(NEXSTAR) – The U.S. Open Beer competition is a heady brew of the sudsy and the silly.
The U.S. Open Beer Championships announced the winners of its annual competition earlier this week, recognizing some of the best ales, IPAs and porters from brewers across the nation. Medalists were awarded in over 150 categories, including best American ale, best Belgian blonde and best cocoa/chocolate beer, to name just a few — and there was even a category for the “Top 10 Beer Names” of the year, based on the “laughter volume” of attendees.
But perhaps the highest honor of the competition is the title of Grand National Champion: a distinction bestowed upon the brewery that earns the most medals of the annual event.
This year, that honor went to Sun King Brewing of Indianapolis, which also took the title in 2019.
“Congratulations to our hardworking crew and congratulations to our fellow breweries,” a representative for Sun King wrote on Instagram following the brewery’s win. “We are beyond honored.”
Sun King wasn’t the only brewery to win big at the 2022 championship. The top 10 breweries of 2022, as determined by the U.S. Open Beer judging panel, are as follows:
1. Sun King Brewery — Indiana
2. Shoe Tree Brewing — Nevada
3. Third Eye Brewing — Ohio
4. Monday Night Brewing — Georgia
5. Pilot Brewing — North Carolina
6. Vallensons’ Brewing — Texas
7. Moonraker Brewing Company — California
8. Bonds Brewing — Wyoming
9. DC Brau Brewing — Washington, DC
10. Forgotten Star Brewing — Minnesota
10. Primeval Brewing — Indiana
On a little bit of a sillier note, the event’s attendees helped determine the “Top 10 Beer Names” among this year’s submissions, presented below in no particular order:
· Still Not as Bitter as Your Ex, from N.E.W. Ales Brewing — Ohio
· Up Schitt’s Kriek, from Lost Province Brewing — North Carolina
· It Gose in Your Moutha, from Spider Bite Beer Co. — New York
· Kolsch Me if You Can, from Pilot Brewing — North Carolina
· Who’s A Good Beer? from Streetside Brewery — Ohio
· I Need More Cowbelgian from The Common Beer Company — Ohio
· It’s Pronounced “Phrankensteen” IPA, from Listermann Brewing — Ohio
· There Gose My Pickle, from Cueni Brewing Co. — Florida
· Tastes Like Flannel, from Red Bear Brewing — Washington, D.C.
· Julius Squeezer IPA, from Elmhurst Brewing Company — Illinois.
A complete list of medal winners from all 150-plus categories can be found at the U.S. Open Beer website.
The U.S. Open Beer Championships, established in 2009, is the only major beer-judging event to allow professional breweries against homebrewers: specifically, the medalists from 2021’s American Homebrew Association’s National Homebrew Competition are invited to enter. In 2022, more than 9,000 individual beers were entered into the competition.