Markus Betz

Wien, Austria

Comment êtes-vous entré dans l'industrie de la bière ? Pourquoi la bière est-elle importante pour vous ?

My love of beer led me into my profession 20 years ago! I enjoy my work every day because beer is the best drink in the world! Beer is so complex and brings people together.

Pourquoi jugez-vous à la World Beer Cup ? Que signifie pour vous le fait d'être juge à la Coupe du monde de la bière ?

Because the World Beer Cup is the Olympic Games of brewing! It is by far the best beer competition, incredibly well organized, and all the tasters are full professionals and fully committed!

The nice thing is that you always meet new people and you can have a great chat with them! I can only recommend every brewery to send their beers to the World Beer Cup.

Steve Luke

Washington, United States

Comment êtes-vous entré dans l'industrie de la bière ? Pourquoi la bière est-elle importante pour vous ?

In the summer of 2005, I found myself packing boxes and sweeping floors at a local brewery — and I was hooked!

The beauty of beer and brewing is that it can be as complicated or as simple you make it out to be, and finding that happy medium is up to each and every brewer. There are endless wormholes to seek knowledge and solutions, and continuously evolving techniques, equipment and ingredients. But at the same time, the brewing process is still timeless and logical. Good beer is good beer, no matter how you get there!

Pourquoi jugez-vous à la World Beer Cup ? Que signifie pour vous le fait d'être juge à la Coupe du monde de la bière ?

Judging at the World Beer Cup allows you to meet people with different backgrounds in the beer industry from all over the world. It’s engaging, exciting, and often challenging. And it gives you an unrivaled snapshot of the current state of beer — from a quality standpoint, to trends and experimentation, to observing and developing beer style parameters.

Walt Chleva

Colorado, États-Unis

Comment êtes-vous entré dans l'industrie de la bière ? Pourquoi la bière est-elle importante pour vous ?

I started off in the beer industry by working part time at my local homebrew store and wanted to take my brewing to the next level. I was able to get a position as a part time brewer for the brewery attached to the homebrew store and the rest is history.

Beer matters to me because from such a rich history comes the continued refinement and creation of a beverage that spans the world over. Beer has been enjoyed all around the world for thousands of years and poured into all sorts of vessels with many ingredients. Enjoying beer makes memories and is an experience that I feel blessed to be able to partake in, especially at this time in world history where the beer quality is at its peak.

Pourquoi jugez-vous à la World Beer Cup ? Que signifie pour vous le fait d'être juge à la Coupe du monde de la bière ?

I judge at the World Beer Cup because I have been in the beer industry for over 15 years and have loved seeing the increase in quality over the years. Brewers have been putting more effort into making quality paramount in the more recent years, making this last year’s judging experience the best one yet!

Judging beer at the World Beer Cup puts my skills to the test and allows me to continue my never-ending journey of sensory knowledge as I learn more each time I judge from some of the best in the world at determining the minute compounds created during the mash, the fermentation, or the packaging process.

Markus Raupach

Bavière, Allemagne

Comment êtes-vous entré dans l'industrie de la bière ? Pourquoi la bière est-elle importante pour vous ?

I was born and raised in Bamberg and practically imbibed our beer culture with my mother’s milk. As I grew older, beer first became my passion and then my profession, not only in Germany but all over the world. I am the author of over 60 books and games about beer, including the chronicle of the German Brewers’ Association, host Germany’s most successful beer podcast with over 250 episodes, am a beer judge at the most important competitions worldwide and train beer sommeliers and beer judges throughout Europe with the German Beer Academy. As a Nominated Beer Educator, I have also recently started doing this for WSET. And it’s really funny to see what has become of the first sips of Bamberg Rauchbier…

Pourquoi jugez-vous à la World Beer Cup ? Que signifie pour vous le fait d'être juge à la Coupe du monde de la bière ?

Judging at the World Beer Cup is special for me in many ways. For one, I get to learn about many different parts of U.S. beer culture and have already made many new friends across the U.S. Of course, I also learn a lot about the current and historical beers of the USA. On the other hand, I can bring my European-influenced, but also very extensive international experience to the table and share it with the judges. This results in exciting discussions, which are always enriching for everyone involved thanks to the different perspectives. I also really enjoy the supporting program and the CBC, which I always enjoy attending.