MELBOURNE, Fla. (April 7, 2010) — Melbourne-based Florida Beer Company, the largest craft brewer in the State of Florida, recently competed in the annual Best Florida Beer Championships, taking home three medals for brewing some of the best beer in Florida. The winners were announced at the Florida Brewers Guild Beer Fest, held March 6th in Tampa, Fla.

Florida Beer Company’s Ybor Gold Amber Lager was honored with a prestigious Gold Medal. Also winning awards was the company’s Hurricane Reef brand of beer. The Hurricane Reef Caribbean Style Pilsner received a Silver Medal and the Hurricane Reef Pale Ale won a Bronze Medal.

The competition was open to all commercial beers either brewed and/or offered for sale in the State of Florida Each beer was judged by two or three professional brewers or those individuals certified by the Beer Judge Certification Program. The criteria for judging was based on how good the craft beer was and how well it fit into the style guidelines set forth by the World Beer Cup Style Guidelines.

“We could not be happier to receive a Gold Medal for this “Gold” beer,” said President of Florida Beer Company, Jim Massoni. “The Ybor Gold brand is especially loved, in addition to the taste, because of its connection to Tampa’s rich brewing history, and we thank our brewing professional peers for providing us with this honor.”

Florida Beer Company’s Ybor Gold Amber Lager, first brewed in 1994, is a delightful example of a classic German Style Lager, with a noticeable degree of caramel malt character balanced by a distinct hop bitterness. This is not the first accolade that the Ybor Gold brand has received. In fact, Ybor Gold Amber Lager has won Silver and Bronze Medals at the Great American Beer Festival in 1997 and 1999, respectively.

Hurricane Reef has also seen its share of awards, as this brand’s Pale Ale won a Silver Medal at the 1998 World Beer Championships.

Visit FloridaBeer.com for more information.

About Florida Beer Company
The Florida Beer Company, located in Melbourne, Florida, is the largest craft brewer in the state. Its many styles of craft beer are distributed by a network of distributors not only in the state of Florida, but also in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Virginia, New York and Louisiana.

The Florida Beer Company portfolio consists of its flagship brand, Key West, Hurricane Reef, Ybor Gold, Beachside, La Tropical, Indian River and Kelly’s Hard Cider. Along with production of these equity brands, Florida Beer Company also produces a number of contract and private label craft beers.

Florida Beer Company
2500 South Harbor City Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32901
321-728-3412

MEDIA CONTACT:
Lindsey Levy, Push.
llevy@pushhere.com
407-841-2299 ext. 1264