Six brewers based in D.C. and Virginia won a total of seven medals at this year’s World Beer Cup, considered the “Olympics of craft brewing.”
The winners were announced May 10 at the event’s awards ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee, after nine days of judging.
D.C.’s Atlas Brew Works won a gold medal for its Silent Neighbor beer in the export Stout category. DC Brau Brewing Company won a gold medal for its Penn Quarter Porter in the robust Porter category.
Alexandria, Virginia’s Port City Brewing Company won two bronze medals, one for its Optimal Wit, and one for its Colossal TWO.
Devils Backbone Basecamp Brewpub & Meadows, whose main tap room is in Lexington, Virginia, won a silver medal for its Smokehaus Bock in the smoke beer category. Anheuser-Busch acquired Devils Backbone in 2016, even though it still operates independently.
Atlas Brew Works’ Silent Neighbor beer is named as homage to the historic Mount Olivet Cemetery that is across from its Ivy City location.
Bear Chase Brewing in Bluemont, Virginia, won a Silver medal for its Kodiak Kolsch in the German-style Koelsch cateogry, and Fairfax-based Ornery Beer Co. won a Silver medal for its Austrian Dreams in the Vienna-style Lager category.
The World Beer Cup, sponsored by the nonprofit Brewers Association, attracts entries from around the world. This year, a panel of 272 judges from 26 countries evaluated more than 10,000 beers from almost 2,400 breweries representing 51 countries, with 522 first-time brewery entries. International breweries represented 22.9% of entries.
There were 103 categories covering 176 different beer styles.
The awards ceremony was part of the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America held at the Music City Center in Nashville.
Check out the winners in all categories.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of local brewers recognized by the World Beer Cup.
