By Ken Storey
Florida had a strong showing at the 2013 United States Open Beer Championship that took place during the July 4th week in Atlanta. The championship featured over 2500 beers in 68 different categories in what is the only championship that includes both home-brewers and professional ones.
“This competition is significant because it accepts entries from breweries around the world and allows national, winning homebrews to compete,” said Dow Scoggins, director of the U.S. Open Beer Championships.
Florida Beer Co. brought home the gold in the American Premium Lager category for it's Florida Lager, while Cigar City brought gold in the Chocolate/Cocoa Beer category with its Hunahpu's Imperial Stout. Orlando Brewing won Bronze in the Best of Show Organic category with its Doble Imperial IPA. All together, 5 Florida breweries placed in 7 categories (Cigar City and Florida Beer both won 2 awards each). Cigar City also made the top ten for the 'Most Creative Name' category with their Hotter than Helles.
Atlanta based Sweetwater Brewing, who began distributing here in Central Florida in late 2012, placed second in the Top 10 Breweries 2013 list.
Image via US Open Beer Championship facebook
