Chris Swersey

"Think of it like a track meet where there's shot put, the 100-meter dash," said Chris Swersey, competition manager for both contests.

''Think of it like a track meet where there's shot put, the 100-meter dash,'' said Chris Swersey, competition manager for both contests. ''Each one has different rules.

When Chris Swersey, the director of the judging competition, announces the silver medalist in the European-style Pilsner category, he does so with a laugh.The "Most Beer Judges are Bone Heads" pilsner from SandLot also proves popular with the assembled crowd.While SandLot's brewers are on-stage to collect gold and silver medals in the American-style Specialty Lager category, Swersey announces the winners in the Vienna-style Lager category.

Brewers crowded the expanded award ceremony stage as Judge Manager Chris Swersey announced the three beers that best represented each beer-style category as described and adopted by the Great American Beer Festival.

—Chris Swersey, Competition Manager

"In many ways the World Beer Cup competition could be viewed as a form of peer review," said Chris Swersey, World Beer Cup Competition Manager.

Competition manager Chris Swersey says that with the public appetite having grown in recent years for all bigger, more flavorful, often darker beers, "I would see the growth trend of coffee beers as going hand-in-hand with that general theme."

The World Beer Cup competition (that Swersey also manages) also has a coffee-flavored category.

Our day of adventures started with a visit to the roof of Chris's 42-story apartment building where Ed had to hold on to Rockey so the wind didn't take her away.
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Chris made a big breakfast with huge "Uncle Buck Wheat" pancakes.Then Chris and Ed went on a bike ride to get some bagels and rye bread.
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The festival's Judge Manager Chris Swersey took beer connoisseurs and media through an American India Pale Ale evaluation with six world-class professional judges."Evaluating beer happens on many levels," Swersey said.
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"The constantly evolving nature of the beer marketplace means that products continually improve," Swersey said.
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The audience was filled with anxious brewers watching as Judge Manager Chris Swersey announced this year's Great American Beer Festival medal winners.

This year almost half of the judges came from outside the United States," says Chris Swersey, World Beer Cup Judging Director."We are pleased with how the event is evolving and the increased level of international participation from both entries and judges."

"With our diverse list of entrants and finalists, we are confident in saying the World Beer Cup is the most prestigious global beer competition.