There are any number of local, national and international competitions in the world of beer. In only six years, the Association of Brewers, Boulder/USA with the WORLD BEER CUP has reached the peak position among these competitions. It has achieved the greatest number of entries, the widest range of countries registered and, with 76 different categories or beer styles, the most spectacular selection of beer varieties.
The first awards of this competition were presented in 1996 in Vail, Colorado/USA. Two years later the ceremony took place on the Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro and, in June of 2000, 145 medals were presented in a blaze of publicity in New York.
At the 4th WORLD BEER CUP in 2002, the world reputation of German brewers was fully confirmed for the first time.
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he positive trend of the "Craft Brewers", handicraft-oriented medium-sized breweries in North America, began more than twenty years ago. In 1997 the association reached its zenith when 3400 euphoric beer connoisseurs from the USA, Canada and Europe met in Seattle, USA. Among these were four German brewers.
During the absolute "boom years" from 1993 until 1997, the output of the craft-beer brewers doubled and is currently around
6 million hl brewed by more than 1400 brewpubs, microbrewers and regional speciality breweries. Parallel to this, the import of beer to the USA, particularly from Mexico and Canada, has doubled over the last 20 years and now totals 22 million hl. However, these boom years for the North American "mittelstand" breweries have now come to an end.2%.
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Beer competitions have been held in Burton/England since 1886. The competition is now knows as "The Brewing Industry International Awards". Tradition and experience have given this competition a special quality, transforming it from a national event into an international competition, attended by entrants from 40 countries.

This year’s Millennium Competitions have seen international participation rise further. This has been especially highlighted by beers packaged in bottles and cans. In the packaged beer category, the lager group had an international share of 87%, speciality beers represented the second strongest international participation, with a foreign share of 68%, followed by strong beers, with an international share of 51% (see Fig. 1).K. were tasted (see Fig. 2).
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