Piney River Brewing Company won two bronze medals for Black Walnut Wheat and for Andy’s Root Beer at the US Open Beer Championship 2026 competition, announced on July 15 from the US Open Beer Championship Headquarters in Oxford, OH.
The 2026 competition had thousands of beers in over 180 different beer style categories. The contest is open to professional brewers and award-winning beers from home brewers across the world. This US Open Beer Championship is the third largest beer competition in the world. US Open judges hail from England, Canada, and the US, and judging is completed annually in Oxford.
Brian Durham (left) with Black Walnut Wheat and Andy Durham with Andy’s Root Beer. Most of the US Open Beer Championship medals hang behind them.
Black Walnut Wheat has claimed seven medals at the US Open Beer Championship since the 2015 competition, including one gold, two silver and three bronze in previous years. The beer has medaled in “American-style Wheat Beer” and “Nut Beer”, and this year’s medal was in the nut beer category.
Andy’s Root Beer won bronze in the “Kids Root Beer” category, for non-alcoholic root beer. This is the third US Open Beer Championship medal for Andy’s Root Beer, which has a gold in 2024 and silver in 2018.
Black Walnut is a dark American-style wheat beer brewed with black walnuts from Hammons Black Walnuts in Stockton, MO. The beer is easy to drink with black walnut aroma and flavor that comes through on the finish. Black Walnut Wheat is Piney River’s top selling beer and is the brewery’s flagship beer due to its unique flavor and use of local ingredients.
Andy’s Root Beer is the non-alcoholic brewing project of Andy Durham, son of Piney River Brewing founders and owners, Joleen and Brian Durham. Andy started “brewing” root beer one keg at a time when he was in elementary school. In junior high school Andy won a business pitch competition at the University of Missouri, developing a plan for putting Andy’s Root Beer in cans. Andy’s Root Beer is sold in cans and kegs across the state and is available for shipping in cans nationwide.
“I am incredibly proud of the work our brewery team does every day to help execute award winning beers from brewing to packaging,” Brian Durham, said.
Brandon Lee and Sheldon Starr work with Durham to execute the beer recipes and packaging operations at the brewery.
“Piney River would not be recognized at this level if our brewers were not doing the right things every day to brew and package great beers,” Durham said.
We win, you win! Celebrate the US Open Beer Championship win with Piney River Brewing!
Joleen Durham has planned a “We Win, You Win” event August 7, 8 and 9 celebrating the Black Walnut Wheat and Andy’s Root Beer wins at the BARn—the brewery’s taproom in Bucyrus.
“We will offer a discount on draft pours of pints and package to go all weekend long,” Durham said. Josie VanKirk is performing live at the BARn on Saturday at 5, too. There is no charge to enjoy the music, and the BARn is family and pet friendly.
Piney River began entering the US Open Beer Championship in 2015, and with the 2026 wins, Piney River has 27 US Open Beer Championship medals in 10 years.
“I can’t say enough how Joleen and I are very pleased to bring recognition to our farm brewery and to Texas county and our community,” Durham said. “Piney River is not a well-known brewery, but we are making world class beers on our farm in rural America. It’s something that we’re proud to do.”
Piney River Brewing is located on the Durham’s 160-acre farm in South Central Missouri, operating out of a restored barn built in the 1940’s and a larger production “barn”. The Durhams founded the brewery in 2010 with a 10-gallon brewing system. In 2025, Piney River Brewing produced 1,620 barrels of beer. The brewery has distribution in Missouri and Arkansas.
A complete list of US Open Beer Championship winners can be found at www.usopenbeer.com.
