One of the world’s most prestigious and esteemed craft beer competitions, the World Beer Cup has celebrated the best in beer every year since the Brewers Association started handing out awards in 1996. This year, an international panel of 280 judges tasted 9,300 beers in 110 categories from 2,060 breweries in 50 countries.
“We tout the World Beer Cup as the largest and most prestigious beer competition in the world,” said Chris Williams, Competition Director at the Brewers Association, during his opening remarks at the 2024 World Beer Cup Awards Ceremony. “2024 is no exception. … I noticed in this World Beer Cup that the global beer community is strong. … Community is there, but we need to continue to strengthen and grow it.”
Overall, the craft beer industry faces what Brewers Association Vice President of Strategy and Chief Economist Bart Watson called a “challenging landscape” in his State of the Industry address during the conference. But Watson did provide some optimism, noting that while our era of rapid growth is far behind us, “I’m a firm believer that we can restart that growth, but in the short term, it’s more incremental, getting back to the hard work, finding more drinkers or getting craft in their hands on more occasions.”
We’ll choose to see the pint glass half full as well. So, if you’re looking to get more craft beer into your hands on more occasions, you certainly can’t go wrong with tracking down any of the award-winning beers below.
World Beer Cup 2024 Awards Ceremony: Colorado, California, Oregon, Oh My!
When I attended my first World Beer Cup Awards Ceremony in 2023, what struck me the most about the competition wasn’t necessarily the awards themselves but rather the support and encouragement lauded by those who won.
It’s well-known, for example, that The Colorado Brewers Guild gathers all the reps from the state’s breweries in one section. This year, I enjoyed joining the Colorado contingent in their section, which is always front-right from the stage.
“I started this ten or eleven years ago,” Strange Craft Brewing Company Founder Tim Myers told me. Everyone always sat apart, so I started saying, ‘Front-right, front-right,’ and after two years, people would come up to me and say, ‘Front-right, right!?’”
Myers is no stranger to awards. His Cherry Kriek won gold in 2014. “That one put us on the map,” he exclaimed. “I send that in every year.” And his barleywine won a bronze at the Great American Beer Festival in 2012 and a bronze at WBC in 2016.
This year, he entered an imperial IPA his fans have been incredibly stoked about, catapulting it to his number two best seller.
And while Myers didn’t personally pick up any awards this year, you can bet he was one of the first to jump up and cheer the loudest when another Colorado brewery won.
“We want to make noise for all our friends,” he says. “We’re a really strong guild with a lot of love and support. Every time Colorado wins, we want the rest of the country to know.”
This section hooted, hollered, cheered, and clapped louder than anyone else in the Venetian Ballroom in Las Vegas, NV.
Overall, as with previous years, Colorado Breweries cleaned up pretty nicely, with nineteen breweries collecting a total of twenty-one awards.
“Colorado continues to prove that it’s competitive on the world beer stage. With nine gold medals this year ranging from lagers to Belgian styles, Colorado craft breweries are demonstrating that they can brew alongside the best brewers in the world,” CBG Executive Director Shawnee Adelson said in a press release.
Other popular regions included Oregon, where 10 Barrel Brewing Company did something no other brewery has ever done—swept an entire category, winning bronze, silver, and gold in the “German-Style Sour Ale” category.
“This has never fucking happened,” Tonya Cornett, innovation brewmaster at 10 Barrel, who earlier in the week won the Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Craft Brewing, mouthed on stage.
And California, where breweries swept two of the top five most-entered categories, including Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout (198 entries) and West-Coast Style India Pale Ale (281 entries).
“We’ll never beat California for the number of medals,” admits Myers. “But we like to make a lot of noise for as small a state as we are; we want to celebrate each others’ successes.”
World Beer Cup 2024 Awards Ceremony: International Sweeps
The World Beer Cup is about beers from around the world.
International breweries picked up sixty-six awards across categories for this year’s awards. Countries represented included Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, China, Peru, Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Italy, France, and Norway.
In fact, the very first award announced—a bronze in the “American Wheat Beer” category—went to a beer called Spring Valley Silk Ale from Spring Valley Brewery in Shibuya, Japan, which bested fifty other beers.
Overall, Canada crushed with seventeen awards, followed by Germany with twelve, and Japan nabbed eight of their own.
“Between Oregon and California, Japan is crushing it,” some folks next to me exclaimed. “We gotta go to Japan and drink some beers over there.”
A Quick Glance at the Winners of the 2024 World Beer Cup Awards
“Each award represents not only exceptional quality but also innovation and creativity, driving the global craft beer industry forward,” says Williams. “This year’s winners exemplify the spirit of craftsmanship and ingenuity and showcase the diverse flavors and techniques that make beer an art form. Congratulations to this year’s winners for their outstanding achievements in brewing.”
In 2024, the Brewers Association introduced new trophies mailed to brewers after the competition. In lieu, the organization gave brewers bronze, silver, and gold sashes to wear proudly.
Here are the winners in the top five most-entered categories.
You can find the entire list of 2024 winners here.
5. Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout (198 entries)
GOLD: Dripping Maple | Kane Brewing Co. | Ocean, NJ
SILVER: Nocino Imperial Stout | Combustion Brewery & Taproom | Pickerington, OH
BRONZE: Tie XII On | Monday Night Brewing – Garage | Atlanta, GA
4. American-Style India Pale Ale (213 entries)
GOLD: High 6 | Highland Park Brewery | Los Angeles, CA
SILVER: Hop-Fu! | North Park Beer Company | San Diego, CA
BRONZE: Single Cone | Alvarado Street Brewery | Monterey, CA
3. German-Style Pilsener (221 entries)
GOLD: Pilsner | pFriem Family Brewers | Hood River, OR
SILVER: Pilsner | Seapine Brewing Co. | Seattle, WA
BRONZE: DownShift | Transmission Brewing | Ventura, CA
2. West Coast-Style India Pale Ale (281 entries)
GOLD: Western Standard Time | ISM Brewing | Long Beach, CA
SILVER: False Memories | Green Cheek Beer Co. | Orange, CA
BRONZE: Eddie’s Redux | Abnormal Beer Co. | San Diego, CA
1. Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (326 entries)
GOLD: Beezer | Old Irving Brewing Co. | Chicago, IL
SILVER: Art Isn’t Real | MadeWest Brewing Co. | Ventura, CA
BRONZE: King Lupu’s Happy Juice | Project 9 Brewing | Seattle, WA
