North Texas Breweries Win Big in the ‘Super Bowl’ of Beer — See the State’s Triumphant Brews

The U.S. Open refers to annual sporting championships in both golf and tennis, but that’s not all. More than 9,000 American brewers entered their best craft beers at the 2022 U.S. Open Beer Competition last week. And, no surprise ― Texas breweries did quite well, bringing home a lot of hardware, including Vallensons’ Brewing out of Pearland (this year’s winningest Texas brewery), which landed at No. 6 on the Top Ten list this year.

The “Super Bowl of beer” was held in Oxford, Ohio ― crowing winners in 150 different categories. Yes, there are really that many styles of beer, from English IPAs and cream stouts, to American-style fruit beers and even vegetable beers. After that much beer tasting, we can only assume the judges of this year’s U.S. Open Beer Competition are still sleeping it off.

Bringing its unique Nordic/Texan spin to the competition, the aforementioned Vallensons’ Brewing was opened in 2017 by Valle Kauniste and his wife Lori. The Pearland brewery brought home the bronze in the Tea Beer category for its Peach Tea beer, as well as three gold medals: for Pink, their Berliner-style Weisse, a robust beer called Robustness, and its Settlers Oatmeal Stout.

North Texas Craft Beer Wins Big in the U.S. Open 

While Texas basks in the glory of a huge metal haul this year, North Texas breweries are particularly happy. Below is a list of the year’s big winners:

– Sherman’s own 903 Brewers, took silver in the Aged Category with its Fragile Like a Bomb.
– Bankhead Brewing of Rowlett, and now Fort Worth, Low Beams won gold in the American/German light category.
– Dallas’ Deep Ellum Brewing won silver for its perennial favorite, Dallas Blonde.
– Peticolas Brewing Co., also of Dallas, was awarded four bronze medals in all: for its Ukrainian Golden Ale called Golden Opportunity, for its experimental Top Shelf, Velvet Hammer its Imperial Red Ale, and Great Scott! in the Scottish ale category.
– Oak Highlands’ Freaky Deaky won bronze in two categories: Red Wine Freaky Deaky in the wine barrel-aged category, and regular Freaky Deaky among aged beers.
– White Rock Ale House and Brewery brought home one of each: gold for its Imperial porter called Midnight Delight, silver for Chocolate Reign, and bronze for its Dreamsicle Kayak in the Anything Goes category.
– Lakewood Brewing of Garland landed gold for Muy Importante, American style fruit beer in the the lime category.

Over in Tarrant County…

– False Idol Brewing of North Richland Hills, won gold for its pilsner called Banquet Boy.
– Cowtown Brewing which began in Fort Worth, and recently expanded to Southlake, took silver for its Cold Fort Worth Beer.
– Fort Worth’s Maple Branch Craft Brewing landed gold in the Munchner Helles category for its Bavarian Classic.
– And, HopFusion Ale Works also brought home one of each: gold with its Feisty Blonde in the honey beer category, silver with Mi Familia, and bronze for its non-alcoholic The Hop Root Beer.

More U.S. Open Beer Competition Winners Across Texas

– Pondaseta – Rye Barrel Aged Castle Black took bronze among the barrel-aged stouts, and gold for its The Fast and The Hazy.
– Blazing Tree Brewery – Nut Beer, called LLC BTB Pecan Porter, as well as its Northern Lights
– Urban South Brewing – HTX Waves: Marionberry and Meyer Lemon
– Infamous Brewing Co. – Sex A Peel
– Altstadt – The Old Timer, India Pale Lager
– Elmo Brewing – Easy
– Second Pitch Brewing Co. was awarded gold for its Hometown Lager, as well as its bitter Admiral Stradlings, and silver for Meet in the Middle IPA
– 8^th Wonder Brewery – Haterade
– Flix Brewhouse – took silver with its Nebby Boi New Zealand IPA

These winning breweries prove our state remains a real player in the craft beer market. And for beer nerds, your list of must-try Texas brews just got a lot longer.