Cincinnati (And Ohio) Take Home Honors During This Year’s World Beer Cup

By: The Gnarly Gnome

4/27/2024

I’ve heard the annual World Beer Cup, which takes place during the Craft Brewer’s Conference, referred to as the Olympics of Beer. It’s certainly one of the largest competitions and might even be the most prestigious as well. Every year as the live stream kicks off, I sit on the edge of my barstool, patiently waiting to see if Cincinnati can add to an already impressive medal count that the city has taken home.

Every year, I’m blown away not only by Cincinnati’s ability to make award-winning beer but by Ohio as a whole. We’re lucky to live in such a great place for craft beer, and I hope every craft beer fan around here gets that.

About The World Beer Cup Awards

The World Beer Cup started in 1996 to celebrate the art and the science of beer in a way that honored the brewing craft. In the years since, the competition has grown exponentially as breweries recognize not only the importance of the validation that an award like this brings to them but the marketing potential of being an award-winning brewery.

This year’s awards were held in Las Vegas as the Craft Brewer’s Conference was wrapping up. The ceremony takes on a vibe that blends a classic awards ceremony with an electric party atmosphere that can only be attributed to the personality of the craft beer industry itself.

This year’s competition contained 110 different beer styles, bringing out 290 different judges to work their way through 9,300 different beers. 2,060 different breweries from 50 countries hoped to bring home one of the coveted medals. The scale of this competition is freaking wild, and gives you a little glimpse into what it takes to become one of the ‘best of the best’.

Ohio Is Incredible

Speaking of the best of the best, I wouldn’t still be managing this blog if I didn’t believe that Ohio, and especially Cincinnati beer, was among that best category. We’ve repeatedly proven that the beer coming out of this state is among some of the best in the country, and this year is no different.

From Ohio (outside of Cincinnati) these 8 winners are all places that need to be on your radar (if they’re not already).

Fat Heads Brewery – These folks are an absolute medal machine. Easily the most award-winning Ohio brewery, what they keep doing is mind-blowing and worthy of a huge head nod toward their brewing program.

• Bone Head – Gold Medal
• Goggle Fogger – Gold Medal
• Dunkelosteus – Silver Medal

Gemut Biergarten is one of my favorite spots in Columbus, not only for its great German beer hall and biergarten vibes but also for its great beers, as evidenced by this win!

• Skol Crusher – Gold Medal

Combustion Brewery – I just made my first stop out at Combustion recently with a road trip to Columbus, and was happy to taste a brewery that is cranking out some great beers. I’m also happy to hear that we’re not the only ones that have noticed that!

• Nocino – Silver Medal

Loose Ends Brewing – I recently heard about these folks via a recent interview with Blake on the Miami Valley Craft Beer Podcast. This definitely confirms that I need to pay them a visit in Centerville soon!

• Loose Handle – Silver Medal

Masthead Brewing – I’m definitely no stranger to Masthead beer, and neither is the rest of Cincinnati. They’re one of those brands that seems to have found a way to coexist down here with our own breweries. You can find there beer all over at better beer locations, and it’s easy to see why.

• Jalapeño IPA – Silver Medal

Market Garden – Market Garden took home its first World Beer Cup medal this year… not that we are at all questioning their worthiness. The brewery has been around since 2011 winning plenty of craft beer fans over, and is definitely on my list for a visit in the near future!

• Prosperity Wheat – Bronze Medal

Our Cincinnati Winners

These two Cincinnati Breweries are no strangers to winning awards. They are two of only 12 breweries in the city that have now taken home 17 different World Beer Cup medals over the years, and definitely deserve plenty of recognition for that achievement.

Rhinegeist – I’m sure you’ve heard about this little brewery in OTR. They’ve taken home 62 different awards (according to my count) over the years, and I know have to be pumped about adding a World Beer Cup medal to that tally.

• Uncle – Silver Medal

Brink – Again as I mentioned before, Brink is no stranger to winning awards. They add this one to a list of 46 different medals in just a short seven years. They clearly are pretty comfortable with the winners’ circle!

• Lil Zoomie – Bronze Medal

I can’t say congratulations nearly loud enough to all of these winners. Ohio makes me proud to be a craft beer drinker, and clearly, there are plenty of great places (and great beers) for us to keep heading out and trying. It’s a great time to be a beer drinker, and a really fun one to be a beer blogger!