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Samuel Smith's Old Brewery, in England's northern county of Yorkshire, is famous for its full-bodied, traditional English ales, stouts and porters. Founded in 1758, and owned by the Smith family for over 100 years, Samuel Smith takes pride in the traditional method of brewing great beer. "Tradition" is not a term to be applied loosely to this small yet internationally renowned brewery. It is one of the handful of breweries in England to have its own coppers' shop and is the only one to use the true "Yorkshire stone square" method of fermentation. The hard, crystalline brewing water is still drawn from the original well sunk inside the brewery, and the yeast has not changed since the turn of the century. Over 200 years of tradition goes into every bottle of its beer! Platinum and gold award winners were: The Celebrated Oatmeal Stout (99/100); The Famous Taddy Porter (92); and Imperial Stout (96). This year also marked the release of a new beer, Samuel Smith India Ale (90).
Located in the heart of Bavaria, only half an hour from Munich, is the beautiful village of Aying - home to the Inselkammer family-owned Ayinger brewery (pronounced: eye-ing-gr). Since 1878 the brewery has been creating rich, classic Bavarian beers in strict adherence to the "Reinheitsgebot" (German beer purity law of 1516). "Ayinger has a long-standing reputation for excellence in beer and hospitality. Their beers are, you might say, homestyle, more lightly touched by the industrial revolution than some better known German breweries. Compared to the mainstream, their beers tend to be just a touch fuller, darker, more intense. All this without giving up the smoothness for which Bavarian beers are justly famous," writes author Randy Mosher. Of the seven beers tasted from Ayinger none of them scored less than 90 points and six of them were World Champions in their categories: Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen (96/100); Ayinger Ur-Weisse (94); Altbairisch Dunkel (93); Celebrator Doppelbock (93) Jahrhundert-Bier (93); and Ayinger Maibock (92).
Lindemans Farm Brewery has brewed and aged the finest and most traditional lambic beers since 1811. These mysterious, spontaneously fermented wheat beers of Belgium's Flanders are among the rarest and most unusual beers produced in the world. What sets them apart from every other beer is the fact that yeast is never added directly during the brewing process. Lambics are fermented by the magic of wild, airborne yeasts that are encouraged to "visit" the shallow, copper fermenters through open louvers located in the wall of the brewery. A family concern, head brewer and proprietor Rene Lindemans oversees the production of this complex family of beers. For the dry, unfiltered and unpastuerized lambic experience Lindemans Cuvée René (96/100) is an authentic, tart, yeasty mouthful. Of the fruit styles, Lindemans Kriek Lambic (96) was the clear favorite, although both the Framboise (raspberry) and non-traditional Peche (peach) scored excellent 90 points.
Located just south of Seattle's venerable Pike Place Market, the Pike Brewing Company is an interactive complex of brewery, pub and homebrew supply store making it 'Beer Central' in Seattle. Founded in 1989 by Charles Finkel, Pike's mission is to use only top-quality, natural ingredients to brew exceptional, hand-crafted beer that complements great food. "The World Beer Champion winners are definitely representative of the world's finest beers and signify true brewing excellence. I am extremely proud of this recognition, however, credit must be given to Fal Allen, Head Brewmaster, who has a real talent for brewing extraordinary beers," states Finkel. The first beer tapped by Pike was none other than Pike Pale Ale, which is still their largest volume seller and defines the Pacific Northwestern style of hoppy, assertive ales. In addition to this, year-round brews consist of Pike Street XXXXX Stout (89/100), and Pike IPA (92 points, World Champion IPA). Two seasonal specialties were outstanding: Auld Acquaintance (96 points, Tied for World Champion Winter Ale), and Old Bawdy Barley Wine, 1996 bottling (91 points, World Champion Barley Wine). The World Beer Championships are a series of tastings conducted throughout the year by the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI). BTI is the largest professional, independent full-time beer, wine and spirits review program in the United States. Unlike other beer programs, the World Beer Championships does not review all categories at once, but tastes category by category, all year round, allowing access to the best judges for all categories. Judges must have a professional affiliation with the beer industry, and are chosen according to specific areas of expertise. On their 100-point scale, beers rated between 96 and 100 are considered superlative; between 90 and 95 are exceptional; between 80 and 89 are highly recommended; and between 70 and 79 are recommended. This year, 802 beers of 60 various styles from 25 countries were reviewed in the six bi-monthly tastings that comprise the 1997 World Beer Championships. With the tasting year completed, the Top Ten Breweries of the year were named. In order to qualify for this honor, breweries must have had four or more beers reviewed in the 1997 tastings. The scores for all the beers reviewed are averaged and breweries with the top ten average scores are named Breweries of the Year. Merchant du Vin Corporation distributes authentic, hand-crafted beers in traditional and world classic brewing styles through its family of wholesale distributors.
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