There are a number of professional brewing competitions that are well known by San Diego beer fans. Nationally, there’s the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and World Beer Cup. On a more local level, there’s the San Diego International Beer Competition (SDIBC) and more recently established California Craft Brewers Cup (which didn’t take place this year due to the pandemic). All are opportunities for breweries to help their beers stand out care of medals, plaques and bragging rights. Statuettes from the European Beer Star Awards serve the same purpose and, vied for by breweries the world over, are difficult to come by. This year, U.S. breweries took 26 medals out of a total 210 awarded in 70 style categories. Thirteen of those were golds, including the award earned by Vista’s Eppig Brewing in the New Style India Pale Ale category for its 10:45 to Denver IPA.
“I like to say that 10:45 to Denver is an ode to the IPAs San Diego is known for, past and present, and will continue to carry the torch,” says Eppig co-founder and Principal Brewer Nathan Stephens. “It’s always great to win any award, but getting recognized overseas, and with one of the workhouse beers from our tap list, is the cherry on top,”
The gold-garnering quality of Eppig’s flagship 10:45 to Denver IPA (which also won a bronze at the SDIBC this year) kept a three-year streak alive for San Diego County breweries at European Beer Star Awards. In 2019, Eppig’s Glitz and Glam raspberry- and cherry-infused Berliner weisse took a silver in the Sour and Fruit Beer category (it also earned silver at this year’s GABF), and in 2018, Kearny Mesa’s Societe Brewing nabbed a bronze in the New Style Lager category for its hoppy pilsner, The Mistress. This year’s European Beer Star Awards featured well over 2,000 entries from 42 countries, making it the biggest beer competition in all of Europe.
“It’s always appealing to see how you stack up against other breweries, especially when the competitors are from around the globe,” says Stephens, who hasn’t tasted the other New Style IPA medal-winning beers, which hail from China and Slovenia and aren’t available in the U.S. “In a non-pandemic year, the competition holds a huge winner celebration where samples of all the award-winning beers are poured. Hopefully, next year!”
Even without a trip to Europe, Stephens and his colleagues still have a celebration coming up. Eppig’s fourth-anniversary events will take place this weekend at its pair of locations, starting with its Vista headquarters on Saturday, November 21 from 1 to 7 p.m., followed by its Waterfront Biergarten in Point Loma on Sunday, November 22 from 12 to 7 p.m. Both locations offer safe, socially-distanced outdoor seating and festivities will raise funds for the San Diego Food Bank. Consult Eppig’s website for full details.
Eppig Brewing’s Brewery and Bierhalle is located at 1347 Keystone Way in Vista, and its Waterfront Biergarten is located at 2817 Dickens Street in Point Loma