March 6, 2019: With 825 judged entries in 46 medal groups, Best Florida Beer announced the 2019 Gold, Silver and Bronze professional brewer medalists at the annual Brewer's Ball in Tampa, on Sunday, March 4. Early results began circulating through social media on Sunday afternoon, with more photos streaming over the airwaves on Monday. Brewers submitted entries in January 2019. To be eligible for judging, beers had to have been made available for sale or poured onsite by January 31, 2019. Judging took place in early February, and while category medalists were notified that they had placed among the top three, the medal status was not revealed until the announcements at the Brewer's Ball beerfest at Water Works Park.
And, the winners are ....
While brewnymph.com covers the entire state of Florida and has visited a number of these breweries and/or met many of these brewers and owners, category Gold Medalists are listed below, with a few shout-outs to North/Northeast/East medalists (hey, it's the home base)....
Strong Stout, 24 entries - Gold: Royal Palm Brewing, Russian Imperial Stout
American Wheat, 8 entries - Gold: Fort Myers Brewing*, Sand Loafer
Mead, 10 entries - Gold: Garagiste Meadery, Drop Bear
Fruit Beer, 28 entries - Gold: Big Bear Brewing, Limoncello Cream Ale
Cider, 18 entries - Gold: Cigar City Cider/Mead, Home Made Apple Pie
Herb/Spice, Pumpkin, 21 entries - Gold: Florida Avenue Brewing, Passion of the Heights; Silver: Fishweir Brewing*, Pinch and Squeeze; Bronze: Ancient City Brewing, Pumquistador
Field Beer, 14 entries - Gold: Blackadder Brewing, Warm Cockles
Chili Beer, 13 entries - Gold: Dissent Craft Brewing, Hazy Mangover; Bronze: American Icon Brewery, Florida Heat
Coffee/Chocolate Beer, 20 entries - Gold: Brew Hub*, Matte Black
Coffee Stout/Porter, 16 entries - Gold: Brew Bus Brewing, Gong Show; Bronze: Side Door Brewing, Whiskey Jitters
Specialty/Experimental Beer, 25 entries - Gold: 81 Bay Brewing, Here Plums the Sun
Honey/Rye Beer, 15 entries - Gold: Arkane Aleworks, To The Window
Traditional Sour Ale, 15 entries - Gold: Tarpon River Brewing, Prickly Pear Zinger
Brett Beer, 12 entries - Gold: New Smyrna Beach Brewing*, 3 Sisters Saison
Wood/Barrel Aged Beer, 12 entries - Gold: Concrete Beach Brewery, Azucar
Wood/Barrel Aged Strong Stout, 17 entries - Gold: Angry Chair Brewing, BA Russian Interference
Wood/Barrel/Fruit Sour, 14 entries - Gold: Coppertail Brewing*, Soul Finger
German Pale Lager, 14 entries - Gold: Dunderbrau @ Mr. Dunderbaks, Dortnumbers; Silver: American Icon Brewery, The Factory Pilsner; Bronze: Central 28 Beer Co., Under Duck
Smoke Beer, 11 entries - Gold: Point Ybel Brewing*, Grey Mangrove; Silver: Aardwolf Brewing*, Wreck It Rauch
Light Lager, 17 entries - Gold: Tactical Brewing, Base Lager
Pilsner, 25 entries - Gold: Southern Lights Brewing, Double Tall Boy
European Dark Lager, 13 entries - Gold: Pinellas Ale Works, Schwarzhound; Bronze: Mash Monkeys Brewing, Revenge
Oktoberfest/Doppelbock, 22 entries - Gold: Woodwright Brewing, Marzen; Silver: Swamp Head Brewery*, Swamp Fest
American Lager/Cream Ale, 13 entries - Gold: HOB Brewing, Super Nova Smash; Silver: Halpatter Brewing, O'leno Cream Ale
Amber Lager, 17 entries - Gold: Carrollwood Brewing, El Chupacabra
German Hybrid Ale, 19 entries - Gold: In the Loop Brewing, Lutz Junction
German Sour Ale/Gose, 17 entries - Gold: 7Venth Sun Brewing, Gyose
German Style Wheat, 20 entries - Gold: West Palm Brewery*, Five Six One Hefeweizen
Saison, 14 entries - Gold: Infinite Ale Works, Jarrahdale Saison; Silver: Hourglass Brewery, Tower; Bronze - Tomoka Brewing*, Jen's Gin Saison
