Brewery in Flagstaff among 5 Arizona winners at World Beer Cup
FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — Several Arizona breweries won big in a world beer competition this year, including a brewery in Flagstaff.
The World Beer Cup is considered the Olympics of beer competitions, and Arizona had five breweries statewide that placed. That includes Lumberyard Brewing Co., which brought home a silver medal from the international event for its famous Railhead Red.
In the High Country, Flagstaff is known for its award-winning breweries. With eight craft breweries, people come from all over for a sample. Kelly Hanseth’s family opened Flagstaff’s first brewery, Beaver Street Brewery, in 1994. Then, 15 years ago, they opened Lumberyard.
“We wanted to find a place where we could have a production brewery and distribute our beers that everyone had loved at the beer pubs statewide,” Hanseth said.
Now, winning awards is nothing new to Lumberyard, but this year, they were one of five in Arizona to win at the World Beer Cup and the only one located in Flagstaff. They brought home silver in the extra special bitter beers category for their Railhead Red.
“We’re very proud to be a part of that,” Hanseth said. “To showcase that the beers we brew here are world-class. They are high-quality beers.”
Brewer Mike Devlin has been with the company for 14 years and said a lot of science and passion go into making these beers, so winning these awards means a lot.
“When you hear your name on there again, you get filled with pride like ‘yes, this is one of the reasons why we do it,’” Devlin said.
He said when one brewery wins, they all win because it gets people talking about Flagstaff’s beer. And while the mountain water definitely helps, Devlin said the secret to award-winning beer is the people.
“The passion that the people in the brewing community have for making the beer itself and doing a good job with it,” Devlin said. “I think that is what it is. We love beer up here.”
Four other Arizona breweries also brought home awards, including Six Byrd Cider in Tempe, Saddle Mountain Brewing Co. in Goodyear, as well as Barrio Brewing Co. and Dragoon Brewing Co., both located in Tucson.
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