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The results of the World Beer Cup, one of the major beer competitions in the world, were released in the weekend. The 2010 edition saw the participation of no less than 3,330 beers brewed in 44 different countries, divided into categories following the guidelines of the Brewers Association which organizes the event. Well, Italy has achieved a great result with the Birrificio Italiano Vùdù, first in the German-Style Dark Wheat Ale category, better known as Dunkel Weizen, German typical dark wheat beer.

The brilliant performance of the Birrificio Italiano couple with the silver medal won by the Birrificio del Ducato, an accustomed to international prizes brewer, with Via Emilia. Curiously, the Via Emilia was not included in the Pils category, as would be expected, but in the Keller/Zwickel category… strange enough, because the two styles are quite different and while drinking Via Emilia is natural to think it as a Pils, not as a Keller. Apart from this detail, we can’t but congratulate the two producers on their success.

American breweries triumphed in the other categories (here in detail). The vast majority of winners are little or not at all popular in Europe, although there are more famous breweries. Scrutinizing the list we meet brewers like Brooklyn Brewery, Great Divide, Rogue, Dogfish Head, Flying Dog, Port Brewing, etc.. There is an American dominance in traditional European styles too, explained perhaps by the number of American beers enrolled: 2.371.

Some foreign breweries have been awarded nevertheless. It is therefore necessary to mention the gold medal won by Brewdog Hardcore IPA in the crowded Imperial IPA category, the silver medal for the English Thornbridge Bracia, the three medals of Danish Nørrebro, the bronze of the Irish Porterhouse Plain Porter, and the two medals for Boon in Belgian-Style Sour Ale. Interesting confirmation for the Belgian The Musketeers, that won a gold medal with the Troubadour Blond after the triumph a few days ago at Zythos Bier Festival.

Sifting the results stands out that among the various medals there are different multinationals’ products, such as Carlsberg, MillerCoors, AB-Inbev, etc. It’s a typical feature of the World Beer Cup, where juries judge craft as well as industrial beers. How they can achieve important results remain a mystery…

Appropriate to the ‘open’ nature of the competition prizes are divided according to companies’ size. Three “breweries of the years” were elected – Asia Pacific Breweries (large), Firestone (medium) and Ballast Point (small) – and two “brewpub of the year “- Iron Hill (large) and Devils Backbone (small).

Concluding, Craftbeer site reports some interesting statistics, which offer clues to understand the trend of the American brewing movement.

Here are some data. Draw your conclusions:

• The average number of beers entered per category was 37.
• The category with the most entries was Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer, with 113 entries. The second most-entered category was Herb and Spice Beer or Chocolate Beer, with 108 entries.
• The 2010 World Beer Cup saw the growth of sour category beers to 85 entries in four categories (46 entries in 2008). Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour nearly tripled in size (39 entries in 2019 vs. 14 entries in 2008); American-Style Sour Ale more than tripled (14 vs. 4).
• Coffee Flavored Beer and Baltic Porter essentially doubled in size.
• The American IPA and Imperial IPA categories continue to grow.