Belgian Pale Beer, 18 entrires - Gold: Main and Six Brewing*, Single Pack; Bronze: Fishweir Brewing*, Bromance
Belgian Strong Ale, 20 entries - Gold: Fat Point Brewing, Bru Man Chu; Bronze: SJ Brewing*, Belgian Quad
English Ale, 12 entries - Gold: Rapp Brewing, Scotch Ale
English Brown Ale - Gold: Big River Grille and Brewery, Midland; Silver: Deep Brewing, Jack Brown; Bronze: Hell 'n Blazes Brewing*, Big Buck Brown
Porter, 23 entries - Gold: Ivanhoe Park Brewing, Tupac ShaPorter
Sweet/Cream Stout, 10 entries - Gold: Scotty's Bierwerks, Oatmeal Stout; Silver: Walking Tree Brewery*, Baby Cakes Oatmeal Stout
Strong Ale, 21 entries - Gold: Six Ten Brewing, BarleyWine
Irish Red Ale, 16 entries - Gold: New Smyrna Beach Brewing*, Feeding Frenzy Irish Red
Golden/Blonde Ale, 21 entries - Gold: Leaven Brewing, Cheeky Blonde
Pale Ale, 32 entries - Gold: Grove Roots Brewing, Slanted Ladders
American IPA, 46 entries - Gold: Big Bear Brewing, Hibernating IPA; Silver, First Magnitude Brewing*, Ursa; Bronze: Central 28 Beer Co., Show Pigeon
Imperial IPA, 17 entries - Gold: Dissent Craft Brewing, Frequency
Amber/Red Ale, 18 entries - Gold: Deep Brewing, REEFraction; Silver: Royal Palm Brewing, Imperial Red Ale; Bronze: Oyster City Brewing, Red Right Return Amber Ale
American Brown/Black Ale, 11 entries - Gold: Broken Strings Brewery*, Liquid Vinyl Black Ale; Silver: Orchid Island Brewery, Nuthin Fancy Brown Ale; Bronze: Main and Six Brewing*, Handsworth Brown Ale
Juicy/Hazy Double IPA, 12 entries - Gold: Swamp Head Brewery*, Land Manatee
Juicy/Hazy IPA/Pale Ale, 29 entries - Gold: Calusa Brewing, Citronious
Floridaweisse, 22 entries - Gold: Florida Avenue Brewing, Never Too Late For Summer; Silver: Hell 'n Blazes Brewing*, Dingleberry
Special Award, Small Batch - Gold: Angry Chair Brewing, BA Russian Interference; Gold: Woodwright Brewing, Marzen; Gold: Big River Grille and Brewery, Midland
Special Award, Large Batch - Gold: West Palm Brewery & Wine Vault*, Five Six One Hefeweizen; Gold: Scotty's Bierwerks, Oatmeal Stout; Gold: Deep Brewing, REEFraction Double Red Ale
Special Award, Honorable Mention - Gold: Broken Strings Brewery*, Liquid Vinyl Black Ale
BEST OF SHOW - Beer - Gold: West Palm Brewery & Wine Vault*, Five Six One Hefeweizen; Silver: Scotty's Bierwerks, Oatmeal Stout; Bronze: Deep Brewing, REEFraction Double Red Ale
Best of Show - Mead/Cider: Gold: Garagiste Meadery, Drop Bear
Heavy Medal Winners: Woodwright Brewing (4); Arkane Aleworks (4); Florida Avenue Brewing (3); 7Venth Sun Brewing (3)
Congratulations to all of the medalists! Special shout-out to Joel at West Palm Brewery & Wine Vault on Best of Show! Hey, I was there shortly after it opened a year ago -- there's a recap of that visit right here on brewnymph.com! Breweries indicated with an * have been featured on brewnymph.com -- check 'em out! Looks like there's more travel to do!
A complete list of the medal winners can be found here. For a look at the Brewer's Ball beerfest, see the recap of the 2018 event. For more about Best Florida Beer, visit its Mission Statement and Core Values page. As of this writing, the Best Florida Beer website had not yet been updated. These results will be edited and supplemented, if necessary.
Update:
Best Brewpub: Big Bear Brewing
Best Large Brewery: Florida Ave Brewing
How many of the medal-winning beers have you had?
Cheers!
Til next time,
Linda
Linda Johnson, Certified Cicerone®
Escapades, Brews and Running Shoes™
www.brewnymph.com
(top photo: Linda Johnson, Brewer's Ball 2018)
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