The U.S. Open Beer Championship determines the best brewery in the U.S.
By Matt Sidney
The U.S. Open Beer Championship announces the best brewery in the U.S.
There are a lot of craft breweries in the United States. Rightfully so, beer is delicious. There are so many styles and types of beer that there is a brew out there for just about everyone. That's what makes beer the best!
On July 9, 2024, the U.S. Open Beer Championship announced the winners of its 170 competition categories as well as the overall Grand National Champion. It's important to note that not all breweries compete in the competition. Every year, some great breweries choose not to participate. For those that do, receiving a medal is a great honor.
Breweries from all over the U.S. submitted their beer to be judged for the chance to be named the best brewery in the United States. From Maine to Hawaii to Alaska, over 9,000 beers were submitted for 170 beer categories. These categories included sour beers, stouts, witbiers, American fruit beers, IPAs, non-alcoholic beers, and many more.
The competition is intense, with formidable opponents everywhere. Emerging as the Grand National Champion is a challenging achievement. Now, let's find out who will be crowned as the Champion at the 2024 U.S. Open Beer Championship.
The best brewery in the U.S. goes to...
Congratulations to Third Eye Brewing from Hamilton, Ohio! Third Eye Brewing has received four gold medals, two silver medals, and two bronze medals to secure its title as the Grand National Champion. If you're part of the beer scene, you've probably heard of Third Eye Brewing before. These brewers are known for consistently winning awards, as demonstrated by their 2023 title of Brewery of the Year presented at the Great American Beer Festival.
Third Eye Brewing's four gold medals were not only a triumph for the brewery, but also for dark beers as a whole. Each of the gold-medal-winning beers was a dark beer. This is relatively uncommon, as craft beer sales trends generally lean towards IPAs, pale ales, and other light beers.
Monday Night Brewing from Atlanta, GA came in second place with four gold and four bronze medals. Sun King Brewery from Indianapolis, Indiana took third place with three gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. Both breweries have a strong track record of success, having been featured in the top ten of the U.S. Beer Open multiple times in previous competitions.
When the hops settled, seven states made up the top ten breweries. Ohio was represented by three breweries, while Iowa and California had two each. Indiana, Arizona, and Missouri each had one.
The U.S. Open Beer Championship judges the largest number of beer styles compared to any other competition in the world. The U.S. Open Beer is the only major beer competition that allows gold medal winners of the American Homebrewers Association to compete in the event. This year, three homebrewers tied the U.S. Open record by taking home medals.
If you get an opportunity, go and visit these amazing breweries and drop us a note to tell us which one was your favorite! All in all, the real winners are the consumers who can confidently say that great beer is here to stay, and there's plenty of it!
A full list of the medal winners can be found on the U.S. Open Beer's website.