Third Eye Brewing won third best overall brewery at the 2022 U.S. Open Beer Championship, taking home a total of five medals – two gold and three silver. They were runner up to Indiana’s Sun King Brewery and Nevada’s Shoe Tree Brewing.
Third Eye won gold medals for Double Astral in the Chocolate/Cocoa Beer category, as Dark Aura in the Peanut Butter Beer category. Double Astral is a 10.8% ABV Imperial Oatmeal Stout with Maverick Chocolate cocoa nibs added. Dark Aura is an 8.1% ABV Russian Imperial Stout with Maverick Chocolate, peanut butter, and vanilla.
Also winning gold was Brink Brewing, which took home gold in the English Mild Ale category for Hold the Reins. Hold the Reins is no stranger to medals, as the beer has previously won three times at the U.S. Open, including gold in 2018 and 2021. It has also won Gold at Great American Beer Festival.
This is the second straight gold medal for Fretboard‘s Vlad, as it took home the top medal in the International Style Pilsner category. It also won silver in 2018.
Other gold medal winners were: Rhinegeist (German Kolsch – Gold Record), Narrow Path (Gose – Restless Seas), HighGrain (German Lager/Pilsner – Lusen), Cartridge (Schwarzbier – Covert), Nine Giant (Baltic Porter – Coolverine), MPH (Dark Lager – Great Dane), Streetside (American Style Berry Beer – Raspberry Beret), Grainworks (American Style Fruit Beer – Orange – Orange Dreams),
A total of 19 Cincinnati-area breweries won medals, with ten of those breweries winning multiple:
- Third Eye (5 – 2 gold, 3 silver)
- Nine Giant (3 – 1 gold, 2 silver)
- Fretboard (3 – 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
- Common (3 – 3 silver)
- Northern Row (3 bronze)
- Streetside (2 – 1 gold, 1 silver)
- Rhinegeist (2 – 1 gold, 1 silver)
- HighGrain (2 – 1 gold, 1 bronze)
- Moerlein Lager House (2 silver)
- Sam Adams Cincinnati (2 silver)
Two Northern Kentucky breweries also won medals: Braxton won a bronze medal in New England/Hazy IPA for Tropic Flare and Alexandria won bronze in American-Style Black Ale for Little Miss Scare.
In total, 35 Ohio breweries won 56 medals, with 36 of those coming from Cincinnati-area breweries.
Here’s the full list of awards won by Cincinnati-area breweries:
The Top Ten Breweries
Third Eye Brewing, Ohio
Australian-Style Pale Ale
SILVER: Nine Giant Brewing – Pass the Mic: Mosaic – OH
Brut IPA
SILVER: Fretboard Brewing Co. – Bootsy – OH
Fruit IPA
BRONZE: FigLeaf Brewing – Blood Orange Iso-Trope – OH
Classic Dry Irish Stout
BRONZE: Northern Row Brewery & Distillery – Dubliner – OH
Cream Stout
SILVER: Third Eye Brewing – Higher Purpose – OH
Oatmeal Stout
SILVER: Third Eye Brewing – Deep Euphoria – OH
Pastry Stout
SILVER: Streetside Brewery – Snowball Speak of the Devil – OH
ESB
SILVER: The Common Beer Company – Come Together – OH
English Mild Ale
GOLD: Brink Brewing Co. – Hold the Reins – OH
German Kolsch
BRONZE: Rhinegeist Brewery – GOLD: Record – OH
Belgian Pale Ale
SILVER: The Common Beer Company – I Need More Cowbelgian – OH
BRONZE: Fretboard Brewing Co. – Crazy Train – OH
Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale
BRONZE: HighGrain Brewing Co. – Oost – OH
Gose
GOLD: Narrow Path Brewing – Restless Seas – OH
American Lager/Pilsner
BRONZE: Sonder Brewing – Rally Cap – OH
German Lager/Pilsner
GOLD: HighGrain Brewing Co. Lusen – OH
International Style Pilsner
GOLD: Fretboard Brewing Co. – Vlad – OH
Munchner Dunkel
SILVER: Moerlein Lager House – Barbarossa – OH
Marzen/Oktoberfest
BRONZE: Northern Row Brewery & Distillery – Brewer – OH
Vienna
SILVER: Moerlein Lager House – Moerlein Original Lager – OH
Schwarzbier
GOLD: Cartridge Brewing Covert – OH
Baltic Porter
GOLD: Nine Giant Brewing – Coolverine – OH
Dortmunder Export
SILVER: Samuel Adams – Cincinnati – This is the Year – OH
Dark Lager
GOLD: MPH Brewing – Grat Dane – OH
American Style Berry Beer-Raspberry
GOLD: Streetside Brewery – Raspberry Beret – OH
American Style Fruit Beer – Orange
GOLD: Grainworks Brewing – Orange Dreams – OH
American Style Fruit Beer – Peach
SILVER: Sam Adams Brewery – Cincinnati – Queen City Crown – OH
BRONZE: Northern Row Brewery & Distillery – Preacher – OH
Herb and Spice Beer
BRONZE: N.E.W. Ales Brewing You Wish You Were This Chill OH
Chocoate/Cocoa Beer
GOLD: Third Eye Brewing – Double Astral – OH
Rye/Roggen Beer
SILVER: The Common Beer Company – Rye Clearly – OH
Barrel-Aged Strong Stout/Porter Specialty
BRONZE: Madtree Brewing – Axis of Darkness – OH
Barrel-Aged Barley Wine – English
SILVER: Third Eye Brewing – Ba Kelly’s Private Stash – OH
Barrel-Aged German Lager
SILVER: Rhinegeist Innovation Brewery – Glyptodon – OH
American-Belgo-Style Ale
SILVER: Nine Giant Brewing – Minor Swing – OH
Peanut Butter
GOLD: Third Eye – Brewing Dark Aura – OH
For a full list of 2022 U.S. Open Beer Championship medal winners, click here.