AVBC Named One of the Top Ten Breweries of The Year Second Year in a Row
Boonville, CA. – November 13, 1997 – On the eve of their Tenth Anniversary, Anderson Valley Brewing Company, makers of fine, craft-brewed ales, has once again been recognized as one of the Top Ten Breweries of the Year, by the World Beer Championships. This is the second consecutive year the micro brewery has been placed on this prestigious list, and the first time ever, that an American brewery has made a second appearance there. In addition to Anderson Valley Brewing Company, this year’s list includes two other American breweries, Pike Brewing Co. of Washington, and Wild Goose Brewing, of Maryland.
Anderson Valley Brewing Company gained their place in the Top Ten, with the following medals:
- Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout – Gold Medal (95) – Catagory: Oatmeal Stout, Ale
- Belk’s Extra Special Bitter Ale – Gold Medal (92) – Catagory: Bitter, Ale
- Winter Solstice Select Ale – Gold Medal (90) – Catagory: Winter Ale, Ale
- Boont Amber Ale – Silver Medal (89) – Catagory: Amber Ale, Ale
- DeepEnders Dark Porter – Silver Medal (89) – Catagory: Porter, Ale
The World Beer Championships (WBC), is a year long series of six separate beer competitions, held in Chicago, Illinois, by the Beverage Tasting Institute (BTI). To determine the Top Ten Breweries Of The Year, officials calculate the average score of each qualifying brewery’s best four entries, and the ten breweries with the highest average make the list. Breweries from twenty-five nations entered the 1997 WBC. From these, 802 beers were judged in sixty different style categories. You can find the results of the World Beer Championships in All About Beer magazine, The Food & Drink Network on America Online (Keyword FDN), complete with a searchable database of 1997 beer scores, and Restaurant Hospitality magazine (monthly vignettes focusing on a particular aspect of a tasting).
"It’s astounding. What a great anniversary gift," said Dr. Kenneth Allen, brewery president and brew master. "BTI and I have a similar approach to beer; ‘Taste Comes First.’ I don’t brew beers like anyone else’s. I don’t brew beer to fit defined styles. I just brew the best tasting beer that I can," he added.
The WBC is the largest international beer judging in North America. All tastings are sponsored and rigorously conducted by BTI, an independent product testing service, which is a member of both the American Society for Testing and Materials and the Institute of Food Technologies. Once all entries for each category are submitted, BTI purchases and submits several other highly regarded or popular beers, to make the tasting more comprehensive and challenging. BTI uses panels of knowledgeable professionals under optimum conditions, working slowly to prevent palate fatigue, each judge performing separate, blind tastings without consultation, to minimize procedural, physiological and psychological errors.
Anderson Valley Brewing Company, in rural Boonville, California, are brewers of the Boonville Beers, award winning, craft-brewed ales. In operation since December, 1987, their ales are carefully brewed from only the finest natural ingredients; malted barley, grains, hops, yeast, and pristine Boonville mineral water. The brewery’s commitment to craftsmanship, and their unique recipes, ensure the production of distinctive ales, long known to beer lovers and industry insiders, as the hallmark of fine brewing.
The Top 10 Breweries of the Year
1997 World Beer Championships
- Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Boonville, California *
- Pike Brewing Company, Washington
- Wild Goose Brewery, Maryland
- Privatbrauerei Aying, Germany *
- Privatbrauerei Erdinger, Germany
- Brouwerij Boon, Belgium *
- Brouwerij Lindemans, Belgium *
- Brasserie d’Achouffe, Belgium
- Brasserie Dupont, Belgium
- Samuel Smith’s Old Brewery, England *
* Breweries listed on both 1996 and 1997 Top Ten Breweries of the Year
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