St. Paul White wins bronze medal at Brussels Beer Challenge

On Sunday November 8th of 2015, the fourth edition of the Brussels Beer Challenge was held in Antwerp. The Brussels Beer Challenge is an internationally renowned, three-day tasting competition organized to promote the beer industry worldwide.

The Brussels Beer Challenge, which over the past years took place in other Belgian host cities, was this time held in the new brewery of De Koninck in Antwerp. 75 international beer experts had to evaluate a total of more than 1.000 beers.

The Belgian brewers were best represented with 261 participating beers, followed by the United States, Italy, the Netherlands and France.

Brouwerij Sterkens was represented with 3 beers during this fourth edition. The St. Paul Triple, St. Paul White and St. Paul Blond were submitted and evaluated by the jury.

On November 8th, the official proclamation of the fourth edition was held in the new premises of Brouwerij De Koninck. The Jury praised Brouwerij Sterkens. Out of 42 beers in the category ‘White Beer’; the St. Paul White was awarded by the bronze medal. The jury noted the following:

Appearance: The St. Paul White has a beautifull colour and a lasting white foam. It has a great appearance and good carbonation.
Aroma: The aroma of the St. Paul White is spicy with notes of coriander and orange peel. An aroma of wheat, very smooth. It has a great nose and the sense is very clean.
Taste & body: This beer has a light body and a good carbonation. It has a spicy taste with some touches of wheat. The White comes with a subtle and great lasting finale. This beer is top.
Technical quality: This St. Paul has no major faults. It is well balanced, refreshing & very drinkable.
Appropriate for category: The St. Paul White fits in the style and is a great style example.
Average of the 42 beers in this category: 31.92 / 50
Score of St. Paul White: Winner of the bronze medal.

Unfortunately, the St. Paul Triple and St. Paul Blond did not win a medal, but the jury still gave very positive feedback regarding these 2 beers. The jury noted the following about the St. Paul Triple.

Appearance: This triple has a great golden colour with a white head, good retention and a medium carbonation.
Aroma: The St. Paul Triple has a good aroma. The sense is spicy and you can smell esters and clean malt.
Taste & body: Medium to full bodied, this Triple has a good carbonation on the palate. It has an excellent mouth feel and is medium sweet. You can taste some fruityness and it has a good finale.
Technical quality: No major faults were found in this Triple.
Appropriate for category: This beer fits in the style and is a good style example.
Average of the 60 beers in this category: 32.88 / 50
Score of St. Paul Triple: 39.00 / 50

The St. Paul Blond received positive feedback too. The jury assessed the Blond as follows:

Appearance: The Blond has a blonde colour with a big white head and a good lacing. This beer has good head retention and OK carbonation.
Aroma: With aroma’s of citrus, pear and apple it has a great nose.
Taste & body: The St. Paul Blond has a medium body and an OK carbonation on the palate. This beer has a round mouth feel, tastes fruity, spicy and yeasty and has a nice touch of malts and hops. This blonde tastes very typical and has a dry finale.
Technical quality: This beer has no major faults. It’s very drinkable and very balanced. An excellent beer.
Appropriate for category: It fits in the style and is a great style example.
Average of the 38 beers in this category: 36.26 / 50
Score of St. Paul Blond: 38.80 / 50

The Brussels Beer Challenge was a very successful event and had a very pleasent proclamation. Brouwerij Sterkens would like to thank the Brussels Beer Challenge team for the good organization. All of the notes of the jury are used in our continious process of developing great and better beers.

For more information, visit the Brussels Beer Challenge website.

See you next year!