Colorado brewers nab an impressive 22 medals at World Beer Cup

The World Beer Cup, an international beer competition hosted by Boulder-based trade organization the Brewers Association, honored craft beer-makers globally Thursday for the first time since 2018. And with more than 10,500 entries from nearly 2,500 breweries representing 57 countries, it was the largest edition of the beer competition yet.

The United States, the leader in the craft beer movement, perhaps unsurprisingly dominated the competition, raking in 252 awards total, according to the Brewers Association, followed by Canada with 14 and Germany with 11. Results from the competition were announced Thursday night in Minneapolis at the conclusion of the Craft Brewers Conference.

Colorado, the self-proclaimed State of Craft Beer, made an impressive showing with 22 medals, including five gold, awarded to a total of 20 breweries.

Beers that landed on the top of the podium in their categories are Swift Half cold IPA from Denver’s Station 26 Brewing Co.; Trump Hands session IPA from Cannonball Creek Brewing Co. in Golden; Table 44 wood-aged sour from Denver’s Amalgam Brewing; and Ice Cutter Kölsch from Joyride Brewing Co. in Edgewater. Grüvi, a Denver-based nonalcoholic beer maker, also took home gold for its Golden Lager. (See the categories in which they won below.)

Two Colorado brewers earned more than one accolade. Denver’s Ratio Beerworks garnered silver for Dear You and bronze for Bourbon Barrel-Aged Genius Wizard in the American-Belgo-style ale and wood- and barrel-aged strong stout categories, respectively. Meanwhile Aurora’s Launch Pad Brewery brought home silver in the session beer category with its Peacemaker smoked porter and a bronze in the pumpkin beer category for its Pumpkin Paddy.

“There has been a consistency in medals with awards going to multiple breweries for multiple years,” said Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild, in a statement. “The State of Craft Beer continues to show up at these awards, which just goes to show the caliber and innovation from our member breweries”

The World Beer Cup historically takes place every other year, and was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Going forward, it will be an annual competition, the Brewers Association said. The next event is slated for May 10, 2023 at the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville.

Until then, sip on the award-winning local beers below. You can also see the full list of World Beer Cup winners here.

Gold

German-style Koelsch: Ice Cutter Kölsch, Joyride Brewing Co., Edgewater

Non-Alcoholic Beer: Golden Lager, Grüvi, Denver

Session Beer: Swift Half, Station 26 Brewing Co., Denver

Session IPA: Trump Hands, Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden

Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer: Table 44, Amalgam Brewing, Denver

Silver

American-Belgo-Style Ale: Dear You, Ratio Beerworks, Denver

American-Style Cream Ale: Cerveza del Rancho, El Rancho Brewing Co., Evergreen

American-Style Lager: Old Fortwaukee, CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing, Fort Collins

Belgian-Style Sour Ale: Oud Bruin, Funkwerks, Fort Collins

Belgian-Style Table Beer or Belgian-Style Session Ale: Sloan Lakes Yacht Club, Barquentine Brewing Co., Edgewater

Dortmunder/Export or German-Style Oktoberfest: Lucky 13 Oktoberfest, Little Dry Creek Brewery, Greenwood Village

Session Beer: Peacekeeper, Launch Pad Brewery, Aurora

Scottish-Style Ale: It Takes a Tribe Red Ale, Goat Patch Brewing Co., Colorado Springs

Bronze