The best beers of 2020 // Brauerei-Gasthof Kundmüller and Brauerei Schützengarten are the best craft brewers // Outstanding beers from Germany and Switzerland
The awards for "Beers of the Year 2020" were presented today during a live virtual ceremony. A total of 222 beer specialities from all over the world were honoured by the jury of the 7th Meininger's International Craft Beer Award.
The National Craft Beer of the Year is Senatsbock of the Landgang Brewery. The international Craft Beer of the Year is a wood barrel matured Rum-Bock from the Schützengarten Brewery in Switzerland.
For the first time, Brauerei-Gasthof Kundmüller from Viereth-Trunstadt has been awarded National Craft Brewer of the Year. Roland and Oswald Kundmüller have already shown what they could do in previous competitions; this year they take home a total of 2 platinum, 6 gold and 2 silver medals for their Franconian beer specialties.
The International Craft Brewer of the Year is Schützengarten from Switzerland, who not only won 2 platinum, 7 gold and 2 silver medals, but also the International Craft Beer of the Year and Best Non-Alcoholic Beer (bottom-fermented) awards.
This year's most successful categories overall were: IPA with 24 awarded beers; Bock and Doppelbock (19); Kellerbier and Wheat Beer (15 each); wood barrel matured beers (14); and non-alcoholic beers (13 awards). Categories such as Pils (10 awards), Helles and Lager (8 each) demonstrate the range of the more than 60 beer styles represented.
There were also 17 awards given for beers in the Freestyle / Experimental Style category, which illustrates the great willingness of German and international brewers to experiment.
The expert jury awarded a total of 21 platinum, 81 gold and 32 silver medals to German breweries.
The competition also enjoys a high level of recognition beyond the German borders. In addition to beers from Switzerland (32 awards), beers from Belgium and Italy (8 each), France, the Netherlands and Spain (6 each), Taiwan (5), Singapore (4) as well as the Czech Republic and the United States of America (3 each) were also honoured for their excellence.
Overall, international beers represented 40 percent of this year’s entries, an increase on previous years. The share in 2019 was 33 percent, while in 2018 it was 23 percent.
"Over four days this year, our 45 beer experts tasted their way through the great and diverse world of beer specialities to award only the best with a medal. They did this across all categories, so that this year, in addition to well-known international styles such as IPA or Porter and Stout, classic German and lighter beer styles such as Pils, Helles or Export were also awarded," said Christian Wolf, the Tasting Director.
This year’s virtual award ceremony was moderated by Christian Wolf and Meininger Verlag’s beer expert, Benjamin Brouër.
The award-winning master brewers were there in person to accept their awards. This year's award provided a worthy platform for the best beers.
The fact that the competition could take place at all in times of a global pandemic is thanks to the exceptional hygiene measures that were implemented.
The results of Meininger's International Craft Beer Award 2020, including the special awards, can be found on MEININGER ONLINE as well as in issue 4/2020 of the magazine "MEININGERS CRAFT - Magazin für Bierkultur" (www.meiningers-craft.de) which will be published at the end of August.
All special awards at a glance
Alcohol-free Beer of the year 2020 (top-fermented)
ROAD RUNNER Coffee Stout alkoholfrei
Kehrwieder Kreativbrauerei Oliver Wesseloh e.K.
Alcohol-free beer of the year 2020 (bottom-fermented)
Schützengarten Alkoholfrei
Brauerei Schützengarten AG, Schweiz
Beer with alternative grain of the year 2020
Störtebeker Roggen-Weizen
Störtebeker Braumanufaktur GmbH
Bock Beer of the year 2020
Wuiderer Märzenbock kaltgehopft
Privatbrauerei M.C. WIENINGER
Doppelbock of the year 2020
Alpstein Bock
Brauerei Locher AG, Schweiz
Export of the year 2020
Faust Export
Brauhaus Faust KG
Freestyle Beer of the year 2020
Meerjungfrau
Rügener Insel-Brauerei GmbH, Expedition ins Bierreich
Helles of the year 2020
Falter Export Hell
Privatbrauerei J. B. Falter Regen KG
Barrel-aged Beer of the year 2020
Faust Eisbock
Brauhaus Faust KG
Imperial IPA of the year 2020
Resin Bomb
Brewerkz Brewing Co.
IPA of the year 2020
Jopen Hop zij met ons
Jopen BV
Kellerbier of the year 2020
Glaabsbräu 1744 Kellerbier
Glaabsbräu GmbH & Co. KG
Kellerpils of the year 2020
Schützengarten Säntisbier
Brauerei Schützengarten AG
Lager (New Style) of the year 2020
Faust Hochzeitsbier
Brauhaus Faust KG
Lager of the year 2020
Weyermann® Sissi´s Wiener Lager
Mich. Weyermann® GmbH & Co. KG
Pale Ale of the year 2020
Rise
Whalers Brewing Co.
Pils of the year 2020
Altenburger Premium Pils
Altenburger Brauerei GmbH
Smoked Beer of the year 2020
Buckskin Rauchbier
Buckskin, King Car Group
Session Beer of the year 2020
Joséphine
BRASSERIE PIETRA
Wheat Beer of the year 2020
Ayinger Urweisse
Ayinger Privatbrauerei
Craft Beer of the year 2020 (national)
Senatsbock
Landgang Brauerei GmbH & Co.KG
Craft Beer of the year 2020 (international)
Schützengarten Rum-Bock
Brauerei Schützengarten AG
Craft-Brewer of the year 2020 national
2 Platin, 6 Gold, 2 Silber
Brauerei-Gasthof Kundmüller GmbH
Craft-Brewer of the year 2020 international
2 Platin, 7 Gold, 2 Silber
Brauerei Schützengarten AG
About Meininger's International Craft Beer Award:
Meininger's International Craft Beer Award was launched in 2014 by the Meiniger publishing house. Once a year, selected beer experts gather in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Germany, to taste and evaluate around 1,000 beer specialities from all over the world.
Meininger Verlag, founded in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse in 1903, is one of the oldest German specialist publishers, managed in the fourth generation by Andrea Meininger-Apfel and Christoph Meininger. The company specializes in the wine and beverage industry. Since 2015 the publishing house has been publishing the first Craft Beer magazine under the title Meiningers Craft - the magazine for beer culture. Craft Beer Messe Braukunst Live in Munich has been part of the Meininger Verlag portfolio since February 2019.
7 years after its premiere, Meininger's International Craft Beer Award is one of the most important and highly regarded beer competitions. With its tasting methodology, the competition sets new standards in the field of beer evaluation. Based on the international 100-point scheme, the beers are not compared, but individually evaluated by a jury of experts blindly, i.e. without the knowledge of the producer, according to appearance, smell, taste and drinking pleasure. In addition, the competition describes each tasted beer sensory in the aromas and attributes typical for the respective beer style. This is used to create an aroma diagram that is understandable and comprehensible for the brewer and consumers, which gives a first impression of the taste of the beer.
Press contact:
Nicole Zeisset
Meininger Verlag GmbH
Maximilianstr. 7-17
67433 Neustadt/Germany
Phone: +49 6321 89 08 94
E-Mail: [email protected]
Internet:
www.craft-beer-award.com
