(Bill Butcher — pictured far left — and Team Port City at a recent World Beer Cup ceremony.)
By Jeff Maisey
Winning awards is nothing new for Alexandria-based Port City Brewing Company.
The brewery’s name is synonymous with excellence and consistency in brewing.
Still, it is impressive to say the least to observe another piece of hardware going their way — a gold medal in 2024 World Beer Cup Beer awards for Optimal Wit in the Belgian-Style Wit category.
Bill Butcher, founder of Port City Brewing Company, shared his thoughts on this latest accomplishment.
How many World Beer Cup medals has Port City won overall?
We now have 5 World Beer Cup medals: 2018 Porter, Silver; 2022 Downright Pilsner, Silver; 2023 Colossal 2, Bronze; 2023 Optimal Wit, Bronze; 2024 Optimal Wit, Gold.
They hang in our Tasting Room next to our 14 Great American Beer Festival medals.
How many world and national-level awards has Optimal Wit won?
Optimal Wit has won two World Beer Cup awards: 2023 Bronze and 2024 Gold.
It has also won 4 Great American Beer Festival medals: two Gold (2013 and 2021); Silver, 2018; Bronze, 2015.
What was the first thing that came to your mind when hearing the news this year?
The first thing that came to mind was a sense of gratitude. Gratitude for being able to lead a team that is brewing world-class quality beer and presenting it in the market in a world-class quality manner. The only thing that could have made that moment better would have been to have the whole team with me on stage.
What does it mean to your brew team to have a best beer in the world?
Our brewing team takes a lot of pride in their craft. They look out for each other and hold each other to very high standards. An award like this is a very satisfying team win, and it validates the painstaking attention to detail that our brewers embrace. It also gives all a great reason to get together and celebrate!
What makes Optimal Wit such a consistently successful competition beer?
Optimal Wit, along with the other medal winners over the years, are the flagships of our portfolio. These are the beers that we brew, package, sell and drink every day, week in and week out. We know the recipes, the brew sheets, and the potential challenges of brewing these beers. Our entire team has their hands on these beers each step of the way. It is this consistency and fastidious attention to detail that helps our team brew with consistently great results. We take a lot of pride in keeping our flagships at the highest quality levels every day.
Has it been a popular seller in the taproom and packaged distribution?
Optimal Wit is our best selling beer, and has been since the day we opened. We sell it in bottles, cans and kegs up and down the East Coast. It makes up about 40% of our production during the year. It is a delicious, refreshing and complex beer that is very food friendly. It continues to grow and delight our customers and we love to see that!
How do you plan to promote it over the next year?
We will continue to highlight the Optimal Wit as a food friendly, delicious beer to be enjoyed year round. We also will highlight the fact that Optimal Wit is brewed with 100% Virginia grown wheat from Virginia’s Northern Neck. We want people to know that when they crack open an Optimal Wit, they are supporting local Virginia agriculture, as well as enjoying the best example of Belgian Witbier in the world!
