5 Duluth Beers Claim Top Prize At 2023 MN Brewers Cup Awards

Since 2019, the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild has hosted the MN Brewers Cup Awards. This is a state-wide, blind taste-test competition for Minnesota breweries and brewpubs.

This year, over 450 beers were entered into the competition from over 90 Minnesota breweries and brewpubs. Once all the beers were submitted, they were organized into 23 categories based on style, and then entries were judged blind by 20 beer judges based on how well each submission represented the standards of its style. For the first time this year, Hard Seltzers were added as a category.

The results of the 2023 MN Brewers Cup were recently announced at an award ceremony in St. Paul. The top three in each style category, along with the top three overall, were announced and Duluth had an outstanding showing.

A Duluth-made beer took home the top prize in 5 categories: American Wheat & Cream Ales, Dark Lagers, German Ales, Strong Ales, and English, Scottish & Irish Ales.

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Congratulations to Duluth's Fitger’s Brewhouse who won two categories and to Canal Park Brewing Company, Bent Paddle Brewing Company, and Ursa Minor Brewing who each won a category in the competition. Also, kudos to Duluth's Warrior Brewing Company who finished 2nd in the Stout category.

Below you can see all the 2023 MN Brewers Cup top 3 finishers in each category. Bottoms up!

Best in Show
1st Place: Falling Knife Brewing Company, Tomm’s
2nd Place: Fulton Brewing, 300 IPA
3rd Place: The Freehouse, No. 68 Red Lager

American Lagers
1st Place: Falling Knife Brewing Company, Tomm’s
2nd Place: Third Street Brewhouse, Mn Gold
3rd Place: Shakopee Brew Hall, Cinco De Shako

American Wheat & Cream Ales
1st Place: Canal Park Brewing Company, Clear Waters Cream Ale
2nd Place: Forgotten Star Brewing Co., North Star Cream Ale
3rd Place: Heavy Rotation Brewing, Farmer Frank’s

American Amber, Blonde & Pale Ales
1st Place: Invictus Brewing Company, Blaine It On The Rain Amber Ale
2nd Place: Birch’s On the Lake, Birch’s Blonde Ale
3rd Place: Omni Brewing Co., Lake Day

Pale Lagers
1st Place: Giesenbräu Bier Co, Hildy’s Helles
2nd Place: Bauhaus Brew Labs, Wonderstuff
3rd Place: Bauhaus Brew Labs, Grass Hopper

Amber Lagers
1st Place: Wooden Ship Brewing Company, Vienna Lager
2nd Place: Snarky Loon Brewing Co, Smoke Fest
3rd Place: Spilled Grain Brewhouse, Oktoberfest

Dark Lagers
1st Place: Fitger’s Brewhouse, Brewhouse Bock
2nd Place: Shakopee Brew Hall, Vincent Van Goat
3rd Place: Forgotten Star Brewing Co., Bonspiel Bock

Czech Lagers
1st Place: Arbeiter Brewing Company, Czch Plz
2nd Place: Talking Waters Brewing Co, Reality Czech
3rd Place: Lupulin Brewing Company, Dance In The Rain

German Pilsners & Export Lagers
1st Place: Utepils Brewing Co, Anniversary Pils
2nd Place: Thousand Lakes Brewing Company, Tent Pitcher
3rd Place: Inbound Brewco, Laser Loon

American IPAs
1st Place: Fulton Brewing, 300 IPA
2nd Place: Giesenbräu Bier Co, Bavarian Gangsta
3rd Place: Third Street Brewhouse, Hop Lift

Hazy IPAs
1st Place: Birch’s On the Lake, Hazy IPA
2nd Place: Omni Brewing Co., Fad
3rd Place: Portage Brewing Company, Lost 40

Double & Specialty IPAs
1st Place: Venn Brewing Company, Chronicopia
2nd Place: Klockow Brewing Company, One Aught – Cold IPA
3rd Place: Surly Brewing Co, Furious

German Ales
1st Place: Bent Paddle Brewing Company, Little Düssel Do Ya
2nd Place: Clutch Brewing Company, E’s Alt
3rd Place: Waldmann Brewery, Hefeweizen

Strong Ales
1st Place: Fitger’s Brewhouse, Starfire Reserve
2nd Place: Northbound Smokehouse & Brewpub, Block Heater
3rd Place: Imminent Brewing, Lionel’s Strong Ale

Belgian & Monastic Ales
1st Place: Klockow Brewing Company, Billy Bumbler
2nd Place: Wooden Ship Brewing Company, Grapefruit Rosemary Saison
3rd Place: Fergus Brewing Company, By The Grace Of Quad

English, Scottish & Irish Ales
1st Place: Ursa Minor Brewing, Equanimity
2nd Place: Back Shed Brewing, Excellent Sweater Bud
3rd Place: Uncommon Loon Brewing Company, Celtic Fire

Brown Ales & Porters
1st Place: Saint Paul Brewing, Crooks’ Haven
2nd Place: Heavy Rotation Brewing, London Calling
3rd Place: Big Axe Brewing Company Llc, Berserk Squirrel Brown Ale

Stouts
1st Place: Torg Brewery, Wander Well
2nd Place: Warrior Brewing Company, Barbarian
3rd Place: Sunken Ship Brewing Company, Aran Sweater

Hard Seltzers
1st Place: Indeed Brewing Company, Real Magic: Yerba Mate Ginger
2nd Place: Sunken Ship Brewing Company, Minimum Wake
3rd Place: Omni Brewing Co., Bear Necessities

Wood-Aged Beers
1st Place: Chanhassen Brewing Company, Carver County Reserve
2nd Place: Lupulin Brewing Company, Barrel God Cuvée ’20/’21/’22 Blend
3rd Place: Arbeiter Brewing Company, Foundation II

Fruit & Spice Beers
1st Place: Venn Brewing Company, Cosmosis Pinã Colada
2nd Place: Pryes Brewing Company, Royal Raspberry Sour
3rd Place: Sleepy Eye Brewing Co., Stay Pucked

Spice, Herb & Vegetable Beers
1st Place: Warrior Brewing Company, Valkyrie Pumpkin Ale
2nd Place: Bauhaus Brew Labs, Mostly Umlauts
3rd Place: Wooden Ship Brewing Company, Where Have I Bean Your Whole Life?

Wild, Sour & Funky Ales
1st Place: Falling Knife Brewing Company, Cumulonimbus
2nd Place: Lupulin Brewing Company, Rene V.2
3rd Place: Locale Brewing Company, Arcadia

Specialty Beers
1st Place: The Freehouse, No. 68 Red Lager
2nd Place: Indeed Brewing Company, Mexican Honey
3rd Place: Bad Weather Brewing Company, Zwickel Pils

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

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