Marble Falls brewery wins gold, bronze at U.S. championship
The Save the World Brewing Co. team cheers after medaling in the U.S. Beer Open Championship. Head Brewer Emily Ribera (left) clinks with Production Manager Marc Wilson, Assistant Brewer Brian Dillard, and owners Evan and Brittany LeGarde. Courtesy photo
Save the World Brewing Co. in Marble Falls has one of the best beers in the world, according to the 2024 U.S. Open Beer Championship. On July 9, the brewery took home a gold medal and tied for bronze with two of its brews.
“This is so cool, and it puts Marble Falls on the map,” Save the World owner and General Manager Evan LeGarde told DailyTrib.com. “Every brewery wants to win these awards. It’s like the gold standard for our industry, and it’s obviously super competitive.”
Save the World is located in the Marble Falls Business and Technology Park at 1510 Resource Parkway and co-owned by LeGarde and wife Brittany. The couple purchased the business in 2022. It has been around since 2014.
The gold medal went to Save the World’s Chasing Broncos Juicy IPA (India Pale Ale). The tie for bronze was for its Hunt for Hazy New England-style IPA.
This year’s U.S. Open Beer Championship received over 9,000 entries from more than 600 breweries with 170 different beer styles. According to LeGarde, the New England/Juicy/Hazy IPA category is arguably one of the most competitive brackets in the competition.
“This is sort of like the Big Kahuna,” he explained. “Every major brewery in the country wants to win the Hazy IPA gold.”
A July 28 story published online by national business media company Forbes featured Save the World’s recent wins and echoed LeGarde’s sentiment about the dominance of that style of beer.
“Hazy IPAs, aka New England IPAs, remain a dominant force in craft beer in the U.S.,” wrote Forbes contributing writer Erik Ofgang. “Critics may mock ‘haze bros’ but if the IPA remains king of craft beer then hazies are the king of kings.”
The New England/Juicy/Hazy IPA style is described as an approachable beer with a balance of fruity and bitter flavors, soft body, smooth mouthfeel, and “hazy” appearance, according to the Beer Judge Certification Program.
Save the World’s Chasing Broncos beer is a New England-style Hazy IPA with an intense tropical fruit influence, a delicate citrus aroma, and notes of guava, pineapple, orange, and grapefruit. Save the World sources its Chasing Broncos hops from Australia and New Zealand, which are known for producing strong, fruity flavors, LeGarde said.
Since winning gold, the brewery has received requests for samples and distribution of Chasing Broncos from across Texas, the United States, and other countries.
“We’re getting pummeled by people in Houston, Dallas, and Colorado,” LeGarde said. “We’ve had people reach out to us from Canada and Europe. We’re getting emails from all over the world.”
LeGarde expressed hopes that the wins would help them beef up distribution and maybe even bring a certain level of beer tourism to Marble Falls.
“Save the World has a good reputation, but I think this will open that up to a whole different group of people,” he said. “I expect that we will have a lot more people from Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston coming out. People want to drink it from the source.”
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So, proud of Emily Ribera and her team! She has put in the time and work and it shows! Congratulations to everyone at STW!