5 San Diego breweries won medals at the 2025 World Beer Cup
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Five San Diego breweries won medals in this year's World Beer Cup, but none captured gold.
Why it matters: Local craft beers and ciders are still making their mark at the largest international beer competition, even as the industry is shrinking.
Zoom in: Carlsbad-based Pizza Port Brewing Company brought home the most medals locally.
- Its Imperial Beach brewery won silver for Schwarzbier in the German-Style Schwarzbier category.
- Solana Beach won silver for Oscar Wanted a Brown Ale in the English-Style Brown Ale category.
- Ocean Beach won bronze for Junk In Da Trunkel Dunkel in the South German-Style Dunkel Weizen category.
- Plus, the San Clemente location won silver for its Dusk Til Dawn in the Coffee Stout or Porter category.
The other winners:
- Craft Coast Brewery & Tacos San Marcos's XPA won silver in the Australia-Style Pale Ale category
- Coronado Brewing Company's Guava Hard Cider won bronze in the Fruited Cider category
- North Park Beer Company's House of Fu! won bronze in the Imperial IPA category
- North Park's Taproom Beer Company's Modern Love won bronze in the New Zealand-style IPA category
The intrigue: Insurgente became only the second Tijuana brewery medalist, winning bronze for its Dragula in the Oatmeal Stout category.
Flashback: Last year, San Diego breweries won 14 medals, including four golds at the World Beer Cup.
What they're saying: "The overall results aren't what we're used to, but that doesn't take away from the extraordinary beers that did win medals this year," San Diego Brewers Guild executive director Erik Fowler said in a statement.
- The competition was stiff as some categories had more than 200 entries, he said.
The big picture: California brewers took home more medals than any other state with 76 total, including 28 gold.
- Oregon came in second with 35 medals, followed by Washington with 24.
- There were more than 8,375 entries from 1,761 breweries and cideries across 49 countries.
The bottom line: This list, plus the local brews recently named among the best in California, is a good place to start if you're looking to taste what's on tap in San Diego.
