Crystal Lake Brewing awarded at World Beer Cup

CRYSTAL LAKE - Crystal Lake Brewing, in it's first year of eligibility, brought home the bronze medal in the "Muenchner-Style Helles" category at the 2016 World Beer Cup.

Dubbed the "Olympics" of beer, the World Beer Cup is held every two years, attracting nearly 6,600 entries from 55

countries. This year, entries from more than 1,900 breweries were judged.

"We couldn't be more thrilled, or proud of our team," said Chuck Ross, founder of Crystal Lake Brewing Co.

CLB's "Beach Blonde" is billed by the brewery as a "Golden Lager," a description that includes the "Munich Helles" style. It's a light, easy drinking type of beer that is the most popular style in much of the world but is exceptionally difficult to produce well. Many craft beer styles feature big, bold flavors that can mask small defects in a beer. An extraordinary light golden lager is crisp, clean and smooth, demanding exceptional brewing practices to avoid any flaws that would be far more obvious against the gentle backdrop of the Helles style.

"The recognition is satisfying for a couple of reasons," said Ryan Clooney, brewmaster at Crystal Lake

Brewing. "It's one of my favorite styles, for starters, but it's also a tough beer to get right. The fact that

our lightest beer is judged to be competitive with the best in the world gives us a lot of confidence in our

entire lineup."

The top two finishers in the category are both centuries-old German breweries, in stark contrast to the

20-month-old Crystal Lake startup, making Beach Blonde the best-judged Helles-style beer in America

and third best in the world.

"We named the brewery after our hometown for a reason," said John O'Fallon, CLB co-founder. "We

take a lot of pride in where we come from and the beers we produce. It's incredibly rewarding to bring

some recognition back to Illinois' local craft brewing scene."