Brewers Association
10/11/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/11/2025 13:06
The Great American Beer Festival Announces the Nation’s Best Beers and Ciders
347 medals awarded to 273 breweries and cideries
DENVER-The Brewers Association (BA) revealed the 2025 award-winning beers and ciders at this year's Great American Beer Festival® (GABF) competition ceremony. Expanding on last year's introduction of cider categories, the 2025 competition featured a special, one-time-only Vera Hop category.
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.
"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. 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!"
The awards ceremony, live-streamed on The Brewing Network on Saturday, October 11, 2025, was held in the festival hall at the Colorado Convention Center as part of the Great American Beer Festival before Saturday's session.
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
- 6 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) See criteria here.
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) See criteria here .
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
*Out of 348 possible awards, 347 were conferred. GOLD was not awarded in Category 75 for American Black Ale or American Stout.
Editor's note: Photos for media use are available on the GABF website. Members of the media are encouraged to contact [email protected] with any questions.
The 2025 Great American Beer Festival was made possible in part by the generous support of more than 300 volunteers, by its sponsors, and through a partnership with the American Cider Association.
Media contact: Jessie Vandenhouten (on behalf of the Brewers Association):
About the Brewers Association
The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade organization representing more than 9,300 small and independent American brewers, their beverages, and the community of craft beer enthusiasts. With over 5,600 U.S. brewery members, the BA champions the independent craft brewer seal -a trusted symbol that helps consumers identify beer brewed by small and independent producers.
The BA organizes some of the industry's most influential events, including the World Beer Cup®,Great American Beer Festival®,Craft Brewers Conference® & BrewExpo America®, and American Craft Beer Week®. It also publishes The New Brewer® and through Brewers Publications®, remains the country's leading publisher of brewing literature. Beer lovers can explore the world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and follow the BA on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
The Brewers Association is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital/familial status. The BA complies with provisions of Executive Order 13672 and the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.
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Brewers Association published this content on October 11, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on October 11, 2025 at 19:06 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]