The Craft Beer Association (CBA) will hold "The International Beer Cup 2018" (IBC2018) in Yokohama on 13th-14th of September, 2018.


2018 Winners List (Gold/Silver/Bronze Medals)


2018 Winners List (Category Champions)


 

Mission

The mission of the IBC is to create greater consumer awareness around the world about the quality and diversity by the various beers of the world.

Traditionally, most of beers in the competition have been registered by Japanese breweries. As we see expansion of Asia/Japanese craft beer market by quality and diversity, we started to open doors to beers and breweries outside Japan in recent years.

In 2017, 64 judges from 18 countries have evaluated 554 beers of eligible beer styles from 24 countries. You can find the result below.

2017 Winners List (Gold/Silver/Bronze Medals)

2017 Winners List (Category Champions)


 

With this global competition, we creates greater consumer awareness about differences and qualities by qualified judges to panel with gold, silver, and bronze awards in 111 beer styles.

In this year, the IBC2018 will be expected more than 700 beers 25 countries and will be judged by more than 60 judges from 20 countries.

The winners will be announced on Sunday, 16th of September at the Great Japan Beer Festival 2018 (GJBF2018) at Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama.

 

The Craft Beer Association, which was founded in 1994 by Ryouji Oda, is an independent organization based in Nishinomiya city, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, with 24 years of experience in organizing successful beer competitions, events and seminars.

 

Competition Schedule

[Schedule]

* Beer Registration

15th of May - 29th of August, 2018

*Registration fee payment deadline : 31st of August, 2018

 

* Beer Arrival

28th of August - 5th of September, 2018

at CBA warehouse, Tokyo

 

* Judging

13th - 14th of September, 2018

at Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama

 

* Award Ceremony

16th of September, 2018

at the Great Japan Beer Festival Yokohama 2018

(at Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama)

 

Competition Organizer

FlavorActiV"The International Beer Cup 2018" Exective Committee

FlavorActiVThe Craft Beer Association

 

 Chairperson : Yusuke Yamamoto (Director General, The Craft Beer Association)

 Competition Adviser : Isao Tamura

 Competition Manager : Satoshi Murabayashi

 Competition Manager : Tetsuya Kojima

 Chief Judge : Masa Kaji

 Chief Steward : Yuji Tsuji

 

Judging Method

1. A judge team is composed of 5 to 7 judges. The qualifications of judges of "The International Beer Cup" are one of following.

....a. Member of The Craftbeer Association who are certified as "Beer Judge".

....b. Brewer who is currently working for a brewery and have brewing experience for more than 3 years.(The brewer cannot judge the style which includes their beer.)

....c. International judge who have judging experience of WBC, IBA(formally BIIA), AIBA or EBS.

....d. Person who is certified as having same skill of above "a", "b" or "c" by The Craftbeer Association.

 

2. The judges judge the beers using a blind test with only a number of the samples. The name and brand of the beers are hidden for the judges.

 

3. The judges taste the samples individually, then the judges have a discussion.

 

4. The judges use the "Beer Style Guideline 1804" as a standard of the competition. The beers which does not conform to the guideline, or has a off flavor for the style are excluded.

 

5. The judges make decisions of the color of the medals for each style with evaluating the appearance, flavor and balance of the beers which passes the 1st step using the standard. Gold, Silver or Bronze medals of a style is generally given only for 1 beer. The case of "not applicable" is possible. The standards for the color of the medals are following.

..."Gold". The beer which completely follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the world no.1 class appearance, aroma and flavor.

..."Silver". The beer which highly follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the outstanding appearance, aroma and flavor.

..."Bronze". The beer which follows the Beer Style Guideline and has the excellent appearance, aroma and flavor.

 

6. The judges make decisions of the "Category Champions" from "Gold" winning beers for 12 categories which is composed of several styles with the comprehensive evaluation such as balance, drinkability, overall impression and additional components.

The category list will be announced soon.


Additional components for evaluation

...Category[A]Flavour Beer. Flavor and aroma from the used sub-ingredients are well reflected in the beer. / The beer is brewed with challenging ingredients.

...Category[B]Traditional Premium Beer. The beer is brewed by following traditional brewing techniques, and in a superb in balance.

...Category[C]Belgian Beer. . The beer is brewed by following traditional brewing techniques, and in a superb in balance.

...Category[D]Light Lager. . The beer is brewed by following traditional brewing techniques, and in a superb in balance.

...Category[E]Dark Lager. . The beer is brewed by following traditional brewing techniques, and in a superb in balance.

...Category[F]Weiss Beer. . The beer is brewed by following traditional brewing techniques, and in a superb in balance.

...Category[G]Light Ale. . The beer is brewed by following traditional brewing techniques, and in a superb in balance.

...Category[H]Dark Ale. . The beer is brewed by following traditional brewing techniques, and in a superb in balance.

...Category[J]American Advanced Beer. The beer has an intentional character. / The trends in American craft beer scene is well reflected in the beer.

...Category[K]New Generation Beer. The beer has the characteristics beyond the tradition.

...Category[L]Aged Beer. The beer has flavor and aroma uniquely created through the aging process.

...Category[M]Brewer's arrange. The beer is extremely unique, but in a superb balance. / The brewer's challenging idea is well reflected in the beer.

 

7. Entrants of the IBC2018 will receive

 ...Certification Sheet and Medal (Gold / Silver / Bronze medal winners only)

 ...Certification Sheet (Category Champions only)

 ...Judging report with summary of the result for each entries.

 ...Comment sheets from each judges for each entries.

   (generally 5 or 6 judges, at least 3 judges)

 

Judges

   
Please click here for judge list

 

Beer Registration and Shipping

   
Please see this page.

 

Our partners

FlavorActiV FlavorActiV

Contact

If you have any question, please contact to

The Craftbeer Association the "IBC2018" team by email.

info@craftbeerassociation.jp

Competition Schedule


* Beer Registration

15th of May - 29th of August, 2018


* Beer Arrival
28th of August - 5th of September, 2018


* Judging
13th - 14th of September, 2018


* Award Ceremony
16th of September, 2018
at the Great Japan Beer Festival Yokohama 2018

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup

 

 

The International Beer Cup