Alaskan Brewing Wins Four Medals at World Beer Cup

Brewery brings home gold from the ‘Olympics’ of beer

JUNEAU, ALASKA – Alaskan Brewing Company brought home four international medals for quality from the World Beer Cup® in San Diego, California on April 19. Alaskan Summer Ale and Alaskan Smoked Porter both took Gold medals in their respective categories with Alaskan Barley Wine and Alaskan Jalapeno IPA winning Bronze medals.

“Brewers all over the world participate in order to win recognition for their creativity and brewing ability,” said Charlie Papazian, founder of the World Beer Cup® and President of the Brewer’s Association, “For a brewer, a World Beer Cup gold medal allows them to say that their winning beer represents the best example of that beer style in the world.”

This year, 644 breweries from 58 countries came together at the biannual event to vie for international recognition in the 91 beer style categories. Professional brewers and industry experts from 21 countries served as the judges in the competition. The 129 judges worked in teams to conduct “blind” tasting evaluations of the beers to determine the top awards. The World Beer Cup® has acquired the title of “the Olympics of Beer’ because it is one of the very few international beer competitions awarding only one gold, silver and bronze in each category.

“It is an honor to come away with even one award from an international competition like the World Beer Cup,” said Alaskan’s Plant Manager, Curtis Holmes, who was on hand to receive the medals. “But for us to win four medals in a competition where we are judged against nearly 3000 other quality beers from all over the world is pretty amazing, and a testament to our crew’s commitment to creating a quality product.” Alaskan Brewing’s summer seasonal brew, Alaskan Summer Ale, won its first World Beer Cup Gold medal this year in the Golden or Blonde style ale.

Alaskan Smoked Porter, a limited edition brew released in the fall, also was a gold medal-winner this year in the Smoke-Flavored beer category. Alaskan Barley Wine, bottled for the first time this year, won bronze in the Barley Wine-style ale category. The second Bronze went to Alaskan Jalapeno IPA, which won a Bronze medal in the Fruit and Vegetable beer category. Alaskan Jalapeno IPA is part of Alaskan Brewing’s “Rough Draft” series and is available on draft only with limited distribution in Alaska.

Several other breweries located in Alaska fared well at the World Beer Cup®, with Midnight Sun Brewing Co. from Anchorage taking Bronze in the Other Belgian-Style Ale Category for ‘Pride,’ and newcomer Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop winning Bronze in the Strong Scotch Ale category for their ‘Caribou Kilt Strong Scotch’Ale.

“Alaska is a difficult place to brew beer and receiving recognition by the industry for that hard work gives everyone a morale boost and validates what we do every day,” says Holmes. “We were happy to share in the excitement and support with the other participating breweries and brewpubs based in Alaska, it was a great night for everyone.”

Visit the Brewer’s Association web site for a complete listing of entries and awards at www.beertown.org.

ABOUT ALASKAN BREWING CO.
Alaskan Brewing Co. has been making award-winning beer in Juneau, Alaska, since 1986. The Alaskan Brew Crew bottles the unique character of the Last Frontier with historic recipes, local ingredients and glacier-fed water. Alaskan Brewing handcrafts Amber, Pale, ESB, Stout, IPA, Smoked Porter, Winter Ale and Summer Ale. Visit www.alaskanbeer.com.