Photo © Brewers Association’

If you care about beer, you’re probably  already aware that the Great American Beer Festival Competition winners were announced over the weekend. Presented annually by the national craft beer trade organization, the Brewers Association, it remains the nation’s largest professional beer competition and the premier symbol of brewing excellence, that this year included cideries in the event.

A total of 273 breweries and cideries took home 347 medals in this year’s Great American Beer Festival competition. Over seven days and three judging phases, 250 expert judges evaluated 8,315 beer and cider entries—including 68 Collaboration and 40 Pro-Am submissions—from breweries spanning all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

If you want to see a COMPLETE listing of all this year’s winners, you need to go HERE. But here are some key stats from this awesome event…

2025 GABF COMPETITION STATISTICS

• 39th edition of the GABF competition
• 8,315 beers judged
• 1,555 breweries & cideries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
• 250 judges
• 300 + volunteers
• Average number of beers entered in each category: 71
• Category with the highest number of entries: Category # 107- Juicy/Hazy India Pale Ale (301 entries)
• 347 total medals awarded
• 273 medal-winning breweries and cideries
• 180 first-time GABF competition entrants
• 12 first-time GABF competition winners
• Six cider categories
• 3 new categories: Vera Hop, Mexican-Style Pale Lager, International Amber Lager

TOP 5 MOST-ENTERED BEER STYLE CATEGORY WINNERS

Category 107: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (301 entries)

GOLD: TourBus® Double Dry Hopped Hazy IPA | DESTIHL Brewery | Normal, IL

SILVER: MadeWest Hazy | MadeWest Brewing Co. | Ventura, CA

BRONZE: Cloud Counter | Pollyanna Brewing Co. | Lemont, IL

Category 105: West Coast India Pale Ale (300 entries) – Sponsored by Wyeast

GOLD: How the West Was One: Mosaic | Westbound & Down Brewing Co. | Idaho Springs, CO

SILVER: Coast Molinos | Los Molinos Beer Co. | San Clemente, CA

BRONZE: Cosmic Guava West Coast IPA | pFriem Family Brewers | Hood River, OR

Category 51: Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest (186 entries)

GOLD: Festbier | Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co. | Glenwood Springs, CO

SILVER: Festbier | Northwoods Brewing Co. | Northwood, NH

BRONZE: Penn Oktoberfest | Pennsylvania Brewing Co. | Pittsburgh, PA

Category 47: German-Style Pilsener (184 entries)

GOLD: Helper Beer Schloss Tor | Helper Beer | Helper, UT

SILVER: Tiny Bomb | Wiseacre Brewing Co. – Downtown | Memphis, TN

BRONZE: Second Rodeo | Starr Hill Beer Hall – Richmond | Richmond, VA

Category 45: Hoppy Lager (171 entries)

GOLD: Coral Crush | Alma Mader Brewing | Kansas City, MO

SILVER: Infinity Pils | Westbound & Down Brewing Co. – Westbound Mill | Lafayette, CO

BRONZE: Sound Sail | MadeWest Brewing Co. | Ventura, CA

 MOST-ENTERED CIDER CATEGORY WINNERS 

Category 203: Fruited Cider (53 entries) – Sponsored by Amoretti

GOLD: Honey Citron | Gowan’s Heirloom Cider | Philo, CA

SILVER: Piper’s Pineapple | Gatlinburg Brewing Co. | Sevierville, TN

BRONZE: Huckleberry Cosmic Crisp | 2 Towns Ciderhouse | Corvallis, OR

MOST-MEDALED BREWERIES

Fat Head’s Brewery | Middleburg Heights, OH

GOLD: Battle Axe (Cat. 19)

GOLD: Goggle Fogger (Cat. 66)

SILVER: Bone Head (Cat. 101)

BRONZE: Hop JuJu (Cat. 103)

BRONZE: Excursion Journeyman (Cat. 16)

UPP Liquids | Bend, OR

GOLD: Buzz Box (Cat. 13)

GOLD: Moments Made (Cat. 62)

SILVER: UPP Yours (Cat. 4)

SILVER: Flower Child (Cat. 63)

BRONZE: Reduction Ratio (Cat. 91)

Westbound & Down Brewing Co. – Westbound Mill | Lafayette, CO

GOLD: Westbound Italian Pils (Cat. 49)

GOLD: Parallel Pale (Cat. 96)

SILVER: Scenic Route (Cat. 18)

SILVER: Infinity Pils (Cat. 45)

BRONZE: Westbound IPA (Cat. 98)

COLLABORATION COMPETITION (68 entries)

GOLD: Route 4 Revive-ALE | Municipal Brew Works with Third Eye Brewing Co.

SILVER: La Lumbre | Waredaca Brewing Co. with Mayan Monkey Brewing Co.

BRONZE: Mounds of Importance | Third Eye Brewing Co. with Narrow Path Brewing Co.

PRO-AM COMPETITION (40 entries)

Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. and White Labs

GOLD: Christopher’s Bier | Fritz Family Brewers and Christopher Owens

SILVER: Cool Uncle Dunkel | Hidden Wit Brewing Co. and Joel Miller

BRONZE: Battles for Bavaria | San Diego Brewing Co. and Jeffery Battles

“Year after year, the Great American Beer Festival sets the bar for American brewing (and for the second year in a row, cidermaking). The 2025 competition was no exception,” said Chris Williams, competition director for the Brewers Association. “There were extremely strong showings from numerous breweries and cidermakers across the U.S., maximizing the level of competition among the entire competition community.’

“With 347 winners this year, these medals honor the talent, dedication, and creativity of our nation’s brewers and cidermakers,” Williams  added. “Congratulations to all 2025 GABF medalists! You should be proud to know that you’re taking home one of the most competitive accolades in the world!”

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