Best sour beers, fruit beers and Belgian-style beers awarded / Special awards go to Germany, Italy, France and Belgium
The world-renowned Belgian beer culture took centre stage in March at Meininger's International Craft Beer Award, which since this year presents itself with a new monthly and seasonally oriented concept. The expert jury of beer sommeliers, brewers and other experts from research and teaching also set out to find the best sour and fruit beers. About 120 beers were put to the critical vote of the experts, and 30 beers ultimately succeeded in winning a medal in the blind tasting. In the particularly popular categories, the jury also crowned the highest-rated beers with one of the following special awards.
The title "Sour Beer of the Year" goes to the German village of Rethmar near Hanover. The Gutshofbrauerei Das Freie was able to elicit top marks from the jury with its Broyhan, a new edition of the historic Hanoverian beer style, combined with a platinum medal. After several years of research in search of the original taste, the Gutshofbrauerei presented its new edition in 2017, which convinces with a fine play of acidity and ingredients such as violet root, coriander seeds and galangal.
The "Fruit Beer of the Year" from the French brasserie Distillerie du Mont Blanc shows how fruit aromas can be captured in a beer in a perfect, natural way. Their gold medal-winning "La Bleue du Mont Blanc" combines the aromatic power of blueberries with the fine astringency of a beer.
Dubbel is one of the most popular Belgian beer styles with its malt-dominated, spicy structure and dried fruit notes. The expert jury chose an Italian representative as "Dubbel of the Year" with the "Rossa" from Gloria Mundi. This particularly stylish interpretation of the old monastic beer style Dubbel received a platinum medal.
The title "Tripel of the Year" goes to a Belgian legend. Brouwerij Bosteels from the East Flanders municipality of Buggenhout brews its Tripel Karmeliet according to a recipe that dates back to 1679. Here, complex yeasty and fruity notes combine in a perfect way - awarded a platinum medal
"The high proportion of international beers was particularly pleasing this month," sums up Christian Wolf, Director Degustation. "A good two thirds of all the beers entered did not come from Germany".
Mareike Hasenbeck, Vorstandsmitglied des Craft Beer Awards und Biersommeliere, und Christian Wolf, Verkostungsleiter des Craft Beer Awards, stellen die vier besten Bierspezialitäten der März Verkostung vor:
