Biggest 'upset' at 2012 World Beer Cup

You've never heard of Kuhnhenn? It's pretty famous for their 4D and Bourbon Barrel 4D (among other things).

I can vouch for DRIPA. I'm not sure if it's the BEST IPA I've ever had but it's certainly up there. Incredible stuff that you can find at their brew pub

 

Had some DRIPA today, and it was very good.

Kuhnhenns is a little brewery in Michigan that won the AIPA category. An interesting fact is that the 2010 AIPA gold was won by an even smaller Michigan brewery, Big Rock.

 

Category 42: American-Style Cream Ale or Lager

WTF???

Nice to see Old Style take Silver, though. This category must be for 'Krausened' beer as Genesee Cream Ale is Krausened like Old Style.

 

Why? Is that any different from a US brewer winning a Pale Ale class?

 

Biggest "upset" is that anyone not entered or judging gives two shits...it's like the oscars or the grammys the rest of us are left scratching our heads, so who cares

 

Totally agree, but some people take awards seriously.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...to-apologise-over-dirty-tricks-at-awards.html

 

Because how many sour English beers can you name off the top of your head? Your comparison is wilfully naive.

 

La Cumbre Brewing Co. the makers of Elevated IPA, actually have just set up their canning line, and 4-packs of Elevated should be on the shelves in New Mexico by the end of this month, or early next month. That being said, they also just closed a deal on the property they've been leasing, so I would expect their production and distro to also ramp up in the coming months.

 

There is an American Style Barley Wine sub-category. If you enter an American Style Barley Wine, you are going up against all barley wines for a medal, but you are judged based on the guidelines set forth in the sub-category. I would say as many as half the categories are like this. After the first round of eliminating beers based on off-flavors or not meeting style guidelines, the judging is pretty subjective. Maybe SN felt that Bigfoot fit the Imperial Red Ale category better. Often times the winners of a category don't necessarily fit the guidelines. For instance, American IPA often has medalist that are Double IPAs. Odell IPA won a gold in American Strong Pale Ale, but it's ABV and IBUs clearly exceed the guidelines of that category. The funny part is that category was created for the more traditional IPAs since the newer, elevated IBU and alcohol IPAs were dominating the IPA category. The thing to remember is that all the winners are good beers (save a few categories) and deserve the recognition they get.

83. Barley Wine–Style Ale
A. Subcategory: British-Style Barley Wine Ale
British-style barley wines range from tawny copper to dark brown in color and have a full body and high
residual malty sweetness. Complexity of alcohols and fruity-ester characters are often high and counterbalanced
by the perception of low to medium bitterness and extraordinary alcohol content. Hop aroma and flavor may be
minimal to medium. English type hops are often used but not necessary for this style. Low levels of diacetyl
may be acceptable. Caramel and some characters indicating oxidation, such as vinous (sometimes sherry-like)
aromas and/or flavors, may be considered positive. Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures.
Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.085-1.120 (20.4-28 ºPlato)
Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.024-
1.028 (6-7 ºPlato)
Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 6.7-9.6% (8.4-12%)
Bitterness (IBU): 40-60
Color
SRM (EBC): 14-22 (28-44 EBC)
B. Subcategory: American-Style Barley Wine Ale
American style barley wines range from amber to deep copper-garnet in color and have a full body and high
residual malty sweetness. Complexity of alcohols and fruity-ester characters are often high and counterbalanced
by assertive bitterness and extraordinary alcohol content. Hop aroma and flavor are at medium to very high
levels. American type hops are often used but not necessary for this style. Very low levels of diacetyl may be
acceptable. A caramel and/or toffee aroma and flavor are often part of the character. Characters indicating
oxidation, such as vinous (sometimes sherry-like) aromas and/or flavors, are not generally acceptable in
American-style Barley Wine Ale, however if a low level of age-induced oxidation character harmonizes and
enhances the overall experience this can be regarded favorably. Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures.
Original Gravity (ºPlato): 1.090-1.120 (21.5-28 ºPlato)
Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato): 1.024-
1.028 (6-7 ºPlato)
Alcohol by Weight (Volume): 6.7-9.6% (8.4-12%)
Bitterness (IBU): 60-100
Color
SRM (EBC): 11-22 (22-44 EBC)

 

The fact anyone could like Steel Reserve almost defies description, let alone a Gold Medal. Where's Mickey Malt in all this or King Cobra?

 

Please, where's my Colt 45?

 

Not really an "upset," but a surprise that Michael Plank of Laaber won an unprecendented second "Small Brewer of the Year" (2006 & 2012) along with his sixth consecutive gold in the Weizenbock category. That's a pretty impressive streak for anyone.

 

Clearly, Haffenreffer Private Stock was totally robbed in this category. This atrocity cannot stand.

It's the malt liquor with the imported taste!

 

I have to say that the biggest upset is that for 2 consecutive WBC competitions, MI breweries showed what's up and took home Golds in the AIPA category; especially this year as Kuhnhenn won in San Diego, a place synonymous with AIPA.
Michigan: The Great Beer State.

 

it's kinda bs if you cannot know the name of the malt liquor or see the bottle as that's half the fun . . . like country club for example. maybe they put 40 oz bottles in brown paper bags for the judges to keep it real (and blind, well, blind enough).

 

that Mattina Rossa won a silver, when it wasn't released due to production problems. I still want to try this beer.

 

Killed a growler of Kuhnhenn DRIPA last night...fantastic. Of course it's not actually an IPA, it's a 9.5% Imperial IPA, but much like Bigfoot in the Imperial Red Ale category, it's where the brewer chose to enter it.

 

I see great opportunity here...

 

cannot wait for this so my GFs brother can start shipping me some. Otherwise I only get out to NM about once every year.

Really happy to see my local favorite win 2 categories (revolution)

 

about not ever hearing about the IPA winners: this doesn't mean they're bad. I drink La Cumbre and have been preaching about how awesome it is since they opened. Small names dont mean anything one way or another in beer.