A world of beer is waiting out there
By Geoff Griggs - The Marlborough Express
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Ever since visiting San Diego last year to be a judge at the World Beer Cup I've been keeping my fingers crossed that I might be invited again.
Last Saturday the email I'd been hoping for arrived; an invitation to join the panel for next year's competition, which will be held in Chicago in April.
Needless to say my positive reply was soon winging its way back through cyberspace.
Held every two years in a different United States city, the World Beer Cup (WBC) is the world's largest beer competition. Run by the American Brewers Association, the WBC attracts entries from all around the world (including New Zealand).
In San Diego in 2008 the competition attracted 2864 beers from 58 countries; next year the organisers are anticipating between 3200 and 3500 entries; that's a heck of a lot of beers to judge.
Mind you, the competition also has a heck of a lot of judges. In San Diego there were 140 and next year they're aiming for more than 180. They, too, come from all over the world.
Remarkably, at WBC the entire judging process is completed in less than three days. As you might imagine, getting that number of beers poured and judged (sometimes several times) in such a short amount of time requires an operation of military precision. The organisation is phenomenal; 20 or more judging teams work simultaneously while a small army of volunteer stewards scuttles ceaselessly back and forth carrying beers, glasses and score sheets.
WBC is often referred to as "The Olympics of Beer" and with good reason. Unlike other competitions where medals are awarded to all beers that have met the required standards for the style, only the three top-ranked beers in each category receive a medal. Just like at the Olympics.
For me, the experience is invaluable and incomparable. Aside from judging some of the world's finest beers, it's a week of brewery visits, beer tastings and generally "talking beer" in the company of many of the world's top brewers, suppliers and consultants. There's even the chance to catch up with the occasional visiting beer writer.
Last year in San Diego I met brewers from as far afield as the Netherlands, Scandinavia, United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Japan and Australia, as well as a host of American brewers. One of my personal highlights was meeting and judging with the legendary Garrett Oliver. As well as being head brewer at New York's highly regarded Brooklyn Brewery, Garrett is an inspirational writer and passionate advocate of beer and food matching.
Next year, before heading across to Chicago, I'm hoping to stop off on the West Coast for a few days to check out some of the Californian breweries I missed last time. Each week while I'm away I'll be reporting back with news of my travels and exploits. I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it.
Cheers!
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