World Championship beer tapping won by a Belgian for the third year in a row
Jan Vandenplas from Leuven has won the 17th edition of the Stella Artois World Draught Master, the unofficial world championship in beer tapping, which took place in the British town of Wimbledon. This is already the third year in a row that the competition has been won by a Belgian.
The World Draught Master is organised each year by Anheuser-Busch InBev. To start, a national competition is held in participating countries, after which the respective winners take each other on.
Vandenplas was crowned Belgian champion earlier in the month and was therefore allowed to represent Belgian in Wimbledon on Saturday. The 21 international participants needed to show that they could manage the demanding 9-part pouring ritual perfectly, from tapping beer to serving it at the table.
Vandenplas beat Lori Wallace from New Zealand in an exciting final, during which two of the world's fastest and most talented beer tappers were up against each other. Ultimately, members of the jury were of the opinion that 24 year-old Vandenplas managed the various steps best of all.
Vandenplas takes his place on the honours list, beside fellow countrymen Marjolein Geuens and Allaine Schaiko. It's already the ninth time that the competition has been won by a Belgian participant.
Stella Artois, the world's best selling Belgian beer, is part of a Belgian brewing tradition dating back to 1366. It is a low fermentation filtered blond lager, brewed from the highest quality natural ingredients. Stella Artois is brewed in Leuven and belongs to the company Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest brewery chain in the world. This company's head office is based in the Belgian city of Leuven.