2022 US Open Beer Championship By The Numbers – Big Day for Sun King, Primeval, and Indiana in General

by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap

Since the results of two large beer competitions came down last weekend, Indiana brewers (commercial and home) have to be feeling good about themselves. The Indiana Brewers’ Cup results (read about it here) were followed up in short order by the results from the US Open Beer Championship, which takes place just outside Cincinnati.

I dove into the results of the competition and came up with some interesting data. Most of it shows how consistently awesome Indiana brewers do in these kinds of competitions, even though Indiana has a smaller number of breweries in total, and per capita as compared to many states.

Congratulations to all the medal winners and the breweries that took the risk to put their beer out there for judging. A big congratulations to Sun King Brewing for taking first place overall as the most medaled brewery and Primeval Brewing of Noblesville that finished in 10th place. Yet our mantra bears repeating -only a small percentage of beers go out for judging and an even smaller number ever medal, so just because your favorite beer or brewery didn’t win big doesn’t mean that their beer isn’t still fantastic. Drink what you love.

Without further ado, here’s a breakdown of the 2022 US Open Beer Championship (full results here), with comments from Sun King and Primeval Brewing on their success:

Comments from Primeval Brewing Nathan Compton and Tim Palmer: “This was the first year we entered the US Open Beer Championship, and we’re thrilled to finish as a Top 10 Brewery in one of the largest beer competitions in the country. With Sun King winning the Grand Champion award, Indiana was the only state to place two breweries in the Top 10. Primeval focuses on making outstanding European-style beers, and our wins represent examples of classic German, British, and Belgian styles. It’s nice because we continue to hear more comments from customers on their appreciation that we offer a more diverse selection of styles instead of the focus in a single area.”

Comments from Sun King Brewing:“We are beer nerds that love experimenting in a variety of styles and flavors, and we especially enjoy sharing them with our fans. We try to push the boundaries on innovation and producing a diverse portfolio of beers. Our team evaluates and tastes a bunch beer. We then pick the ones that are peaking or tasting the best at that time to send them to competitions.”  – Andrew Hood, Barrel Manager

It is a huge honor to be crowned Grand Champion again for the second time. It is an incredible honor to win a single medal at the US Open Beer Championship and then to be awarded Grand Champion for the second time is just amazing.” – Dave Colt, co-founder/head brewer

Entries = 9000+

Beer categories = 142

Number of states with medaling breweries = 44, plus the DC area, and two foreign countries (Canada and Spain)

Number of medals for Indiana = 22, plus Grand Champion – Sun King Brewing, and #10 ranked brewery – Primeval Brewing. It’s the 2nd time in four years that Sun King has been named the Grand Champion.

Number of Indiana breweries that won medals = 8

Number of states with more than one brewery in top 10 = 1 (Indiana)

Rank of states with many medals:
Ohio (host state) = 57 (365 breweries according to Brewers Association)
California = 50 (931)
Georgia = 37 (155 – they’re over-performing even more than Indiana)
Texas = 35 (406)
North Carolina = 30 (364)
Florida = 29 (374)
Indiana = 22 (191)

Medals for states that surround Indiana:
IL =13
IN = 22
KY = 3
MI = 13
OH = 57 (host state)
WI = 9

Number of homebrewers winning medals = 1, US Open allows AHA National Championship Gold medal beers to compete, only the 2nd time a homebrew has won Gold. Caleb Meinke of Wisconsin won gold in the American Wheat Beer Group with his beer called Willow Run.

Greatest number of medals in Belgian categories = 6 (Indiana), two more medals than any other state (FL, OH, and NC each had 4). Indiana retains title as Belgium West.

Brewery with most medals:
Sun King = 10 (if they counted Sun King and Sun King Small Batch as one brewery)
Sun King = 7 (if Sun King Brewing and Sun King Small Batch counted as two breweries)
Shoe Tree Brewing (NV) = 6
Third Eye Brewing (Ohio) = 5
Monday Night Brewing (GA) = 5
Pilot Brewing (NC) = 4

Indiana Medals:
Sun King Brewing – 7 medals
Gold – Golden or Blonde Ale – Sunlight
Gold – Belgian Style Fruit Beer – Cherry Busey
Gold – Barrel Aged Dark Beer – Barrel Aged Churrolicious
Gold – Barrel Aged Fruit Sour – Golden Girls
Silver – Spirits Barrel Aged Beer (non-whiskey) – Polynesian Passion
Bronze – American Style Fruit Beer – Orange Vanilla Sunlight
Bronze – Spirits Barrel Aged Beer (non-whiskey) – Soul Shakedown Party

Sun King Fishers Small Batch Brewing – 3 medals
Gold – Belgian Tripel – Triptonic
Silver – Nut Beer – Horchata Shadow Proof
Bronze – Barrel Aged Fruit Sour – Midnight Choir

Primeval Brewing – 3 medals
Gold –Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale – Diablo
Gold – Brown Porters – Sacred Seduction
Gold – Doppel/Strong Bock – Chompinator

Byway Brewing – 3 medals
Gold – Americo-Belgo Style Ale – BIPA
Gold – Rye/Roggen Beer – RyeBob
Bronze – Foreign Stout – Shinobi

Metazoa Brewing – 2 medals
Gold – New Zealand IPA – DDH Hoppopotamus
Silver – American Style Berry Beer, Blueberry – Blueberry Bandit

Four Day Ray Brewing –2 medals
Silver – Belgian Dubbel – Monk’s Blood
Silver – Barrel Aged Scotch Ale – Barrel Aged Fala

Flix Brewhouse – Carmel – 1 medal
Bronze – Lager/Pilsener – Potion Master Pils

Grand Junction Brewing – 1 medal
Gold – French/Belgian Ale – Westfielder 8