"Local" Haitian beer Prestige won a gold medal yesterday for Best American-Style Cream or Ale. It took category #42 at the winners' banquet during the World Beer Cup competition in San Diego.
Miami is not considered part of the Caribbean, but Prestige was as close as Florida got to receiving any award at a competition that is known as "the Olympics of Beer."
At the ninth biennial competition, there were 799 breweries from 54 countries, with a total of 3,921 entries, the U.S. having the most entries at 2,651. Haiti -- with its one beer registered -- was the only country with a 100 percent win-to-entry ratio.
Three Florida breweries competed but unfortunately received no medals. They were Florida Beer Company of Melbourne, Cigar City Brewing of Tampa, and Jalehouse Beers of Sarasota.
There were 95 categories of beer to be judged, with judges hailing from more than 27 countries, 67 percent of them being non-U.S.
A total of 284 awards were given to the gold, silver, and bronze winners in each category.
This year's WBC was the largest ever, according to the Brewer's Association.
Prestige beer is an American-style lager produced by Brasserie Nationale d'Haiti in Port-au-Prince.
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