While not as flashy as, say, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), the U.S. Open Beer Championship has a history dating back over a decade. Run by former Friends Brewing president and author Dow Scoggins, it is an international competition open to commercial brewing companies and homebrewers alike. This year’s edition included over 9,000 beers judged across more than 150 different style categories and saw a quartet of San Diego County breweries bring home medals.
Local beer fans looking to taste some of the winners would do well to chart a course for Kearny Mesa or Oceanside, as all four of the winning brewing companies operate a tasting rooms in either—or both—of those neighborhoods.
Kearny Mesa-based Ketch Brewing—the beer-making arm of the Brigantine family of restaurants—took a gold in the Brut IPA category for its Celestial Navigation and a silver for its Zwickelbier (Kellerbier or Zwickelbier category), while Oceanside’s Black Plague Brewing won a gold and bronze for The End is Near (Specialty Pale Ale) and Medusa (Coconut Beer), respectively.
Meanwhile, Kilowatt Brewing, which runs a manufacturing facility in Kearny Mesa and a speakeasy-equipped tasting room in Oceanside, built on the legacy of two of its award-winning beers, grabbing gold for its OB Bubble Dubbel (Belgian Dubbel) and bronze for its Maple Smoked Maibock (Smoked/Rauch Beer). The former took bronze at the the 2019 GABF, while the latter earned a gold there in 2021.
Escondido-based Stone Brewing, which just celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Oceanside Tap Room, also medaled, nabbing a silver in the Triple IPA category for its popular Stone RuinTen Triple IPA.
The following are all of the winning local beers at this year’s USOBC…
GOLD
- Belgian Dubbel: OB Bubble Dubbel, Kilowatt Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
- Brut IPA: Celestial Navigation, Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
- Specialty Pale Ale: The End is Near, Black Plague Brewing (Oceanside)
SILVER
- Kellerbier or Zwickelbier: Zwickelbier, Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
- Triple IPA: Stone RuinTen Triple IPA, Stone Brewing (Escondido)
BRONZE
- Coconut Beer: Medusa, Black Plague Brewing (Oceanside)
- Smoked/Rauch Beer: Maple Smoked Maibock, Kilowatt Brewing (Kearny Mesa)