The 2022 World Beer Cup Winners and Fun Facts

Returning after cancellation in 2020 because of the pandemic, the 2022 World Beer Cup returned on the May 5th in Minneapolis. It was the largest competition to date, with 10,542 entries from 2,493 breweries representing 57 countries with 118 entries from the UK and 6 from Ireland.

Being a beer lover, I thought it would be fun to share a few facts about the 2022 World Beer Cup!

• This year saw a huge increase of over 2,000 beers being entered for judging, despite there being 9 less countries and 22 less breweries competing!
• 28 countries were represented amongst the 226 judges.
• 5 of the judges hailed from the UK, but 154 represented the United States.
• 32% of the judges came from outside the United States, down over previous years due to COVID restrictions.
• Competition judging took place in 18 sessions over 9 days – what an epic 9 days they must have been!
• Judges bestowed 307 out of 309 total possible awards, reflecting the opportunity for one gold, silver, and bronze award in each of 103 beer style categories. No gold or silver was awarded in Category 68 for the Belgian-Style Witbier.

• The average number of beers entered per category was 102 – I can’t imagine how tough judging must be!
• As you can probably guess, the Pale Ale style was the most popular style at the 2022 World Beer Cup with 384 entered into the American-Style India Pale Ale category and 343 for the Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale category.
• Surprisingly there were 237 entries to the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout category.
• As expected the Unites States came away with the most 2022 World Beer Cup awards at a grand total of 252.

•  In second place with 14 awards came Canada and in a close third came Germany with 11.
•  The country with the highest winning rate was Ireland at 16.67% due to having only 6 entries but winning Gold in the American-Style Black Ale or American-Style Stout category.
• Of course, the United States entered the most amount of beers to the 2022 World Beer Cup with a wild 8,058 entries!
• Followed by Canada with 408; it’s easy to see why the US & Canada came away with the most awards!
• Entries were received from all 50 U.S. states plus Washington, D.C.

And the winners can be found here.

Historically a biennial event, the World Beer Cup competition will move to an annual event beginning in 2023, it was announced.  Brewery registration for the 2023 World Beer Cup will open in October 2022, with the awards presented May 10, 2023 at the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville.