28 Nov Taxman Brewing, Indiana’s Belgian-Style Brewery, Wins Medals in Belgium
by Mark E. Lasbury for Indiana On Tap
Indiana breweries have a history of performing well in the Belgian beer categories at national and international competitions. GABF, IBC, Beer Wars, WBC, etc. – Indiana breweries always seem to bring home awards in the Belgian groups. That tradition took a step toward legend status this week as Taxman Brewing brought home two medals at the 2020 Brussels Beer Challenge – that’s the BRUSSELS, BELGIUM Beer Challenge!
image credit: Taxman Brewing
The judging took place in late October and early November in Brussels for this 9th edition of the competition, with a good turnout of 1546 beers entered. The Brussels Beer Challenge was the first professional beer competition in Belgium, and has grown over its first decade into a solid international test. This year, beers were entered from a record 36 countries and medals were awarded in a whopping 80 categories (full results here).
Belgium did take the lion’s share of the medals (79), but the US (31), Italy (30), and the Netherlands (23) battled it out for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots (Italy – really? Well, there are over a 1000 breweries there now). The traditional Belgian categories had some of the highest numbers of entries, like the tripel (71 entries) and witbier (46 entries), but what’s even more impressive that of the seven most traditional Belgian categories, the US took only four medals – with Taxman accounting for half the US’s haul.
image credit: Taxman Brewing
Qualified, the oft-medaled quadrupel from Taxman, won the Gold in the dark strong ale category. It beat out wonderful beers with stellar reputations to earn the honor; for example, one of two silver medals went to the St. Barnardus Abt. 12, one of the most famous of the Belgian beers.
Taxman Brewing Company’s Head Brewer, David Yancey, told me, “Qualified was Taxman’s first award winner at the Great American Beer Festival in 2015. We have continued to receive recognition for Qualified over the years at competitions worldwide. I am extremely proud of our team’s efforts to produce this world-class example of the style consistently for the people of Indiana..”
The other medal earned by Taxman was a bronze in the dark beer Abbey/Trappist dubbel category for their beer called Deduction. It’s not hard to find these two Taxman beers on tap in your local craft beer bars and restaurants and on the shelves of your local beer stores, but don’t let their availability fool you into thinking that these are common beers. It’s wonderful to have these world class beers within our reach so often during the year.
Winning beer medals in Belgium is a big deal when you make Belgian style beers in Indiana, and Yancey understands how much these medals mean, “As a brewery that celebrates and recreates beer styles from Belgium, we take great pride in these awards. Taking medals in competitions with some of the great Belgian breweries that inspired us to brew these styles is a huge validation of what we do.” Now it’s your turn to get out and support what Taxman Brewing does for you and the state.
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