U.S. Open Beer Championship Winners Will Be Announced July 11, 2016

Oxford, Ohio (JMarch, 2016) – The registration for the 2016 U.S. Open Beer Championship is now closed.  Beers will need to arrive in Oxford, Ohio between  May 23 – June 3.  The medal winners and Grand National Champion will be announced on July 11th. The U.S. Open is the only brewery competition to include professional breweries and the AHA’s National Homebrew Competition Gold Medal Winners. Last year, breweries from China to the Czech Republic sent in almost 4,000 beers and ciders representing 90 different styles for the 2015 U.S. Open Beer Championship.

Ballast Point Brewing in San Diego, California was named the 2015 Grand National Champion by winning three gold medals and one silver medal. Their three beers that were awarded gold medals were Ballast Point Pale Ale, Calico Amber Ale and Sculpin IPA. Lakewood Brewing from Garland, Texas placed second while Revelry Brewing of Charleston, South Carolina took home third.

Gold medal winners from last year’s AHA’s National Homebrew Competition also competed. Homebrewer Scott Hixson took home a silver medal for his YYY’s Man Says in the German Wheat Category while Jeff Carlson grabbed the bronze medal for his Westside Sweet Heat spiced cider. In the Marzen/Oktoberfest Style, Nick Rodammer also won a bronze.

U.S. Open College Beer Competition
New for 2016, a separate competition for Colleges and Universities that teach brewing courses will be held to determine the best future brewers. Any College or University that offers courses in brewing may enter the U.S. Open. All beers must be submitted by one of the school’s brewing professors/instructors. The beers can be brewed on any system on or off campus that is approved by the professors/instructors.  U.S. Open College Beer Registration

2016 U.S. Open – Ciders
Due to the success of last year’s ciders, The U.S. Open will start a new championship. In October, the 2016 U.S. Open Cider Championship will be held in Oxford, Ohio just a couple hours drive from the Johnny Appleseed Museum in Urbana, Ohio. 14 categories will be judged including New World Ciders, English Ciders, and Specialty Ciders and Perry.  U.S. Open Cider Championship

Call for Entries
This year, the U.S. Open will be held in Oxford, OH (Just outside of Cincinnati). Beers will need to arrive between May 23 – June 3. Each brewery may enter a maximum of 10 beers. Entry fee will be $60 per beer/root beer. A brewery must submit a minimum of 5 beers to be considered one of the Top Ten Breweries. Entry Forms and Rules can be found on the competition website under registration.

Over 90 categories will be judged this year. Winners will receive a medal in the shape of a beer stein for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The Top 10 breweries overall will be featured in on BeerInfo.com. Along with the medals awarded, a Grand National Champion accolade will be awarded based on a point system for beers (5 minimum) entered in the competition. The point system will be 10 points for a gold, 5 for a silver, 3 for a bronze, 2 for a 4th place finish and 1 for a fifth place finish.