When it comes to the world's best beers, the U.S. Open Beer Championship has spoken. Judges hailing from England, Canada and the U.S. blindly tasted more than 6,300 brews that represented 110-plus styles for the competition in Oxford, Ohio, ultimately awarding a handful of Tampa Bay breweries with their annual accolades.
First off, the U.S. Open Beer Championship's prestigious Top 10 Breweries list includes two area beer makers: Tampa's Cigar City Brewing and Bradenton's Motorworks Brewing. Motorworks secured the No. 9 spot overall, while Cigar City ranked fourth.
Cigar City and Motorworks were also among the local breweries that took home bronze, silver and gold medals — the others being Big Storm Brewing Co. in Clearwater, St. Petersburg-based Green Bench Brewing Co. and Brew Bus Brewing in Tampa.
Outside of the region, Jacksonville's Main & Six Brewing Company also notably snagged a "Judges Award" for its Weapon of Mash Destruction. The imperial stout placed fourth in the beer battle's Top 10 Most Creative Beer Names.
The U.S. Open Beer Championship is known for scoring a combination of entries from professional breweries and award-winning homebrewers. This year, participants ranging from South Carolina to South Korea faced off in 117 categories.
Here's the full list of Florida medal winners:
Strong/Imperial Brown Ale
SILVER – Hooter Brown Ale – Oyster City Brewing Company (Apalachicola)
Brown Porters
SILVER – Maduro – Cigar City Brewing (Tampa)
Foreign Stout
GOLD – Ziko's Rage – 26° Brewing Co. (Pompano Beach)
Cream Stout
GOLD – 7 Layer Stout – Bowigens Beer Company (Casselberry)
British Imperial Stout
GOLD – Marshall Zhukov's Imperial Stout – Cigar City Brewing (Tampa)
English Barley Wine
GOLD – Thresher – Motorworks Brewing (Bradenton)
American Amber/Red
SILVER – A-10 Hop-Hog – Copperpoint Brewing Company (Boynton Beach)
American Pale Ale
BRONZE – Pompano Pale – 26° Brewing Co. (Pompano Beach)
American Brown Ale
GOLD – Handsworth – Main & Six Brewing Company (Jacksonville)
BRONZE – Unfashionable – West Palm Brewery (West Palm Beach)
International Style Pale Ale
SILVER – Arcus Southern Pale Ale – Big Storm Brewing Co. (Clearwater)
Belgian Dubbel
BRONZE – Kodiac – Big Bear Brewing Company (Coral Springs)
Belgian Strong Specialty Ale
GOLD – Bru Man Chu – Fat Point Brewing (Punta Gorda)
American Light
GOLD – Dreamers – West Palm Brewery (West Palm Beach)
Vegetable Beer
GOLD – Florida Ave Cucumber Berliner-Weisse – Brew Bus Brewing (Tampa)
Coconut
GOLD – Coconut Marshall Zhukov's Imperial Stout – Cigar City Brewing (Tampa)
Chocolate/Cocoa Beer
Gold – Somebody Else's Dream – Fort Myers Brewing Co. (Fort Myers)
Coffee Beer
BRONZE – Cold Brew Coffee Lager – Copperpoint Brewing Company (Boynton Beach)
Rye/Roggen Beer
SILVER – Ryeght Angle IPA – Fat Point Brewing (Punta Gorda)
Wood/Barrel-Aged Barley Wine
BRONZE – The Obscure – Green Bench Brewing Co. (St. Pete)
Out of Bounds IPA
GOLD – Mango Habanero Snowflake – Motorworks Brewing (Bradenton)
SILVER – Pulp Friction – Motorworks Brewing (Bradenton)
Experimental Beer
BRONZE – 2018 Hunahpu's Imperial Stout – Cigar City Brewing (Tampa)
Brett Beer
BRONZE – Thrice Rice – Green Bench Brewing Co. (St. Pete)
This article appears in Jul 12-19, 2018.