Seattle's Cloudburst Brewing honored at international beer competition

Here's further confirmation that the Emerald City boasts a world-class craft beer scene: Four Seattle breweries took gold medals at the World Beer Cup on Wednesday.

Cloudburst Brewing was one of the big winners at the competition, arguably the country's biggest and most prestigious brewing contest, nabbing two gold medals for brewer Steve Luke. At the contest in Philadelphia, Cloudburst took first place for Luke's rice lager and his West Coast-style pilsner.

Luke won gold medals in two highly competitive categories. Rice lager, which Japanese brewers made trendy, has caught on in recent years in the U.S.'s craft brewing scene. Luke also took first place for his Long Time Sunshine, a hoppy pilsner-style beer that's also popular these days.

"It's always surprising because you have to make an excellent beer but you still have to get lucky," said Luke, who was a James Beard Awards semifinalist six years ago in the category of Outstanding Wine, Beer or Spirits Producer. "There's a lot of amazing beers that don't medal. Every time you get one, you feel good."

The bad news: Both award-winning Cloudburst beers are sold out, but Luke said Thursday that he will bring them back by early summer on tap and in cans at his taprooms near Pike Place Market and in Ballard.

Other first-place winners from Seattle: Reuben's Brews, for its Three Ryes Men in the barley-wine-style ale category; Ghostfish Brewing for It Came From the Haze in the gluten-free beer category; and Elliott Bay Brewing Co. for its De Rode Duivels in the Belgian-style Flanders oud bruin/oud red ale category.

Other Washington state breweries that won gold medals in different categories include Dru Bru in Cle Elum; Chuckanut Brewery in Burlington; Victor 23 Brewing in Vancouver; Single Hill Brewing Co. of Yakima; and Schilling Cider of Auburn.

The World Beer Cup drew 8,166 entries from 50 countries this year. Find a full list of winners at cdn.worldbeercup.org.

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