In 2019, the California Craft Brewers Association and Sacramento Area Brewers Guild partnered to introduce a statewide commercial-brewing competition linked to the annual California Craft Beer Summit in Sacramento. Dubbed the California Craft Brewers Cup (CCBC), it garnered ale-and-lager entries from hundreds of brewers, many of whom were on-site to collect their medals at an official awards ceremony. It was an out-of-the-gate success, but like so many things, the competition was cancelled in 2020. Though the Summit was shelved once more this year, the CCBC was back in force, with winners being named earlier this evening.
Of the 180 medals awarded in 60 style categories, San Diego breweries brought home four golds, seven silvers and eight bronzes for a total of 19 awards.
First-place prizes were spread among four different breweries. AleSmith Brewing’s (currently available) seasonal AleSchmidt Oktoberfest Märzen, Pizza Port Brewing’s classic Chronic Amber Ale and Eppig Brewing’s Comfy Chair oatmeal stout made the grade along with Fuse, a smoked rye amber ale from one of the county’s smallest operations, Ramona’s Smoking Cannon Brewery.
Eppig’s three medals were the most of any single-brewery operation, while Pizza Port’s production facility and brewpubs combined to earn four. Kearny Mesa’s Hodad’s Brewing and the East Village’s newly reconfigured Mission Brewery nabbed two silvers and two bronzes, respectively. San Diego’s other winners were Ketch Brewing, Mike Hess Brewing, Rouleur Brewing, Second Chance Beer Co., Societe Brewing and Thr3e Punk Ales Brewing. A complete list of the region’s winning beers is included below.
For awards going beyond individual beers and styles, Sacramento’s Urban Roots Brewing took Brewery of the Year, Santa Cruz’s Humble Sea Brewing’s Authentic Ddh Munich-style helles lager was named Best of Show and the aforementioned Sacramento Area Brewers Guild was named Guild of the Year.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY WINNERS
Gold Medals
- British Mild & Bitters: Chronic Amber Ale, Pizza Port Brewing (Carlsbad)
- Experimental Beer: Fuse Smoked Rye Amber Ale, Smoking Cannon Brewery (Ramona)
- German/Vienna-style Märzen: AleSchmidt Oktoberfest Lager, AleSmith Brewing (Miramar)
- Stouts (Dry): Comfy Chair Oatmeal Stout, Eppig Brewing (Vista)
Silver Medals
- Amber Hybrid: Rival Altbier, Eppig Brewing (Vista)
- American-style Cream Ale: Surf Punk Lager, Hodad’s Brewing (Serra Mesa)
- American-style Fruit Beer: Fistful of Gummies Fruited Sour, Second Chance Beer Co. (Carmel Mountain Ranch)
- Belgian & French-style Ale: Domestique Blonde Ale, Rouleur Brewing (Carlsbad)
- Berliner-style Weisse: Glitz & Glam, Eppig Brewing (Vista)
- German/Vienna-style Märzen: Vienna Lager, Hodad’s Brewing (Serra Mesa)
- Specialty IPA: South Bay Belgian-style IPA, Thr3e Punk Ales Brewing (Chula Vista)
Bronze Medals
- Berliner-style Weisse: Tangerine Assassin, Pizza Port (Solana Beach)
- German-style Wheat Ale: Flying Hawaiian Hefeweizen, Pizza Port (Ocean Beach)
- Herb & Spice Beer: Thai Blonde, Mission Brewery (East Village)
- Imperial Stout: Umbrix, Mike Hess Brewing (North Park)
- Kellerbier or Zwickelbier: Zwickelbier, Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
- Scottish & Irish Ale: Seaside Dry Irish-style Stout, Pizza Port (Solana Beach)
- Smoked Beer: Smokey the Beer, Mission Brewery (East Village)
- Trappist-style Ale: The Harlot Belgian-style Blonde Ale, Societe Brewing (Kearny Mesa)