From gold medal to glass; how competition makes for better beer.

For both professional and amateur brewers, there’s nothing like the buzz of beer competitions. Winners earn validation, along with the potential for more sales. Competitors receive feedback and industry insights, while consumers get better and more interesting beer — there really are no losers. In Sacramento, host of two major brewing contests, more than 50 breweries add to the state’s whopping 931 craft breweries. Gold medals and blue ribbons signify quality, and that can help sort out the crowd of options. 

“Competitions drive quality and inspire passion in both producers and consumers alike,” says Chris Williams, Competition Director for the Brewers Association, which hosts the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. “Award recognition for more classic styles help set the standard, while awards in more unique or experimental categories help drive innovation and inspiration among brewers.” All this, he says, helps “expand the idea of what ‘beer’ is in the mind of the consumer.” 

At the 2023 Brewers Cup of California, which was hosted in March, Sacramento’s Alaro Craft Brewery won six medals, including gold for Goons & Glory blonde ale. “It’s so cool to be recognized by your peers,” says owner Ray Ballestero. In just five years since winning a 2018 gold at Denver’s Great American Beer Festival one week after opening in Midtown, Alaro has won 64 medals. 

Besides boosting marketability, competitions allow brewers to receive important feedback from experts as every entry receives a written evaluation. Alaro used that feedback to tweak its French Saison. Feedback also determines what’s on tap; highly rated beers tend to sell better, too. Ballestero also has been a professional beer judge for 30-plus years. Winning beers fit a profile of perfection, a defined standard for each style.

“Why do we do so well in competitions? We focus on classic beer styles and we fit the [judging] categories very well,” he explains. “Our beers are very well balanced with old school sensibility. We make the type of IPA that fits the standard really well … the kind that makes a lot of craft drinkers fall in love with this beer.”

BEST JOB EVER

So how does one become a beer judge? Practice, say most beer lovers. Certified beer judges know it also takes skill, an educated palate, lengthy training, and testing. There are fewer than 9,000 certified judges nationwide, all of whom are graduates of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). Certified judges must pass an extensive course plus an in-depth written exam. 

About two of every 100 prospective judges become master judges, and those are further ranked; the higher the number, the better. David Teckam, Grand Master Judge VII, oversees both the State Fair and Brewers Cup competitions.

The World Beer Cup in Denver attracts a staggering 10,000 entries across 103 categories; that’s 60,000 bottles, says Williams of the Brewers Association. It takes more than 6,000 volunteer hours just to sort the bottles and prepare them for “blind judging.” Beers are numbered but not named.

“[On judging day], table captains label and pour samples, then stewards will present samples on a sanitized tray for judges to retrieve, and judges take it from there,” shares Williams. Unlike their wine counterparts, beer judges don’t spit. As a carbonated beverage, beer needs to be swallowed for its flavor to be fully appreciated. Beer is judged in flights of six to 12 one-ounce samples with judges typically tasting two to four flights a day. Says longtime judge Beth Zangari, “If a judge consumes more than [one ounce], they’re just drinking.”

QUEEN OF BEER

Zangari has been making and judging beer for decades. In 1993, a chance encounter with another female beer maker led to the creation of the Queen of Beer women’s homebrew competition. Women represent about one-third of craft beer drinkers, but only 11 percent of professional craft beer makers. Most pros, male or female, start as homebrewers. “The goal of the competition was to get more women brewing on their own, exercising their brewing creativity,” says Zangari.

The first contest in 1994 drew 37 entries from 14 states. In 2018, entries tallied 139. Beer competitions can introduce women to different beer styles and opportunities, observes Blanca Quintero, President of the Pink Boots Society, a nonprofit dedicated to women in beer and brewing. “Just being able to see other women participating in making beer can help encourage women to get into the beer-making side.” 

STATE FAIR BREW FUN

California’s best brewers — pro or amateur — usually show up at the state fair in July. “What’s so impressive, the breadth and depth of beer here is quite stunning, more than any other place,” says Darby Flynn, the fair’s Director of Special Events.

Last year, the fair drew 867 entries from 123 California craft brewers, she says. “The 2022 competition was a huge success considering we were closed for two years during the pandemic.” Best of Show earns the Golden Bear trophy and a spot on the menu in the fair’s beer garden. The 2022 winner was Angel City Brewing’s L.A. Blonde ale. For the most overall medals, the fair’s 2022 Golden Mash Paddle award went to Dust Bowl Brewing Co.

After a two-year hiatus, the fair’s home brew competition returns this summer with a new competition coordinator, Bill Tarchala, a retired lawyer who also serves as commercial competition coordinator. Tarchala expects entries to at least match the 655 homebrews entered in 2020. A homebrewer since 1993 and judge since 1998, Tarchala has seen beer making and judging evolve, including the rise of ciders, meads, sours, hazy ales, and brews flavored with chiles, coffee, cocoa, and fruits or herbs. This will be the first year the fair includes cider competition. “Commercial brewers create beer styles,” Tarchala explains, and that in turn influences homebrewers. A team of about 30 judges evaluates craft beers and home brews in closed sessions.

SELECTING A WINNER

“There is a lot of really good beer that gets entered, and honestly it’s really tough,” says Mike Witherow, Competition Director for the 2023 Brewers Cup. “The Best of Show [contest] has more than 80 beers lined up in front of the judges, and every one of them is good. It ultimately seems to come down to it being a flawless, drinkable beer.” 

Breweries can compete in dozens of categories to reflect the vast landscape. The 2023 Brewers Cup had more than 1,200 entries and almost 90 participating breweries, says Kristen Madigan, pub manager for contest host Touchstone Brewing Co. Among the winners was Touchstone’s Off Belay, named best non-alcoholic malt beverage. A longtime beer lover, Madigan became a beer judge in part, she says, to “be able to talk about beer. There’s so much more complexity [to beer] than meets the eye. Judging has really improved my palate; it ’s improved my ability to taste everything — not just beer.”