The World Beer Cup, the Olympics of beer competitions, was held last week (April 7-11) in Denver, Colorado.  Awards were presented yesterday (April 11, 2014) at the Hyatt Regency in Denver, Colorado, USA.  Click here for the complete winners list.

The 2104 World Beer Cup was the largest ever, with  4,754 beer entries from 58 countries and 1403 breweries.  The brewers were competing for 282 possible awards in 94 different beer categories (Gold, Silver, or Bronze award per category).  Entries were evaluated by 219 judges from 31 different countries (76% of the judges were from outside the U.S.).  The average number of beers entered per category was 50.

Breweries from 22 countries were awarded medals.  226 breweries won 1 award, 26 breweries won 2 awards, and 1 brewery won 3 awards.  Here’s a breakout of awards by country:

• Australia – 3 medals
• Austria – 2 medals
• Belgium – 5 medals
• Brazil – 2 medals
• Canada – 7 medals
• Czech Republic – 3 medals
• El Salvador – 2 medals
• Germany – 27 medals
• Ireland – 1 medal
• Israel – 1 medal
• Italy – 4 medals
• Japan – 3 medals
• Latvia – 1 medal
• Mexico – 1 medal
• Netherlands – 3 medals
• New Zealand – 2 medals
• Poland – 1 medal
• South Korea – 1 medal
• Sweden – 1 medal
• Taiwan – 1 medal
• United Kingdom – 5 medals
• United States – 205 medals

All fifty states in the United States had entries.  California won 37 medals in the 94 categories with Colorado winning 21, Oregon winning 18, North Carolina winning 8, and other states the remaining U.S. medals.  Oggi’s Pizza & Brewing Company, representing my hometown of San Clemente, won the Silver Medal for Wood and Barrel-Aged Beer with their Barrel Aged Scottish beer.

Here’s a breakout of more World Beer Cup statistics for those interested.

Congratulations to all the winners!  Of course, the real winners are those of us lucky enough to drink these beers.