Third Space Brewing has been named the Best New Brewer of 2016 in the state of Wisconsin by prestigious beer rating site RateBeer.

RateBeer Best, an annual online competition in its 15th year, summarizes millions of reviews on over 470,000 beers from the world’s most avid beer enthusiasts, some with over 40,000 reviews. The review scores were tallied to produce the year’s best beers, brewers and beer retailers worldwide. Fewer than one percent of all brewers are awarded RateBeer honors. The competition concludes with a live award ceremony in Santa Rosa, Calif.

This is the first award for Third Space, which opened in September 2016. The Milwaukee craft brewery has quickly gained recognition from customers and peers for its lineup of well-balanced yet flavorful brews from award-winning Brewmaster Kevin Wright.

"RateBeer Best has honored the best in beer since 2002," said Joseph Tucker, executive director at RateBeer. "Every winner has exemplified the attention to aesthetic, technique and service required to be recognized as best in today’s increasingly large market of new and exciting brewers."

"We are honored and humbled to be named Wisconsin’s Best New Brewer by RateBeer, especially in light of the many other great breweries that opened in 2016 in our city and our state," Wright, who is also a co-founder of the brewery, said.

"We are especially grateful for this honor since it is awarded based on actual ratings by thousands of beer drinkers who tasted and rated our beers," added Andy Gehl, co-founder and director of sales and marketing for Third Space.

See the full list of RateBeer winners at ratebeer.com