Cincinnati breweries walked away from the 2022 U.S. Open Beer Championship – the third largest craft beer competition in the United States – draped in gold. 

Leading the pack was Third Eye Brewing in Sharonville, which took home third place overall with a five-medal performance. Third Eye’s Double Astral Imperial Chocolate Oatmeal Stout scored gold in the chocolate/cocoa beer category, and its Dark Aura Chocolate Peanut Butter Stout was the competition’s gold standard in the peanut butter beer bracket. Third Eye took silver medals for Barrel-aged Kelly’s Private Stash (English), Deep Euphoria (Oatmeal Stout) and Higher Purpose (Cream Stout).

“It’s nice to be recognized,” said Kelly Montgomery, head brewer and co-owner of Third Eye Brewing. “There are so many great breweries in Cincinnati, and so many great breweries in this country, so to do as well as we did, it’s exciting.” 

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The overall Grand National Championship went to Sun King Brewing of Indianapolis. It’s the second time Sun King has earned that distinction, with its first best-in-show victory coming in 2019. Shoe Tree Brewing in Nevada took second place. 

More than 9,000 brews were entered into this year’s competition across 150-plus judging categories. Of the 57 medals awarded to Ohio breweries, 36 were won by Cincinnati breweries. 

“That really shows that Cincinnati’s making some world-class beer,” Montgomery said. “It’s great for our city to get recognized like that. We always thought we were a big beer city, but it’s nice to know we can back it up with world-class beers.

“I’m just real proud of our city and the great beer everybody’s producing.”  

Dow Scoggins, founder and director of the U.S. Open Beer Championship, acknowledged that Cincinnati breweries have an inherent competitive advantage, as U.S. Open judging takes place in Oxford, Ohio. Scoggins notes that it’s similar to the advantage Colorado breweries enjoy at the Great American Beer Festival awards. 

More than 90% of entries to the U.S. Open Beer Championship are submitted via FedEx or UPS, Scoggins explained. Cincinnati breweries have the advantage of being able to hand-deliver their beers, avoiding environmental exposure that can affect the taste of beers during shipping. They can also deliver just before the entry deadline to ensure maximum freshness. 

But Scoggins says the real key to victory for Cincinnati breweries is just that they’ve upped their game tremendously over the last decade. 

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