Colorado beer takes the world by storm

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Jon Howland (left), owner of 12Degree Brewing, gets the award for best brewery at the World Beer Cup.

On May 6, the beer world held its version of the Oscars. Every other year the World Beer Cup doles out its prestigious awards for the world’s best beer in every imaginable category. This year in Philly, 1,907 breweries of all sizes from all around the world (55 countries in all) competed in 94 beer categories. A total of 6,596 different beers were entered in the competition, making it the largest such competition in history.

As most of us living here in the land of the microbrew already know, Colorado makes some great beer. Now everyone knows it because Colorado kicked the world’s rear end at this year’s Cup as evidenced by the amazing list of Colorado winners below. We’d like to throw out a special congratulations to all the Boulder County breweries who took home awards and especially to Louisville’s 12Degree Brewing which not only won for it’s beer, but also took home the World Beer Cup prize for best Brewery and Brewmaster in the Small Brewpub category.  That is not easy to do. Way to go 12Degree folks.

And the winner is:

Category: American-Style Wheat Beer –

Silver: Whacked Out Wheat, Telluride Brewing Co., Telluride, CO

Category: Fruit Beer –

Silver: Razz Against the Machine, Little Machine, Denver, CO

Category: Fruit Wheat Beer –

Gold: First Peach Ale, Blue Moon Brewing Co., Golden, CO

Category: Belgian-Style Fruit Beer –

Silver: Coal Kriek, Gravity Brewing, Louisville, CO

Category: Pumpkin Beer –

Gold: Pump Action Imperial Pumpkin Ale, 4 Noses Brewing Co., Broomfield, CO

Category: Chili Beer –

Gold: Yellow Fever, Comrade Brewing Co., Denver, CO

Category: Experimental Beer –

Silver: Cerise Mousseux Nouveau, Manitou Brewing Co., Manitou Springs, CO

Category: Fresh or Wet Hop Ale –

Silver: High Ground IPA, Manitou Brewing Co., Manitou Springs, CO

Bronze: Double Conundrum Imperial Red Fresh Hop, Aspen Brewing Co., Aspen, CO

Category: Aged Beer –

Bronze: 2012 Dr. Strangelove Barleywine, Strange Craft Beer Co., Denver, CO

Category: Baltic-Style Porter –

Bronze: Black Aria Baltic Porter, Mountain Sun Breweries, Denver, CO

Category: German-Style Pilsener –

Silver: Pilsner, Dry Dock Brewing Co. – South Dock, Aurora, CO

Category: Vienna-Style Lager –

Bronze: Puesta del Sol, WeldWerks Brewing Co., Greeley, CO

Category: German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock –

Silver: Warning Sign, Rockyard Brewing Co., Castle Rock, CO

Category: American-Style Amber Lager –

Gold: Steam Engine Lager, Steamworks Brewing Co., Durango, CO

Category: American-Style Dark Lager –

Bronze: Saint Patrick’s Black, Saint Patrick’s Brewing Co., Littleton, CO

Category: German-Style Altbier –

Gold: 90 Shilling, Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO

Silver: Little Red Cap, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Loveland, CO

Category: French & Belgian-Style Saison –

Bronze: Soleil Saison, 12Degree Brewing, Louisville, CO

Category: Belgian-Style Pale Ale or Blonde Ale –

Bronze: Golden Ghost, Lost Highway Brewing, Denver, CO

Category: Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale –

Gold: Treachery, 12Degree Brewing, Louisville, CO

Silver: Sanctuary Golden Strong Ale, Gemini Beer Co., Westminster, CO

Bronze: Deceit, Funkwerks, Fort Collins, CO

Category: Other Belgian-Style Ale –

Bronze: Sugarfoot Belgian Table Beer, Spangalang Brewery, Denver, CO

Category: English-Style Summer Ale –

Bronze: True Blonde Ale, SKA Brewing Co., Durango, CO

Category: Ordinary or Special Bitter –

Gold: Amber, Dry Dock Brewing Co. – North Dock, Aurora, CO

Silver: Sawtooth Ale, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO

Category: English-Style India Pale Ale –

Gold: Independence Pass Ale, Aspen Brewing Co., Aspen, CO

Silver: Punjabi Pale Ale, CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing, Fort Collins, CO

Category: English-Style Brown Ale –

Silver: Sweet George’s Brown, Dillon Dam Brewery, Dillon, CO

Category: Brown Porter –

Bronze: Blue Nose Brown, Red Leg Brewing Co., Colorado Springs, CO

Category: Scotch Ale –

Gold: Clan Warrior Scotch Ale, Odyssey Beerwerks, Arvada, CO

Category: Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout –

Silver: Irish Stout, Carver Brewing Co., Durango, CO

Category: Export Stout –

Gold: Fade to Black, Volume 1, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO

Category: Double Red Ale –

Gold: Summit Sunrise, Denver Beer Co. – Canworks, Denver, CO

Category: Imperial Red Ale –

Bronze: Wreak Havoc, Bootstrap Brewing, Niwot, CO

Category: American-Style Brown Ale –

Bronze: Upslope Brown Ale, Upslope Brewing Co. – Flatiron Park, Boulder, CO

Special awards:

Champion Brewery and Brewer Awards Small Brewpub —

12Degree Brewing

Owners Jon Howland and Tor O’Brien