The California Craft Brewers Cup, a first-year competition put on in partnership between the brewers guilds of California and the California Craft Brewers Association, announced the state’s best beers in an awards ceremony on September 12, 2019 at the Long Beach Convention Center.
The competition received 1,266 entries from 190 independent craft breweries across California. A panel of more than 80 qualified judges selected the top three beers in 58 style categories. Crooked Lane Brewing Company from Auburn, California, the most medaled brewery of the competition with a total of seven medals, was named Brewery of the Year. Best in Show was awarded to Rip Current Brewing from San Diego, California for its “Breakline Traditional Bock.”
“This competition was created with the goal to showcase the innovation and immense talent of our state’s craft breweries,” said Mike Moore, Competition Director of the California Craft Brewers Cup. “The beers entered in this year’s competition set the bar extremely high for future years, and we can’t wait to watch this competition continue to grow.”
The competition named Tom McCormick, Executive Director of the California Craft Brewers Association, its 2019 Craft Beer Pioneer. The award recognizes the individuals who have helped shape and propel California’s craft beer industry.
The Guild of the Year award, a title given to the brewers guild whose membership won the most medals in the competition, was awarded to the Sacramento Area Brewers Guild.
A special shout-out to all winners from our local OC area! They are highlighted below! Winners of the most-entered style categories include:
- American-Style India Pale Ale (IPA)
- Gold: Gamecraft Brewing Company – Pay to Win
- Silver: Auburn Alehouse – Gold Digger IPA
- Bronze: Out of Bounds Brewing Company – Joyrider
- American Imperial IPA
- Gold: Moksa Brewing Company – Sticky Sips
- Silver: Tarantula Hill Brewing Company – Batch 002
- Bronze: Taps Brewery – Poseidon
- New-England Style Hazy IPA
- Gold: Resident Brewing – Chasing Mosaic
- Silver: North Park Beer Co. – Art is Hard
- Bronze: Knee Deep Brewing Company – Oopsie D’Hazy
- American Pale Ale
- Gold: Alesmith Brewing Company – Alesmith San Diego Pale Ale .394
- Silver: Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. – Figueroa Mountain Mosaic
- Bronze: Societe Brewing Company – The Publican
- Fruit Beer
- Gold: Del Cielo Brewing – Guava Dreams
- Silver: Urban Roots Brewing – Chocolate Moustache
- Bronze: Fort Rock Brewing – Gose the Destroyer
- American Wild Ale
- Gold: Original Pattern Brewing Company – Berrya 51
- Silver: Chapman Crafted Beer – Absofruitly! Raspberry
- Bronze: Soquel Fermentation Project – Golden Sour #4 with Mango and Passionfruit
The awards ceremony was part of the California Craft Brewers Association’s 2019 California Craft Beer Summit, a two-day conference that runs September 12-13 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Many of the competition’s participating breweries will be showcasing their beer in the Summit Beer Festival, taking place on Saturday, September 14, at Marina Green Park in Long Beach.
For the full list of winners, visit www.ccbc.beer. For more information about the California Craft Beer Summit, visit californiacraftbeer.com/craft-beer-summit.
