10 Best Beers + 5 Best Breweries, 2008 World Beer Cup Winners

Funny 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 the comment above !

I 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

I 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.

1) 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.

Most 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.

Try 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 gonna steal that line. just another reason to hate us americans

Having 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.

The majority of the judges are non-American, and all the tastings are blind. Winners are announced on merit, not your old-world sense of caste and class. These beers earned their medals- they didn't win them out of some misplaced sense of nepotism (something that exists on a fetishistic level in the beer fan's world).

Americans make beer just as good (and better, in some cases, it appears) than all your hallowed stomping grounds.

Get over it.

"There are FAR more good beers outside the US than within its borders."

Obviously you haven't tried many US beers. Way to make an argument from authority fallacy!

GET OVER IT's comment is one of the few rational ones I've seen here.

"Most Americans think of Alaska as being a foreign country (well at least Homer does)."
So... you get your information from a cartoon?! No wonder you're so poorly informed of quality beers. (hint: Duff beer isn't real either!) You somehow equate ONE cartoon's opinion with the word "most"?!

"I think that most american beer is like having sex in a canoe, i.e. f*ng close to water."
Cute. Use a Monty Python joke from the SEVENTIES and apply it to today. This might have been applicable back 30 years ago, but it has LONNNNNNNNGGGGGG been a misnomer, and an ignorant lie for quite some time.

WHICH part of " There were 128 judges from all over the world, even countries without competitors in the contests." did you fail to understand!?

MOST of the judges are from OUTSIDE the U.S.! Of the five judges on each of the categories, a MAXIMUM of ONE judge is allowed from any one country. As GET OVER IT pointed out, ALL the tastings are done blind!

Simple FACT: America makes many hundreds of FINE, world-class beers. Period.

That's just another reason why the good ol' USA is reigning supreme; because we have the best beers. Suck on that, foreigners!

Ibelive you are right. some of Americias beer tast ok but lak the alchol that forigen countrys have BIG D

american beers alrite but canadian beer kicks ass...... booya!

As an American I will agree with the comment that most foreign beers are better than most US beers, but does this whole discussion board have to turn into a nationalistic fight? There are good beers where ever you go, and some American beers have even won competitions in foreign countries, just watch a Sam Adams commercial...

lol were the judges female?

As if America makes quality beer.

*cringe*

I have been living in Europe for over five years, and I have a wonderful Belgian pub that I go to with some truly incredible beers. I have had many amazing beers here, but it never fails to incite a near riot when I tell people here that there are far better beers available in the States. Everyone seems to think that we all drink Budweiser and Coors in the States. Oh well, less for them. Problem is these are small batch breweries, and small companies that don't have the marketing or ability to export.

I've only had a very small handful of the winners of each category and I wouldn't pick any of them as the best in their category. Heck, I wouldn't even vote Unibroue's 'La Fin Du Mond' as the best Belgian Pale Strong.....and Hoegaarden as the best Belgian White? Seriously? How drunk were these people?

The germans have the best beer in the world!
It just might taste to strong for the americans, cause their beer taste like water!
german beer rules!

american beer is for boys and women!
german beer is made for men! PROST

This competition did not include the best beer in the world "Laurentina Preta" from Mozambique.so that is not a world contest because there are still missing brands like Laurentina Preta,Laurentina Premium e 2M.Soo if this brands are not in your contest you dont know the nectar of gods and have not tried the best.cheers

Mozambique has launched in the end of december 2008 a new brand of beer "Laurentina Premium" which is already a success in the mozambican market.this brand would change the concept that lots of people have that the germans beer is the best in the world.we are producing the best beer in the world in Mozambique.once again.cheers

"Practically the national beer of Belgian, you can find Brugse Zot Blond served in many crepe and sandwich bars in Brugge."
I've visited the brewery (at least the old one in Brugge city centre) and I like the beer, but I've never ever seen this beer in the shops, anywhere in Belgium or elsewhere. Yes, you can probably get it in Brugge. But their total yearly production of 14,000 hectoliters is less than one thousandth of the yearly beer consumption in Belgium - so calling it "practically the national beer" is just silly.

Apparently not. Let me guess you are one of those trendy euro beer fans. You probably think Heineken and Guiness are the greatest beers ever created, try picking up some Lagunitas, Stone, or Dogfish sometime; just to name a few. American beer is more than just Budweiser and Sam Adams, and yes I am aware European beer is more than Heineken and Guinness, I was talking down to you or were you not aware of that as well? I'm sorry but I'm tired of hearing about how great European beers supposedly are........ one word..... overrated.

As for the strength of American beers as stated in the previous entry, Dogfish, Stone, and Lagunitas have ABV of roughly 5-20%. Most European beers barely hit the teens on a good day..... maybe that's why there are countries in Europe where men wear skirts and others where men wear wigs....... here in the US we call them what you would call a cigarrette over there....