Brewers Association Announces 2012 World Beer Cup® Sponsors

Boulder, CO • January 18, 2011—The Brewers Association announced today that Krones will be the exclusive Presenting Sponsor of the 2012 World Beer Cup. Barth-Haas Group will return as a Partner Sponsor alongside Ball, Sahm, Siemens and Verallia, which have also confirmed as Partner Sponsors. The competition—referred to as "the Olympics of Beer"—has been hosted biannually by the Brewers Association, the U.S.-based trade association, since 1996.

Krones, Barth-Haas Group, Sahm and Siemens supported the World Beer Cup in 2010 as Partner Sponsors. The Brewers Association is pleased to welcome Ball and Verallia to their first World Beer Cup as a Partner Sponsors. Additional sponsors will be announced as they are confirmed in coming months.

"We are honored and delighted to welcome Krones as the Presenting Sponsor of the 2012 World Beer Cup," said Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association. "And we are grateful for the ongoing support of Ball, Barth-Haas Group, Sahm, Siemens and Verallia at the Partner level. These companies' commitment to the recognition of excellence in international brewing is applauded."

The 2012 World Beer Cup promises to live up to its reputation as the most prestigious beer competition in the world. An international panel of 179 judges from 26 countries participated in the 2010 event—a 28 percent increase over 2008—and for good reason. The competition's awards philosophy is exacting. Judges do not automatically give awards to the top three entries in a given style category, but instead present a gold, silver and bronze award only when the category contains three excellent examples of the style.

The 2010 World Beer Cup was the largest commercial beer competition at the time, with 3,330 beers entered in 90 beer style categories, from 642 breweries from 44 countries and 47 U.S. states.

World Beer Cup Judging

To ensure the highest level of integrity and expertise in the judging process, World Beer Cup judges are required to have formal sensory training and experience on flavor panels or competitions. They are selected from an extensive list of internationally recognized brewers, consultants, industry suppliers and writers, with many judges drawing on experience in multiple World Beer Cup and Great American Beer Festival® competitions. The end result is an expert, international judging panel, with some 60 to 65 percent of judges coming from outside of the United States. For the brewers, the judges provide invaluable feedback and critique-positive and negative-available after judging concludes.

Registration for the 2012 World Beer Cup is October 10, 2011 through January 12, 2012.

The judging takes place May 1-2, 2012 in San Diego, California, with the winners announced on May 5, 2012 at the gala awards ceremony and dinner at the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego. For more information, please visit WorldBeerCup.org or contact events@brewersassociation.org.

Chifa and Brooklyn Brewery

PHILADELPHIA, PA (click on links for photos and menu) – On Thursday, January 20, 2011, at 7 p.m., superstar Chef Jose Garcesand brewing legend Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery will come together to host the latest in the ongoing series of Craft Beer Dinners atChifa (707 Chestnut Street, 215-925-5555).  The dinner will feature six courses of Chef Garces’ inspired Latin-Asian cuisine paired with Oliver’s award-winning beers – and in a special twist, each course will feature a chocolate component, reminiscent of Chef Garces’ work as one of Food Network’s Iron Chefs.  The cost will be $85 per person, excluding tax and gratuity; and reservations are required. 

“I’m thrilled to work with Garrett for this event, and I hope guests will think of this as a very special night to remember,” says Chef Garces.

The exquisite menu created by Chef Garces and Chef de Cuisine Natalie Natalie Maronski will include: 

·         Hiramasa with white chocolate, peach, orange and lemon verbena, paired with Brooklyn Sorachi Ace, a cracklingly dry, hoppy, unfiltered golden farmhouse ale in the tradition of classic saisons made entirely with now-rare Sorachi Ace hops grown by a single farm in Oregon; 

·         Buffalo Tartare with cacao nibs, roasted baby beets, goat cheese and beet chip, paired with Brooklyn Local 2, a 100% bottle fermented beer with marvelous dry complexity from the combination of European malt and hops, Belgian dark sugar and raw wildflower honey from a New York family farm; 

·         Quail with chorizo, harissa mustard, potato and chanterelle escabeche and dark chocolate demi, paired with Brooklyn East India Pale Ale, a deep golden beer brewed from British malts that is dry hopped for a bright aroma of hops, lemongrass, pine and citrus fruit; 

·         Pork Ribs with chocolate barbecue sauce and gingered fennel-orange slaw, paired with Brooklyn Dark Matter, a robust brown ale aged for four months in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels with caramel and chocolate flavors heightened by vanilla-like oak notes; 

·         Chocolate-Crusted Venison with red chili tamale, mole and macerated figs, paired with Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout 2003, an award-winning version of Imperial stout with deep, dark chocolate flavor; 

·         Beer-Brushed Pound Cake with malted milk chocolate ice cream, chocolate-coated frozen baby bananas and waffle cone tuile, paired with Brooklyn Black Ops 2009, a robust stout that is aged for four months in bourbon barrels and re-fermented in the bottle with Champagne yeast for intense coffee and chocolate flavors.

