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There’s certainly a lot of hullabaloo about craft beer these days. But is it all just a fad? As cupcakes so poignantly proved a few years ago, just because something is trendy, doesn’t mean it’s any good. Not to throw cupcakes under the bus, but, yeah, why the heck not. All glitz and no substance will get you three years max in today’s market.
Craft beer is shaking a knowing finger at all those artificial trends, however. Yesterday the winners of the 2013 United States Open Beer Championship were announced and North Texas collectively nailed a solid landing off the pommel horse onto the mat of craft brewing distinction. Community Beer Co., Peticolas and Rahr & Sons all had great showings, with nine medals between the three breweries; including gold for the latter two.
The competition was comprised of more than 2,500 beers from 68 categories in a mix of professional breweries and award-winning home brews. Brewers shipped bottles or cans to competition HQ in Atlanta where judges from England, Canada and the U.S. thoughtfully considered the beer of our nation and awarded gold, silver and bronze medals in each category.
Here’s the shake-down for area beers, starting with category, brewer, beer then medal.
English Brown Ale – Peticolas, Alfred Brown, Bronze
ESB (Extra Special/Strong Bitter) – Community Beer Co., Public Ale, Silver
Strong Scottish Ale – Rahr and Sons, Iron Thistle, Gold
Strong Scottish Ale – Peticolas, Great Scot!, Bronze
American Amber/Red – Peticolas, Velvet Hammer, Gold
Belgian Abbey Ale, Dubbel – Community Beer Co., Inspiration, Bronze
Belgian Witbier – Community Beer Co., Witbier, Silver
Dopple/Strong Bock – Rahr and Sons, The Regulator, Bronze
Aged Beer – Peticolas, 2012 Great Scot!, Bronze
For fun, the judges (because you know they had some fun. Imagine the giggles fits after tasting 2,500 beers) also named the top ten most creatively named beers. First place went to: Long, Dark Voyage to Uranus (Sawdust City) … and well, from there it fizzles out quickly. But, that certainly deserves an award.
