festival is not only about sampling quality beer but is also a beer competition. Breweries enter their beers to be judged by the festival’s Professional Judge Panel. Festival attendees can also sip the beer entered in the competition during the tasting sessions. The Great American Beer Festival invites industry professionals from around the world to sit together in small groups and, without knowing the brand name, taste beers in each specified style category. The ultimate goal of the Great American Beer Festival Judge Panel is to identify the three beers that best represent each beer-style category as described and adopted by the Great American Beer Festival.
The Professional Judge Panel awards gold, silver or bronze medals that are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence. These awards are among the most coveted in the industry and heralded by the winning brewers in their national advertising. Five different three-hour judging sessions take place over the three-day period during the week of the festival. Judges are assigned beers to evaluate in their specific area of expertise and never judge their own product or any product in which they have a concern. More Information: Great American Beer Festival

 

The Great International Beer & Cider Competition

Five hundred seventy-five (575) beers and ciders from breweries and cideries across the U.S. and from around the world entered the competition. Ninety-eight (98) professional brewers, beer industry professionals (retail and distribution) and beer journalists acted as judges in a blind tasting format. First, second and third place awards were presented in 48 categories of ales, lagers and ciders. The judges knew only the style and subcategory of each beer and cider.
Since the competition began in 1997, over 2,000 beers and ciders have been judged. The awards were presented during the afternoon session of the beer festival, announced by Yankee Brew News editor Gregg Glaser. On the floor of the festival, held at the Rhode Island Convention Center, over 5,500 beer lovers were able to sample over 250 beers and ciders. More Information: Great International Beer & Cider Competition

North American Beer Awards

The North American Beer Awards is a unique event sanctioned by the North American Brewers Association. The competition provides an opportunity for you product to be evaluated by qualified judges against the best beers, ciders, meads and sodas in the country. More information: North American Beer Awards

 

The Washington Beer Awards

We are proud to announce the Washington Brewing Awards, a craft beer competition designed specifically to support Washington’s professional brewers. This competition will provide an opportunity for all of Washington’s craft brewers to compete in a blind format. It will allow recognition of brewing excellence in Washington and provide constructive feedback supporting future competition entry decisions. More information: The Washington Beer Awards

 

Michigan Beer Cup

The Michigan Beer Cup Competition is a state wide competition, which promotes brewing through education and competition. The Michigan Beer Cup Competition by a group of individuals, club representatives and store owners throughout the state of Michigan with the goal to preserve the spirit of the Michigan State Fair Homebrew competition. The Michigan Beer Cup Competition wishes to continue the traditions of the Michigan State Fair Competition, by maintaining and growing one of the largest single state competitions in the country. The Michigan Beer Cup Competition is a Beer Judging Certification Program (BJCP) sanctioned event accepting all of the 28 categories. More Information: Michigan Beer Cup

 

Best Florida Beer Championships

The Best Florida Beer Championships is a not for profit organization founded in the year 2000 by craft beer lovers, home brewers, and commercial brewers in the Tampa Bay area. Our goal is to promote and celebrate the responsible consumption of locally made craft-brewed beer in the state of Florida. We sponsor two competitions. The first determines the best commercial beer made and sold in Florida and the second awards the best homebrewed beers in Florida. The Brewers Ball where all of the gold-medal-winning commercial beers are showcased during an afternoon of live music, awards and probably one of the best beer raffles in Florida. Trophies are given for the top three commercial beer and homebrewed beers. The final event of the year is the BFBC Leftover Party where we invite the general public to taste the leftover homebrew entries and give instruction on how to properly judge a beer. More Information: Best Florida Beer Championships

 

Boston Homebrew Competition

This year's competition follows in the fine tradition of brewing and judging that has been proven at our previous competitions. This competition attracts entries from many of the best brewers not only in New England but across the country and is judged by many of the founding members of the Beer Judge Certification Program. We look forward to your participation this year!
This is a BJCP Registered/Sanctioned event and we will be judging for the competition!
We are using the 2008 BJCP style guidelines. Entries will not be reclassified by judges so be sure to enter your beer/cider/mead in the proper category/subcategory. More Information: Boston Homebrew Competition

 

Best of Craft Beer Awards

Welcome to America’s newest craft beer contest. We are here to celebrate and promote the best of the best in Craft Brewing. We know how much time, effort and money goes into breweries entering into beer awards. We designed this unique event to benefit your brewery with national exposure in major beer magazines, promotional materials, and automatic entry for the following year for medal winners. More information: Best of Craft Beer Awards

 

Byggvir's Big Beer Cup

Welcome to the home of Byggvir's Big Beer Cup, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival's Home Brew Competition. This contest is sponsored by the Jack of All Brews and the Minnesota Home Brewers. Byggvir's Big Beer Cup will be accepting entries of historic, English, and European beer, mead, and cider styles and Brew and Grow. We at Byggvir's Big Beer Cup are very excited to announce that Mike Hoops from Minneapolis Town Hall has been generous enough to offer to brew the best beer of Byggvir's at Town Hall Brewery! Rules for this prize:

The award winning brewer is welcome and encouraged to join the brew session with Head Brewer Mike Hoops at Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery at his/her own expense. Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery plans to enter the beer in the GABF PRO-AM Competition. Town Hall Brewery will pay the entry fee and provide 2 Passes to the GABF. The winning brewer will be responsible for travel expenses to Denver (airfare, hotel, food, etc.) More Information: Byggvir's Big Beer Cup

 

Ohio Brew Week Homebrew Competition

Cameron Fuller, left, winner of Best in Brew Week Homebrew Competition, shares a moment with competition organizer Jody Grenert. Fuller's winning entry, a British mild, bested 281 other beers for the top prize. Fuller also received the Jim Leverentz award, for having the most winning entries in the contest, eight. More Information: Ohio Brew Week Homebrew Competition

 

The Brewers’ Cup Competition

The Brewers’ Cup features both a homebrew and a professional division with 1124 total entries in the competition. Indiana professional brewers compete for the coveted Indiana Champion Brewer award. In an effort to align with other professional beer competitions and based on feedback from Indiana Breweries, a new point structure has been implemented. While unlimited beer entries are still allowed and encouraged, only 12 entries will count towards the Champion Brewery Award. The first 12 beers listed on your entry form will be the 12 beers that are eligible to score points towards the Champion Brewery Award. Please choose carefully and be sure to prioritize your entries accordingly.
More Information: The Brewers’ Cup Competition

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