Who Won at the 2025 World Beer Cup?

Known as “the Olympics of beer,” the World Beer Cup is the most prestigious international beer competition in the world. Hosted by the Brewers Association, this biennial (now annual) event celebrates the very best in professional brewing—from small craft breweries to large-scale producers across the globe.

Founded in 1996, the World Beer Cup was created to showcase brewing excellence and foster international collaboration and innovation. Each year, breweries from around the world enter their beers and ciders in hopes of earning a coveted medal—Gold, Silver, or Bronze—in a wide range of style categories.

What sets the World Beer Cup apart is its rigorous judging process. Beers are evaluated by an expert panel of judges from dozens of countries, all blind-tasting entries over multiple days. With thousands of entries submitted each year, taking home a medal is a major achievement that puts a brewery on the global stage.

For fans and brewers alike, the World Beer Cup winners represent the cutting edge of beer craftsmanship and creativity.

Participating in the World Beer Cup is a major milestone for breweries of all sizes—and it’s open to professional brewers from around the world. Each brewery selects beers to enter based on the competition’s style guidelines, which span hundreds of unique beer and cider styles.

To enter, breweries register in advance and submit their beers by specific deadlines, carefully labeling and shipping entries according to strict packaging and presentation rules. Categories range from classic styles like German-style Pilsners to modern trends like Hazy IPAs and experimental hybrids.

Entry spots are limited and tend to fill up fast—so for many brewers, just securing a spot in the World Beer Cup is a competitive feat on its own.

What makes World Beer Cup winners so respected is the thorough, impartial judging process behind each medal. Every entry is judged blindly—meaning the panel doesn’t know the brewery or country of origin when evaluating a beer. Judges assess each entry based on specific style guidelines, aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall technical excellence.

The judging panel includes some of the most respected experts in the global brewing community. For the 2025 competition, 265 judges from 37 countries evaluated over 8,000 entries across 14 sessions in just seven days. It’s an intense, detail-oriented process, and medals are only awarded when a beer truly meets the highest standards.

No medals are given if no beer in a category meets the criteria for quality and style accuracy—making every award that much more meaningful.

Hosted by the Brewers Association at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis—alongside the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America—the World Beer Cup is widely known as the most prestigious professional beer and cider competition in the world.

This year, 265 expert judges from 37 countries came together to evaluate a massive 8,375 entries submitted by 1,761 breweries and cideries from 49 countries. After seven days and 14 judging sessions, 349 awards were handed out to some of the most exceptional brews and boldest cider creations on the planet.

Chris Williams, competition director, summed it up perfectly: “This year’s World Beer Cup winners represent the best of the best. These breweries and cideries have demonstrated an incredible level of craftsmanship and passion. Their work not only sets new standards in the industry but also continues to inspire brewers worldwide.”

A complete list of winner can be found at worldbeercup.org

Here is a quick rundown of how the competition looked in 2025:

• 16th competition (skipped 2020; annualized starting 2022)
• Entries: 8,375
• Breweries & cideries: 1,761
• Countries: 49
• First-time brewery entries: 317
• Judges: 265
• International judges: 132 from 37 countries
• Judge countries: 37
• Judging sessions and days: 7 days, 14 sessions
• Beer style categories (including subcategories): 112
• Cider categories: 5
• Average number of beers in each category: 73

The most entered style categories include:

• Category 111, Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale, 290 entries
• Category 112, West Coast-Style India Pale, 253 entries
• Category 110, American-Style India Pale Ale, 208 entries
• Category 43, German-Style Pilsener, 186 entries
• Category 39, Hoppy Lager, 155 entries

(Date and statistics provided by the Brewers Association)

We wanted to take a moment to highlight the award-winning breweries using Ollie brewery software that brought home medals on the global stage. These award-winning brewers are not only crafting world-class beer, but they’re also streamlining operations, improving quality, and scaling smarter with Ollie. We’re proud to support the passionate, innovative teams behind some of this year’s most celebrated beers.

Archival Brewing
Silver: AEgir’s Wreath – Historical Beer

BarrieHaus Beer Co.
Silver: Family Tradition – Vienna-Style Lager 

Big Dog’s Brewing Co.
Gold: Tripel Dog Dare – Belgian-Style Tripel

Fieldwork Brewing Co.
Bronze: Picked Last – American-Belgo-Style Ale

Free Roam Brewing Co.
Gold: 40 Mike Mike – American-Style Amber Lager

Holy City Brewing
Gold: Washout Wheat – South German-Style Hefeweizen

Legion Brewing Co.
Silver: Sláinte – Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout

Sky Puppy Brewing
Bronze: Shady Lady – German-Style Schwarzbier

TapRoom Beer Co.
Bronze: Modern Love – New Zealand-Style India Pale Ale

White Oak Brewing
Gold: Extra Medium Mild – English Mild or Bitter