It was a bittersweet victory for West Palm Beach's downtown brewpub Brewzzi City Place this past weekend, as the brewery, which is currently closed after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, won two medals in the U.S. Open Beer Championship.
The annual event, which started in 2009 and has its awards presented on July 4th, is a unique competition where professional and amateur brewers vie for gold, silver, and bronze in 78 categories of beers and cider, with more than 3,000 beverages sent in from across the world.
See Also: CityPlace Versus Brewzzi: Curtains Close for the West Palm Eatery
Florida breweries made a distinctive mark on the event, with 16 medals in 14 different categories. South Florida breweries that earned medals were Brewzzi City Place for its Black Duke (securing a silver in the Schwarzbier category) and City Fest (gold in the Marzen / Oktoberfest category), and Big Bear Brewing Co. in Coral Springs who brought home bronze for their Triple Lindy Belgian Tripel in the Aged Beer category.
Other interesting placements include a four-way tie for ninth best overall brewery which saw Green Bench Brewing out of St. Petersburg on par with Peticolas Brewing and Lakewood Brewing of Texas, and Hawaii's Big Island Brewhaus.
It should be of no surprise either that Green Bench dominated the wood-aged categories.
Here's a list of all the Florida winners from this years' event:
IPA - BRONZE - Devil's Triangle - Florida Beer Company
Porter - BRONZE - Double Decker - Brew Bus Brewing
Cream Stout - GOLD - Cigar City Brunch - Cigar City Brewpub
Cream Stout - BRONZE - Sweet Stout - Motorworks Brewing
Imperial Stout - GOLD - Zhukov's Imperial Stout - Cigar City Brewing
Irish Red - SILVER - Rollin Dirty - Brew Bus Brewing
Irish Red - BRONZE - Irish Red - Rapp Brewing
Vegetable Beer - BRONZE - Honey Jalepeno Blonde Ale - Big Top Brewing Company
Coffee Beer - GOLD - Cubano Espresso - Cigar City Brewing
Wood / Barrel Aged Pale Beer - GOLD - Saison de Banc Vert - Green Bench Brewing
Wood/Barrel-Aged Sour Beer - GOLD - French Oak Rye Sour Brown - Green Bench Brewing
Experimental Beer - BRONZE - Spring Bloom IPA: Jerry's Birthday Batch - Green Bench Brewing
Specialty Cider and Perry - GOLD - Cigar City Cider Homemade Apple Pie - Cigar City Cider and Mead
Though the City Place Brewzzi may be closed, the Boca Raton location is reported to be operating as normal. Which is good, because you can still get Black Duke and City Fest (it is just slightly toffee sweet; fans of Sam Adams Boston Lager will be all over this) at that location.
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