Normally held every two years, the 2020 World Beer Cup—held in conjunction with the Craft Brewers Conference—was another casualty of the pandemic, canceled along with many other events because of COVID-19. However, after a four-year absence, the world’s most prestigious beer competition is set to return in 2022.
Breweries that plan to enter beers in the competition must register first. The registration period opened October 26 and closes November 10. Participating breweries then have until February 10 to make any changes to their planned entries, with all beer samples due to the Brewers Association warehouse in Colorado by March 18. Breweries outside the United States should have their samples delivered to their international collection point by March 9.
The cost to register is $180 per beer entered. Each brewery can submit up to five different beers; that limit may increase if spots are available after registration closes on November 10.
The Brewers Association will announce the medal winners at a ceremony on May 5, the final day of the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America in Minneapolis. The 2022 World Beer Cup will award medals in 103 categories, many of which include multiple styles as subcategories. The style guidelines are available here as a PDF.
The most recent World Beer Cup (in 2018) was the largest so far, including 8,234 beers from 2,515 breweries in 66 countries. Evaluating those beers were 295 judges from 33 countries.
For more details: worldbeercup.org.