“After the fantastic beer dinner we did last year at Amada, I’m so excited to be working with Chef Garces again.  Chifa is one of my favorite Philadelphia restaurants, and I’ve sent a lot of friends there.  I’m sure we’re going to have a great dinner,” says Oliver. 

Brooklyn Brewery is one of America’s most exciting breweries.  Founder Steve Hindy began brewing in upstate New York in 1988 and is now the proprietor of the first successful commercial brewery in New York City since Schaefer & Rheingold closed their doors in 1976.  Brewmaster Garrett Oliver joined the team in 1994; since then, his beers have accumulated a host of national and international medals and his book, The Brewmaster’s Table, has become a favorite among beer connoisseurs and food enthusiasts alike.

Since March 2010, Chef Jose Garces has invited regional breweries to pair their brews alongside Chifa’s Latin-Asian cuisine.  Invited breweries have included Victory Brewing Company, Flying Fish Brewing Company, Dogfish Head, Iron Hill, Stoudt’s Brewing Company, Sly Fox Brewery, Yards Brewing Company and Weyerbacher Brewing Company. 

Chifa is open for dinner seven days a week beginning at 5 p.m.; dinner is served until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 12 midnight on Friday and Saturday.  Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday.  For more information about their upcoming beer dinners, or to make a reservation, please visit www.chifarestaurant.com, or call (215) 925-5555. 

Iron Hill and Flying Fish

MAPLE SHADE, NJ – On Saturday, January 15, at 12 noon, two of New Jersey’s top brewers, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant andFlying Fish Brewing Company, will host a special Jersey’s Finest Beer Tasting at Iron Hill Maple Shade (124 East Kings Highway, 856-273-0300).  Featuring exciting new beers from each brewery, the event will be one of the only opportunities for guests to experience these two powerhouses side by side.  Head brewers Chris LaPierre of Iron Hill and Casey Hughes of Flying Fish will also be on hand to discuss the beers and interact with their guests, making it a must-go-to-event for New Jersey beer lovers.

“We’re proud to be from New Jersey, and our colleagues at Flying Fish feel the same way,” says LaPierre.  “This event is both a fun way to debut our latest beers and also a great opportunity to work alongside like-minded brewers to create a more vibrant brewing culture here in our home state.”

Featured beers will include:  Flying Fish Exit 13 Chocolate Stout, the latest in their big-bottle “Exit Series” of beers inspired by the exits of the New Jersey turnpike, a rich chocolate stout ideal for sharing with friends in cool weather;  Flying Fish Grand Cru, a Belgian-style strong golden ale fermented at a higher temperature which adds an undercurrent of fruitiness and clove hop presence;  Iron Hill Luca Brasi, a recipe formulated by the winners of their “Iron Brewer” competition that blends rich stout with 43 pounds of whole and ground Sumatran coffee beans;  Iron Hill Cask-Conditioned Half-Caff, Luca Brasi’s base beer aged on whole coffee beans;  and Jersey’s Finest, a collaborative brew that combines Exit 13 and Luca Brasi, then is aged on whole vanilla beans and cocoa nibs for what Hughes and LaPierre playfully call a “South Jersey Mocha.” All beers will be offered on a pay-as-you-go basis, so guests can sample them all and then enjoy more of their favorite.

Flying Fish Brewing Company (1940 Olney Avenue, Cherry Hill, NJ) was the world’s first ‘virtual’ microbrewery, establishing an Internet presence as early as 1995.  That presence helped to generate press interest and woo investors to the fledgling brewery, which would not open for business until late 1996.  Today, founder Gene Muller, head brewer Hughes and their team oversee four full-time styles, as well as a variety of seasonal beers. 

Founded by home brewers Mark Edelson and Kevin Finn and restaurateur Kevin Davies in Newark, DE in 1996, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant is the region’s fastest-growing restaurant group, blossoming from one restaurant and brewery to eight locations across the mid-Atlantic.  Each is dedicated to producing and serving top-quality hand-crafted beers and cuisine in a warm and hospitable setting, and all are open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.  Their acclaimed beers have accumulated a wealth of awards from the nation’s top beer festivals, and their restaurants have earned more than 100 “Best of” nods from local and national publications. 

For more information about Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant please visit them on www.ironhillbrewery.com or follow them on twitter @ironhillbrewery or the Maple Shade location @IronhillNJ.