Shangri-La Brewery's Black Yak (third from right) wins a silver award. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"This year it has more difficult than ever to win a medal in the European Beer Star," says Oliver Dawid, CEO of Private Brauereien Bayern, which has been organizing the competition since 2003. With 2,103 beers from 44 countries, the competition for one of the most sought-after prizes in the international brewing world recorded a record number of entries this year.

The competition is driven by the 124-strong jury of experts, who assess the beers in a blind tasting according to the same purely sensory criteria as a consumer would: color, smell, flavor, aromatic profile and overall impression. This year, the jury included master brewers, beer sommeliers and acknowledged beer connoisseurs from 30 countries.

The award is given to particularly authentic beers with lots of character as well as commitment to the traditional European style of brewing.

"The European Beer Star has enabled us to again increase public awareness of the wide variety of great, hand-crafted beers," says Dawid.