The “Olympics of Beer” was held over the weekend in San Diego, CA, and several proud winners from Philadelphia emerged. In a bi-annual contest that featured 799 breweries from 54 countries and 45 U.S. states, the Brewers Association World Beer Cup winners were announced in 284 categories and styles.

Repping hard for the Philly-area, local micro-chain Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant walked away with a Champion Award for Best Small Brewpub. That’s right, we have the best small brewpub in the world. (This was actually the second time in a row that Iron Hill was recognized in the category.)

Overall, nearly 4000 different beers were entered, averaging 41 per category. Proving the popularity of hoppy brews, the category with the most entries was the ever-popular American IPA (150 entries), followed by Imperial IPA (93). Breweries looking to be unique would be best-served making a German-style sour ale, the least popular category with just 11 entrants.

Other local winners included:

Iron Hill Brewery Old Ale – Gold, Old or Strong Ale
Troegs Troegenator – Bronze, Traditional German-Style Bock
Dock Street Brewery Prisoner of Hell – Bronze, Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale

Top photo © 2010 Jason E. Kaplan

Bottom photo: Iron Hill Brewers Bob Barrar and Justin Sproul