Two Arizona breweries earn honors at the U.S. Open Beer Championship

PHOENIX — Two Arizona brewing companies earned silver honors at the 2018 U.S. Open Beer Championship in Oxford, Ohio.

Huss Brewing won a silver medal for the Golden or Blonde Ale category with its Scottsdale Blonde, and Grand Canyon Brewing won a silver medal for the American Specialty Wheat category with its Expeditions Wheat.

Huss is based in Tempe, and Grand Canyon is based in Williams.

More than 6,300 beers from breweries based from South Carolina to South Korea were evaluated by judges from England, Canada and the United States.

Peticolas Brewing in Texas won the title of Top Brewery in 2018 by winning three gold medals and two silver medals. Brink Brewing from Ohio and Black Tooth Brewing from Wyoming were the second- and third-place overall finishers.

“This competition is significant because it accepts entries from breweries around the world and allows national-winning home brews to compete,” said Dow Scoggins in a release, director of the U.S. Open Beer Championships.

The judges – who were aware of the categories they were judging but not the names of the brews they were tasting – also selected awards for the Most Creative Names.

Beasts of Bourbon, We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Cucumber and Another One Bites the Must were the top three finishers in the Most Creative Names category.

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