Last week, three local breweries took home coveted international beer awards from the World Beer Cup. The prestigious biannual competition — widely regarded as the Olympics of beer and developed by the Brewers Association more than two decades ago — evaluates brews from around the world, recognizing their excellence and celebrating the people behind them.
The winning Tampa Bay entries from Dunedin Brewery, 7venth Sun Brewery and Motorworks Brewing were among 8,234 submissions from 2,515 breweries in 66 countries — making the 2018 battle the largest yet for the World Beer Cup. The awards ceremony took place May 3 in Nashville, where the competition’s victorious breweries, judged by a global panel of nearly 300 judges, received honors in 101 style categories.
In the Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour category, Florida’s oldest microbrewery, Dunedin Brewery, secured silver for its Ritual Madness. The tart Belgian-style quad — aged for 10 months in a cabernet barrel with Oregon red raspberries and Brettanomyces — is part of the brewery’s Stations of the Craft project, which explores mixed fermentation in wine and spirit barrels.
“Ever since we made Ritual Madness, I’ve said it was one of the best beers we’ve ever made,” said Michael Lyn Bryant, vice president of Dunedin Brewery. “And now we have the credentials to say it’s one of the best beers in the world.”
As for Dunedin-founded 7venth Sun, its Belgian quad walked away with bronze in the Belgian-Style Dubbel or Belgian-Style Quadrupel category, while Datil from Bradenton’s Motorworks Brewing earned silver in the category of Chili Beer.
The aforementioned trio, however, weren’t the only in-state breweries that scored World Beer Cup nods. Somebody Else’s Dream by Fort Myers Brewing Co. claimed silver in Cat 10 (Chocolate Beer); bronze in Cat 43 (Vienna-Style Lager) went to Miami-based Concrete Beach Brewery’s Havana Lager; The Tank Brewing Co., also out of Miami, landed Cat 60’s (French & Belgian-Style Saison) gold for its La Finca Miami; and Vega from Gainesville’s First Magnitude Brewing Co. won silver in Cat 90 (Golden or Blonde Ale).
Check out the full list of this year’s winners.
This article appears in May 3-10, 2018.
