Last week, winners were announced in the U.S. Open College Beer Championship (USOCBC). An amateur companion competition to the professional brewing industry’s U.S. Open Beer Championship, this annual event is for colleges that offer full-fledged brewing programs that include physical beer production.
Eleven institutions hailing from the U.S. and Canada participated in this year’s USOCBC, including students from MiraCosta College’s Craft Brewing Technician Certificate Program. More commonly referred to as BrewTech, the program took top honors as the Grand National Champion in the 2021 USOCBC.
This year, a pair of BrewTech cohorts combined to amass four medals, resulting in the program tying for second overall with Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan. Another Wolverine State institution, Kalamazoo Valley Community College (which tied for second last year), was named Grand National Champion in this year’s competition.
BrewTech’s award-winning beers spanned diverse style categories, ranging from an American-style cream ale to a pair of IPAs (one of which allowed the program to take first place in the Juicy IPA category for a second straight year) and an imperial stout infused with coffee.
“We’re very proud of both cohorts that participated in producing these award-winning beers,” says BrewTech professor Mike Stevenson, who is also the Head Brewer at Culver Beer Co. in Carlsbad. “During our 16-week course, we drive the point home that we have to make quality beer in our lab with the students, stressing every detail along the way.”
BrewTech boasts a 92% graduation rate and an over 80% employment rate among its alumni. The only local brewing program recognized by the Master Brewers Association of the Americas, BrewTech has its own brewery and lab, both of which were utilized in the crafting of the beers submitted to the USOCBC.
“Winning these awards is a pat on the back to all the hard work that the students went through as well as a boost of confidence for them and the program,” says Stevenson. “We appreciate the US Open allowing for this competition to exist and to compete with other institutions and breweries.”
The following are all of the winning beers submitted by the BrewTech cohorts this year…
- Gold: Coffee Russian Imperial Stout (Cohort 6)
- Gold: Spring Juicy IPA (Cohort 7)
- Silver: Mosaic Double IPA (Cohort 7)
- Bronze: American Cream Ale (Cohort 7)