Belgium: InBev celebrated the 10th anniversary of Stella Artois® World Draught Master Competition

The tenth edition of the Stella Artois® World Draught Master Competition - a contest that rewards the world’s best pourer of Belgian beers - took place October 27 in the Stella Artois brewery in Leuven, the hometown of Stella Artois®, InBev said October 27.

The world’s larges brewery by volume brought together 26 international finalists for the competition, which is the highlight of 12 months hard work in training bartenders from all over the world. This year’s Stella Artois® World Draught Master title has been awarded to Michaela Joita - Romania (1st place winner), Ruslan Sorokpud – the Ukraine (1st runner-up) and Natasja Villette - Belgium (2nd runner-up).

First held in 1997, the Stella Artois® World Draught Master Competition assembles the best bartenders from around the world to rate their tapping skills, bottle-pouring finesse and table-serving protocol when it comes to serving Belgian beers. Every step of a competitor’s attempt to perform the “perfect pour” is carefully scrutinized by a panel of expert judges. The winner receives a free trip to a worldwide destination of their choice; two runner-ups receive a free trip anywhere in €ope.

Always a fight to the finish, the competition heralds the importance of the Stella Artois® 9-step pouring ritual: a cleaning process, the position of the tap (not touching the beer, head or glass), the size of the head (no higher than two fingers), and a careful re-dipping of the glass in cool water to restore its proper drinking temperature – all of which ensure that a Stella Artois® will always taste its best. Even the shape of the brand’s signature chalice glass is chosen to release all of the beer’s multi-textured aromas.

This annual contest welcomes the winners of locally-held contests from more than 26 countries - from Taiwan to Kazakhstan - a broad spectrum of international Stella Artois® brand ambassadors who reflect the widespread global appeal of Belgium’s premium lager.

Alexander Darwazeh, Stella Artois® Global Brand Director says: "Without a doubt, a well-poured beer adds something special to the experience, which is why for the last decade we’ve organized the Stella Artois® Draught Master competition, celebrating the fine art of pouring a perfect chalice of the world’s most popular Belgian beer."

This years competition participants came from: Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dubai, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine and the USA.

InBev is a publicly traded company (€onext: INB) based in Leuven, Belgium. The company's origins date back to 1366, and today it is the leading global brewer by volume. InBev’s strategy is to strengthen its local platforms by building significant positions in the world's major beer markets through organic growth, world-class efficiency, targeted external growth, and by putting consumers first. InBev has a portfolio of more than 200 brands, including Stella Artois®, Brahma®, Beck’s®, Leffe® and Skol® - the third-largest selling beer brand in the world. InBev employs some 85 000 people, running operations in over 30 countries across the Americas, €ope and Asia Pacific. In 2005, InBev realized 11.7 billion €o of revenue. Stella Artois is the 5th largest international beer in the world, present in more than 80 countries.

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