On Monday, the results of this year’s California State Fair competition for “Commercial Craft Beer” were released. As usual, the winners are listed confusingly by county, with no overall list. Why they do this is beyond me. Also, the commercial competition is judged using the 23 BJCP categories, plus three for mead and two for hard cider. I have nothing against the BJCP guidelines, though they were developed primarily for homebrewing and often don’t fit commercial standards as well. The only standard that commercial beers need to satisfy is that of their customers, who could often care less what style a beer is as long as they like it.
At any rate, the top honors went to:
- Best of Show: Sudwerk Marzen
- Best of Show 1st Honorable Mention: Triple Rock IPAX
- Best of Show 2nd Honorable Mention: Lightning Brewery Elemental Pilsner
- Best of Show 3rd Honorable Mention: Fox Barrel Mulled Cider
- Best of Show 4th Honorable Mention: Sudwerk Dunkelweizen
And the “1st Gold” Awards in each category were as follows:
- 1A,B. Lite American Lager & Standard American Lager: Michelob Ultra
- 1C. Premium American Lager: Michelob
- 1D,E. Helles & Export: San Pedro Longshoreman Lager
- 2A. German Pilsner: Lightning Brewery Elemental Pilsner
- 2B,C. Bohemian & Classic American Pilsner: Sierra Nevada Summerfest
- 4. Dark Lager: Sudwerk Marzen
- 5A. Maibock/Helles Bock: San Pedro Welke Bock
- 5C,D. Doppelbock & Eisbock: Lodi Eisbock
- 6A,C: Cream Ale & Kolsch: River City Kolsch
- 6B. Blonde Ale: Eel River California Blonde
- 6D. American Wheat or Rye: Santa Cruz Ale Works Hefeweizen
- 7. Amber Hybrid Beer: Jack’s Gridiron Amber
- 8A,B. Bitter Ordinary/Special/Best: Faultline Pale Ale
- 8C. Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale): Anderson Valley Boont Extra Special Beer
- 9A,B,C. Scottish Ale: Devil’s Canyon Full Boar Scotch Ale
- 9D. Irish Red Ale: Taps Irish Red
- 10A. American Pale Ale: Auburn Alehouse American River Pale Ale
- 10B. American Amber Ale: Mad River Jamaica Red Ale
- 10C. American Brown Ale: Omaha Jack’s Up Town Rancho Brown
- 11. English Brown Ale: Tied House Ironwood Dark
- 12A. Brown Porter: Mammoth Lakes Double Nut Brown
- 12B,C. Robust & Baltic Porter: Uncommon Brewers Baltic Porter
- 13A,D,E. Dry, American & Foreign Stouts: Mad River Steelhead Extra Stout
- 13B,C. Sweet & Oatmeal Stout: Etna Brewing Grubstake Oatmeal Stout
- 13F. Russian Imperial Stout: Fifty-Fifty Brewing Totality Imperial Stout
- 14A. Engllish IPA: Eel River Organic IPA
- 14B. American IPA: Triple Rock IPAX
- 14C. Imperial IPA: Moylan’s Hopsickle Imperial XXX IPA
- 15A. Weizen: Sierra Nevada Kellerwiess
- 15B,C. Dunkleweizen & Weizenbock: Sudwerk Dunkelweizen
- 16A,C. Witbier & Saison: The Brewhouse Baseball Saison
- 16B,D,E. Belgian Pale Ale, Biere de Garde & Belgian Specialty Ale: River City Cap City Pale Ale
- 17. Sour Ale: Valley Brew “Bill Brand-Bic”
- 18A. Belgian Blonde Ale: Uncommon Brewers Siamese Twin Ale
- 18B. Belgian Dubbel: Anderson Valley Brother David’s Double Abbey Style Ale
- 18C. Belgian Tripel: Main Street Bishops Tipple Trippel
- 19A. Old Ale: Lightning Brewery Old Tempest Ale
- 19B. English Barleywine: Schooner’s Old Diablo Barleywine
- 19C. American Barleywine: The Brewhouse Big Johnson Barley Wine
- 20. Fruit Beer: Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat
- 21. Spice, Herb Vegetable & Winter Beers: Marin Hoppy Holidaze
- 22C. Wood-Aged Beer: Mayfield Iconoclast Nocturna
- 23. Specialty Beer: Drake’s Impinoir Stout
- 27. Apple Cider: Crispin Cider Crispin Light
- 28. Specialty Cider: Fox Barrel Mulled Cider
Too bad this event is not better organized; it has the potential to be so much greater than it is. A lot of good brewers don’t even participate. They need to rethink the entire setup.