Third Eye wins top spot at US Open Beer Championship

Third Eye continues their hot streak, as the brewery was named the #1 overall brewery at the US Open Beer Championship this week.

Third Eye Brewing Company, which originated in Sharonville and recently opened a second location in Hamilton, earned the top spot on the strength of eight medals, including four gold. Their gold medal beers include Dark Aura (Peanut/Peanut Butter), Double Astral (Chocolate or Cocoa Beer), Higher Consciousness (Strong Scottish Ale), and Inner Sight (Nut Beer). Third Eye has quickly become a medal darling in the Cincinnati scene, as they were named Brewery of the Year at Great American Beer Festival last year.

They’ve now won more than two dozen medals at the US Open, and they were also named the #3 overall brewery in 2022. It’s highly impressive for a brewery that only opened in 2020. They also have 6 GABF medals and a World Beer Cup medal on their resume.

Two other Cincinnati breweries also cracked the top ten – Urban Artifact at #6 and Sonder at #9.

Urban Artifact took sixth place with six overall medals, including three golds. Their gold medal beers were Teak (American Fruit – POG & Pineapple), Pickle (Field Beer), and Pumpkin Ale (Pumpkin).

Sonder won three medals, and all three were gold. Kato (Coffee Beer), Divot (Tea Beer), and Grodziskie (Grodziskie) all took home the top status in their categories.

Two local breweries that recently opened also won their first medals. Wandering Monsters just celebrated their one year anniversary, and the came on strong with four medal wins. What’s more impressive is they won in four vastly different categories: Hazy/Juicy IPA, Breakfast Stout, Smoothie Sour, and Italian Pilsner.

Middletown’s Gravel Road also won their first medal for Driving on the Left, in the Special Bitter or Best Bitter category.

Overall, 21 Cincinnati-area breweries won a total of 58 medals. That includes three in the top ten overall, 17 gold, 16 silver, and 20 bronze.

The full list of awards won by Cincinnati-area breweries is below:

16 Lots
Flotilla (Belgian Witbier) – Bronze Medal – 2024
Smuggler’s (Coffee Beer) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Brink
BA Levelled Up (Barrel-Aged English Barleywine) – Gold Medal – 2024
Gold Top (Single Hopped IPA) – Bronze Medal – 2024

CinBev
Christian Moerlein Roggenbier (Historical Beer) – Silver Medal – 2024
Christian Moerlein Pitch Pilsner (American-Style Pilsener) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Common
This Dark Cloud Won’t Get Me Down (European Dark Lager) – Silver Medal – 2024
Grand Cru (Belgian Strong Dark Ale) – Silver Medal – 2024
I Need More Cowbelgian (Belgian Pale Ale) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Darkness
Mayan Sacrifice (Golden Stout) – Silver Medal – 2024
La Fawnduh (Chocolate or Cocoa Beer) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Esoteric
Oracle (American Fruit Wheat – POG) – Gold Medal – 2024
Luminati (Munich Style Helles) – Silver Medal – 2024
Oracle (American Fruit Wheat – Mango) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Fretboard
Bootsy (Brut IPA) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Grainworks
Old Motor Oil (Aged Beer) – Gold Medal – 2024
Oatmeal Stout (Oatmeal Stout) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Gravel Road
Driving on the Left (Special Bitter or Best Bitter) – Bronze Medal – 2024

HighGrain
Isar Weiss (German Hefeweizen) – Silver Medal – 2024

MadTree
Seeing Colors (Hazy/Juicy IPA) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Municipal
Guthrie (Peated Scotch Strong Ale) – Gold Medal – 2024
Recovery Red (Imperial Red Ale) – Bronze Medal – 2024
Orange Agave (American Fruit Wheat – Orange) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Narrow Path
Path Blue Ribbon (American Premium Lager) – Silver Medal – 2024
Hot Honey Saison (Chili Pepper Beer) – Bronze Medal – 2024
Missing Linck Honey Saison (Specialty Honey Beer) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Nine Giant
Brilliant Corners (Barrel-Aged Belgian Quad) – Gold Medal – 2024
Trendy (Brett Beer) – Silver Medal – 2024
Happiness is All the Rage (Berliner Weiss) – Gold Medal – 2024

Northern Row
Coaster (American Fruit Wheat – Misc) – Silver Medal – 2024

Rhinegiest
Acoustic Glow (Contemporary Gose) – Bronze Medal – 2024
Cheetah (American Cream Ale) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Sonder
#9 Overall Brewery – 2024
Kato (Coffee Beer) – Gold Medal – 2024
Divot (Tea Beer) – Gold Medal – 2024
Grodziskie (Grodziskie) – Gold Medal – 2024

Streetside
Samoan Cookie Demogorgon (Coconut Beer) – Gold Medal – 2024
Black Cats (English Brown Ale) – Silver Medal – 2024

Third Eye
#1 Overall Brewery – 2024
Higher Consciousness (Strong Scottish Ale) – Gold Medal – 2024
Double Astral (Chocolate or Cocoa Beer) – Gold Medal – 2024
Dark Aura (Peanut/Peanut Butter) – Gold Medal – 2024
Inner Sight (Nut Beer) – Gold Medal – 2024
Chai Eye Captain (Herb and Spice Beer) – Silver Medal – 2024
BA Higher Consciousness (Wood/Barrel-Aged Scotch Strong Ale) – Silver Medal – 2024
Groovy Baby (English Dark Mild) – Bronze Medal – 2024
BA Kelly’s Private Stash (Barrel-Aged English Barleywine) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Urban Artifact
#6 Overall Brewery – 2024
Teak (American Fruit – POG & Pineapple) – Gold Medal – 2024
Pickle (Field Beer) – Gold Medal – 2024
Pumpkin Ale (Pumpkin) – Gold Medal – 2024
Rangle (American Fruit – General) – Silver Medal – 2024
Seedless Mango (Non-Alcoholic Fruit & Spice) – Silver Medal – 2024
Peaches & Cream (American Fruit – Peach) – Bronze Medal – 2024

Wandering Monsters
Maple BA Viator Obscura (Breakfast Stout) – Gold Medal – 2024
Fogbringer 8 (Hazy/Juicy IPA) – Silver Medal – 2024
We’re All Family Beer (Italian Pilsner) – Silver Medal – 2024
Pomona – Pina Colada (Smoothie Sour) – Bronze Medal – 2024