Now in its 15th year, the North Carolina Brewers Cup drew 898 entries from 119 independent craft breweries, making it the largest commercial beer competition in the Southeast. Beers were judged simultaneously at Atticus, LLC in Cary and White Labs in Asheville August 22–23 according to Great American Beer Festival style guidelines. Awards were presented across 40 categories.

WNC breweries took home six gold medals. Asheville’s Riverside Rhapsody Beer Company won gold for Weather Re-Porter in the American-Style Porter & Brown Ales category, while Diatribe Brewing Company earned two golds: Imperial Stout in the Imperial Stouts & Porters category and Dark Rye Lager in Specialty Beer.

Mountain Layers Brewing Company in Bryson City earned gold for ALTeration in European Hybrid Styles, and Asheville’s Green Man Brewery took gold for Green Man White Beard White Ale in European Wheat and Related Beer. Buck Bald Brewing NC in Murphy rounded out the region’s gold-medal winners with Buck’s Frosty Balls in the Pilsner-Style & Hoppy Lager category.

The results also demonstrated the depth of Asheville’s brewing scene. Highland Brewing Company, Twin Leaf Brewery, Salt Face Mule Brewing Company, The Bier Garden, Cellarest Beer Project and Hi-Wire Brewing were among the Asheville breweries receiving recognition. Outside Asheville, winners stretched across the mountains from Lost Province Brewing Co. and Booneshine Brewing Company in Boone to Oklawaha Brewing Company in Hendersonville, Ecusta Brewing Company in Brevard and Black Mountain Brewing and Distilling in Black Mountain.

Mountain Layers added another regional honor with a silver medal for Berry My Troubles in Cheesecake in the NC Home-Grown category, which requires at least 55% of a beer’s dry weight to come from North Carolina ingredients.

The competition’s two top honors—NC Brewery of the Year and NC New Brewery of the Year—have yet to be announced. Winners will be revealed November 17 during the NC Beer Industry Awards Banquet at the NC Craft Brewers Conference in Winston-Salem.

Source: NC Craft Brewers Guild.