IBC2014 The International Beer Cup 2014

The most historical annual beer competition in the world
International Beer Cup 2014
■International Beer Cup 2014 Summery

The International beer competition organized by the Craft Beer Association, which had been held annually since 1996, was held in Yokohama Osambashi Hall on October 10-11 this year under a new title of "International beer Cup" to expand its size and region as one of five beer competitions globally to welcome beers from the world.

Beers presented at the competition totaled 327 brands from a record high of 98 breweries in and out of Japan; among them, 80 brands which accounts for 25% were from 28 breweries overseas, highlighting the international feature of the competition.
Within 105 kind of beer styles, the competition had 67 beer styles presented in bottle/can section and 43 beer styles presented in keg section. This shows the uniqueness of Japanese craft brewing diversity.

Among the 49 judges who attended the competition were 27 judges from 18 countries active in prominent competitions, including Mr. Charlie Papazian, President of Brewers Association, and Mr. Bill Taylor, Chair of Judges at the International brewing Awards in UK.
As the number of consumers who enjoy craft beers grow, craft beers are evolving significantly day by day not only in Japan but also globally. Against such a backdrop, beers were screened more rigorously than ever before to determine the ones that deserve awards from the international point of view, with emphasis placed on the objectivity by making sure by including a judge from overseas for screening of every different beer style.

Under full support of stewards facilitating the competition, each judge commented on every beer that was presented whether or not they were awarded prizes in addition to whether the met the style criteria and endeavored to communicate the attraction and future potential of the beer. Discussion and comments in writing were all given in English to reflect the global standard applied to the competition.

As a result of heated debates among judges from different backgrounds and the international yardstick applied, there were some beers that could have been awarded a prize a little while ago but failed this time and some styles that we didn't find any gold or silver prize winners.

I would like to conclude my summary with my deepest gratitude to all who presented beers to this competition and those who have devoted their precious time for the competition and to express my hope that the result of this competition will serve to further evolution of craft beers in Japan.

International Beer Cup 2014 Competition Manager
Satoshi Murabayashi

- Appendix -
Number of beers presented and number of breweries:
327 brands (including 80 brands from overseas), 98 breweries (including 28 breweries from overseas)

Countries & regions of beers:
USA, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, France, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Norway, Panama, Fiji, Spain,
South Korea, Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Singapore, Japan (16 countries)

Countries & regions of oversea judges:
USA, Australia, Belgium, France, Czech Repuglic, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Spain, UK,
South Korea, Taiwan, People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong), Singapore, Vietnam
(18 countries)





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