Gold, silver, and bronze medals were won in 91 categories of beer judged in the 2008 World Beer Cup competition held this past weekend in San Diego, CA. Additionally, the five best breweries in the world were named, including the first woman brewer ever to win this award! I'll share the list of best brewers and then a more-or-less randomly chosen top 10 of the 273 individual winners of the 2008 World Beer Cup.

Brewery: Blue Moon Brewing Company, U.S.
Brewer: Warren Quilliam
Brewery: Privatbrauerei Hoepfner GmbH , Germany
Brewer: Peter Bucher
Brewery: Port Brewing Company and The Lost Abbey, U.S.
Brewer: Tomme Arthur
Brewery: Pelican Pub & Brewery, U.S.
Brewer: Darron R. S. Welch
Brewery: Bend Brewing Company, U.S.
Brewer: Tonya Cornett (first woman to receive this award!)
Relatively new to MacTarnahan's repertoire of ales, its Amber Ale is made with fresh Cascade hops from the Northwest, making its flavor crisp and complex. Thus, it goes best with grilled or gamey meats and full-flavored fish. There were 35 entries in this category.
Trumer Pils has a 400 year history, dating from the original family-owned Trumer Brauerei in Salzburg, Austria. It has carried both the brewing tradition and the original crisp, slightly tart taste with it through the centuries. It is made from imported malt and hops from Germany and Austria and is fermented with a propriety yeast. There were 72 entries in this category.
Don't let the fool on the bottle fool you. This Belgian ale has been a winner of many beer competitions over the years. Practically the national beer of Belgian, you can find Brugse Zot Blond served in many crepe and sandwich bars in Brugge. It has a sweet fruity flavor and is bubbly and light, with only six percent alchohol content. There were 37 entries in this category.
The Schneider Weisse Original is spicy with the smell or clove and nutmeg and, according to the brewer, it is fresh, clean, full, harmonious and balanced. In the end it leaves an impression of slight, fine bitterness. There were 29 entries in this category.
The beer that made Milwaukee famous has also been making the best light beer (light in calorie and carbs), according to beer raters. Milwaukee's Old Style Light is reported to have some taste of hops and malt; "refreshing" is the word reviewers most often used to describe it. Old Milwaukee Light has 113 calories and 7 grams of fat. There were 34 entries in this category.
No, it's not Budweiser! Toohey's Extra Dry, known in Australia simply as Ted's, is a refreshing drink with not too much taste of hops, malt, or fruit, geared to young beer drinkers. Advertising is also geared toward the young and the ads are popular down under for some outlandishness, including its beer-addicted walking tongue. There were 48 entries in this category.
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What? Better than Guinness? The Blarney Sisters Dry Irish Stout has won several top awards in the Irish stout category. The chocolate and caramel flavor is strong, but not overwhelming; some say there are hints of licorice and coffee. A full-bodied beer, it's poured black from the tap. There were 20 entries in this category.
This ruddy ale has plenty of flavor without being heavy. Molasses add a nice sweet aftertaste. Left Coast Brewing says there's a tad bit of hops in the ale to keep the bitterness out. Good beer to drink by itself or with a grilled chicken or fish. There were 24 entries in this category.
Interesting history about this German lager. The beer was firt made by Trappist monks to drink while fasting during lent. Just picture that!
The Elk Grove Brewery has an health assortment of brews, with its Bock Lager being one of its seasonal beers. The Elk Grove Bock Lager is described as a full-bodied, strong beer, with German style malts, having "a smooth, rich complexity not found in many beers. On tap in late January: limit is 3 pints. There were 21 competitors in this category.
This beer is a marriage of Scotland's greatest productions of whisky and stout. BrewDog partners with Duncan Taylor Ltd of Huntly, aging its Paradox Grain in the casks of some of the greatest whiskeys ever made. "The distinct flavours of these whiskies is beautifully infused into the beer giving a unique and unrivalled experience for both beer and whisky lovers." There were 14 entrees in this category.
The World Beer Cup is an international competition held every two years, and this year 2,864 individual bottles of beer were entries, representing 58 countries. Although beers from 21 countries won medals, the USA (158 awards), Germany (25), Belgium (11), Japan (10), Australia (6) were the top five winners. There were 128 judges from all over the world, even countries without competitors in the contests. For more information on the winners, visit this page .
Toby
All About Taste
InventorSpot.com
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Funny how they are all
Submitted on April 21st, 2008 by AnonymousFunny how they are all American beers in the top 5 except 1. What about all the great Belgian, German, Dutch and Japanese lager/beers? They piss all over the US beers!
I couldn't agree more with
Submitted on April 22nd, 2008 by AnonymousI couldn't agree more with the comment above !
I’m thirsty
Submitted on April 22nd, 2008 by LoveInventionsI don’t know half of those beers but I’m more than willing to test them!! Maybe it’s not such a good idea at 1:30PM though
This is why we hate you!
Submitted on April 22nd, 2008 by AnonymousI agree with comments 1 & 2.
This is why the World hates the USA - you are blinkered and self-obsessed.
p.s. the word is mathS, and not math.
I think I'm going to cry because the world hates us
Submitted on April 23rd, 2008 by eljefe5121) The world hates the US for many more important reasons than beer, but that is one I can be proud of.
2) If a competition is in the US, naturally most of the entries will be from the US, and probably most of the winners (due to sheer volume).
3) If you look at the full list, there were several categories in which a US brewer did not even place (including low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beer :).
4) I doubt #1 has tasted many, if any, of the winners and while I agree that for many years there were few American beers that could hold a candle to European ones, times are (obviously) changing.
5) In the US, it is math, not maths.
Canoe
Submitted on April 24th, 2008 by AnonymousMost Americans think of Alaska as being a foreign country (well at least Homer does). Are there any world maps in American schools? How can you even have a best light beer catagory? Having a beer contest in the US is as pointless as having wine contest in Iran. I think that most american beer is like having sex in a canoe, i.e. f*ng close to water.
Canoe? Clever.
Submitted on April 24th, 2008 by AnonymousTry a Dogfish Head 120 Minute and get back to us. Hell, try any of the hundreds of micros available. Or not. Leaves more for people who know what they're talking about.
i like the canoe, i think im
Submitted on April 27th, 2008 by Anonymousi like the canoe, i think im gonna steal that line. just another reason to hate us americans
American and Beer in the same sentence?
Submitted on April 30th, 2008 by AnonymousHaving had a drink or two in more than 30 countries, I tend to agree with the generalisation of the canoe quote above about north american beers, however I have tasted one or two passable brews from micro-breweries in the states.
My preference is for REAL beer (British dark beers), hence I am a member of CAMRA (CAmpaign for Real Ale www.camra.org.uk), although having lived in Germany for a few years I can appreciate a good pure lager.
There are FAR more good beers outside the US than within its borders. It is typical of your mentality to call a domestic contest a 'world' or 'universe' event when most people outside the states wouldn't even know of its existence.
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