Pennsylvania breweries medal in U.S. Open Beer Championship

Three Pennsylvania breweries medaled in the U.S. Open Beer Championships, a blind judging of professional as well as amateur brewers “from Vermont to Vietnam.” More than 6,000 beers competed against each other in 100 different style groups at the annual event in Oxford, Ohio.

In Belgian Style Fruit Beer, the gold medal went to Ale of Eros from Butler Brew Works. “It’s a great way to mark our one-year anniversary, says Nick Fazzoni, co-owner of the new brewery that opened last July on Main Street in the Butler County seat. He says they’ll be making available about 30 remaining bottles of this brew in the taproom. “It’s a complex beer to brew, and it takes some time, so we’ve already started planning next year’s batch and can’t wait to get it in the tanks.”

Straub Brewery in St. Marys won three medals — a gold in the American Light category for its Straub Light, a gold in American Imperial Pilsner for its Wild Boy Hopped Lager, and a bronze in Bock for its Boulder Bock. Brewmaster Vince Assetta says he and his team are delighted to win for both a traditional offering and two of the brewery’s first specialty brews, making it one of this year’scontest’s top 10 winners.

And the Samuel Adams Brewery, which is in Breinigsville near Allentown, won an Irish Red Ale silver for its Samuel Adams Irish Red and a silver in Munchner Helles, Light for its Samuel Adams Gold Hour.

You can see the full list of winners at usopenbeer.com.