Cincinnati breweries dominate at US Open Beer Championship

Cincinnati breweries walked away from the 2022 U.S. Open Beer Championship – the third largest craft beer competition in the United States – draped in gold.

Leading the pack was Third Eye Brewing in Sharonville, which took home third place overall with a five-medal performance. Third Eye’s Double Astral Imperial Chocolate Oatmeal Stout scored gold in the chocolate/cocoa beer category, and its Dark Aura Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout was the competition’s gold standard in the peanut butter beer bracket. Third Eye took silver medals for Barrel-aged Kelly’s Private Stash (English), Deep Euphoria (Oatmeal Stout) and Higher Purpose (Cream Stout).

“It’s nice to be recognized,” said Kelly Montgomery, head brewer and co-owner of Third Eye Brewing. “There are so many great breweries in Cincinnati, and so many great breweries in this country, so to do as well as we did, it’s exciting.”

Matt's take: Top 5 breweries in Cincinnati right now

The overall Grand National Championship went to Sun King Brewing of Indianapolis. It’s the second time Sun King has earned that distinction, with its first best-in-show victory coming in 2019. Shoe Tree Brewing in Nevada took second place.

More than 9,000 brews were entered into this year’s competition across 150-plus judging categories. Of the 57 medals awarded to Ohio breweries, 36 were won by Cincinnati breweries.

“That really shows that Cincinnati’s making some world-class beer,” Montgomery said. “It’s great for our city to get recognized like that. We always thought we were a big beer city, but it’s nice to know we can back it up with world-class beers.

“I’m just real proud of our city and the great beer everybody’s producing.”

Other Cincinnati breweries scoring gold medals

• Brink Brewing for Hold The Reins (English Mild Ale).

• Cartridge Brewing for Covert (Schwarzbier).

• Fretboard Brewing Co. for Vlad (International Style Pilsner).

• Grainworks Brewing for Orange Dreams (American Style Fruit Beer - Orange).

• HighGrain Brewing for Lusen (German Lager/Pilsner).

• MPH Brewing for Grat Dane (Dark Lager).

• Narrow Path Brewing for Restless Seas (Gose).

• Nine Giant Brewing for Coolverine (Baltic Porter).

• Streetside Brewery for Raspberry Beret (American Style Berry Beer - Raspberry).

Dow Scoggins, founder and director of the U.S. Open Beer Championship, acknowledged that Cincinnati breweries have an inherent competitive advantage, as U.S. Open judging takes place in Oxford, Ohio. Scoggins notes that it’s similar to the advantage Colorado breweries enjoy at the Great American Beer Festival awards.

More than 90% of entries to the U.S. Open Beer Championship are submitted via FedEx or UPS, Scoggins explained. Cincinnati breweries have the advantage of being able to hand-deliver their beers, avoiding environmental exposure that can affect the taste of beers during shipping. They can also deliver just before the entry deadline to ensure maximum freshness.

But Scoggins says the real key to victory for Cincinnati breweries is just that they’ve upped their game tremendously over the last decade.

U.S. Open medals for Cincinnati breweries

Alexandria Brewing Co. (Kentucky)

• Little Miss Scare All Cascadian Dark Ale (Bronze, American-Style Black Ale)

Braxton Brewing Co. (Kentucky)

• Tropic Flare (Bronze, New England/Hazy IPA)

Brink Brewing Co.

• Hold The Reins (Gold, English Mild Ale)

Cartridge Brewing

• Covert (Gold, Schwarzbier)

FigLeaf Brewing

• Blood Orange Iso-trope (Bronze, Fruit IPA)

Fretboard Brewing Co. 

• Bootsy (Silver, Brut IPA)

• Crazy Train (Bronze, Belgian Pale Ale)

• Vlad (Gold, International Style Pilsner)

Grainworks Brewing

• Orange Dream (Gold, American Style Fruit Beer - Orange)

HighGrain Brewing Co. 

• Oost (Bronze, Belgian-Style Strong Ale)

• Lusen (Gold, German Lager/Pilsner)

MadTree Brewing

• Axis of Darkness (Bronze, Barrel Aged Strong Stout/Porter Specialty)

Moerlein Lager House

• Barbarossa (Silver, Munchner Dunkel)

• Moerlein Original Lager (Silver, Vienna)

MPH Brewing

• Grat Dane (Gold, Dark Lager)

N.E.W. Ales Brewing

• You Wish You Were This Chill (Bronze, Herb and Spice Beer)

Narrow Path Brewing

• Restless Seas (Gold, Gose)

Nine Giant 

• Coolverine (Gold, Baltic Porter)

• Minor Swing (Silver, American-Belgo-Style Ale)

• Pass the Mic: Mosaic (Silver, Australian-Style Pale Ale)

Northern Row Brewery & Distillery

• Dubliner (Bronze, Classic Dry Irish Stout)

• Brewer (Bronze, Marzen/Oktoberfest)

• Preacher (Bronze, American Style Fruit Beer - Peach)

Rhinegeist Brewery

• Gold Record (Bronze, German Kolsch)

• Glyptodon (Silver, Barrel-Aged German Lager)

Samuel Adams Brewery (Cincinnati)

• Queen City Crown (Silver, American Style Fruit Beer - Peach)

• This is the Year (Silver, Dortmunder Export)

Sonder Brewing

• RallyCap (Bronze, American Lager/Pilsner)

Streetside Brewery

• Snowball Speak of the Devil (Silver, Pastry Stout)

• Raspberry Beret (Gold, American Style Berry Beer - Raspberry)

The Common Beer Company 

• Come Together (Silver, ESB)

• I Need More Cowbelgian (Silver, Belgian Pale Ale)

• Rye Clearly (Silver, Rye/Roggen Beer)

Third Eye Brewing

• Higher Purpose (Silver, Cream Stout)

• Deep Euphoria (Silver, Oatmeal Stout)

• Double Astral (Gold, Chocolate/Cocoa Beer)

• BA Kelly’s Private Stash (Silver, English)

• Dark Aura (Gold, Peanut Butter)

The Top Ten Breweries

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, and Primeval Brewing, Indiana

Top 10 Beer Names

• Still Not as Bitter as Your Ex – N.E.W. Ales Brewing

• Up Schitt’s Kriek – Lost Province Brewing

• It Gose in Your Moutha – Spider Bite Beer Co.

• Kolsch Me if You Can – Pilot Brewing

• Who’s A Good Beer? – Streetside Brewery

• I Need More Cowbelgian – The Common Beer Company

• It’s Pronounced “Phrankensteen” IPA – Listermann Brewing

• There Gose my Pickle – Cueni Brewing Co.

• Tastes Like Flannel – Red Bear Brewing

• Julius Squeezer IPA – Elmhurst Brewing Company

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati breweries dominate at U.S. Open Beer Championship