This year marked the fifteenth edition of the U.S. Open Beer Championship. The 2023 competition, which took place in Oxford, Ohio and saw well over 3,000 entries judged across just under 150 different categories. Winners were announced yesterday afternoon and, as with last month’s California State Fair Professional Brewing Competition, San Diego County’s breweries upped the number of awards won year-over-year considerably.
Six brewing companies brought home 11 total medals, up from seven last year. All four of the beer interests that won awards in 2022—Black Plague Brewing, Ketch Brewing, Kilowatt Brewing and Stone Brewing—repeated, with Modern Times Beer and TapRoom Beer Co. joining them on the virtual medal stand.
Ketch earned the most medals of the bunch, including two of the county’s five golds. First-place awards also went to Black Plague, Kilowatt and TapRoom. The latter took San Diego’s lone silver, and of the five bronzes, Stone and its Liberty Station brewpub secured one apiece.
Decorah, Iowa’s Toppling Goliath Brewing earned the most points in the competition, followed by Carmel, Indiana’s Flix Brewhouse and Knoxville, Tennessee’s Schulz Brau Brewing.
The following is a list of all the local beers that earned medals…
GOLD
- Brut IPA: Celestial Navigation, Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
- Experimental Beer: S3 2X – Peach Cobbler, Kilowatt Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
- Fruit Gose: Three Day Vacation, Black Plague Brewing (Oceanside)
- Honey Beer: Bee the Buzz, TapRoom Beer Co. (North Park)
- Kellerbier or Zwickelbier: Zwickelbier, Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
SILVER
- Münchner Dunkel: Dream Machine, TapRoom Beer Co. (North Park)
BRONZE
- American Brown Ale: Lifeblood, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station (Point Loma)
- German Lager / Pilsner: Dr. Billheimer’s Magic Pilsner, Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
- Near Gluten Free Beer: Delicious Citrus IPA, Stone Brewing (Escondido)
- Oatmeal Stout: Black House, Modern Times Beer (Point Loma)
- Specialty Pale Ale: Beautiful Oblivion, Black Plague Brewing (Oceanside)
A full list of this year’s winners can be found online