Three San Diego Breweries were awarded gold medals at the 2024 World Beer Cup, the the largest international beer competition often called the “Olympics of beer competitions.” Overall, San Diego breweries won 14 medals.
Coronado Brewing and North Park Beer each won gold while Pizza Port won two golds. Coronado’s Nado won in the International Lager category and North Park Beer won for its Ice-Fu! in the Hoppy Lager category. Pizza Port’s golds were for its Junk In Da Trunkel Dunkel (Ocean Beach brewing location) in the South German-Style Dunkel Weizen category, and for its 24th Annual Strong Ale Festival Blend (Carlsbad brewing facility) in the Wood- And Barrel-Aged Beer category.
Gold medals are awarded to “world class beers that accurately exemplify the specified style, displaying the proper balance of taste, aroma, and appearance,” according to World Beer Cup judging criteria.
“The gold rush continues to California, and more specifically to San Diego, when it comes to great craft breweries,” said San Diego Brewers Guild Executive Director Erik Fowler. “Winning never gets old, and we are proud of our hard-working craft brewers who represent the Guild and our region so well on the international stage.”
The medal ceremony took place in Las Vegas as part of the Craft Brewers Conference and BrewExpo America, and it featured more than 9,300 beers from 2,600 breweries spanning 50 countries. The Brewers Association, which is a not-for-profit trade association that promotes and protects American craft brewers, hosts the event.
San Diego breweries eclipsed last year’s World Beer Cup awards total of 12, including one more Gold Medal.
Here is list of all winning San Diego beers:
GOLD (4)
Coronado Brewing Company: Nado, “International Lager” category
North Park Beer Company: Ice-Fu!, “Hoppy Lager” category
Pizza Port Brewing Company (Ocean Beach): Junk In Da Trunkel Dunkel, “South German-Style Dunkel Weizen” category
Pizza Port Brewing Company (Carlsbad): 24th Annual Strong Ale Festival Blend, “Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer” category
SILVER (5)
Battlemage Brewing Company (Vista): Summon Ifrit, “American-Style Amber/Red Ale” category
Craft Coast Beer & Tacos (Oceanside): Chillzner, International Pilsener” category
Culture Brewing Co (Solana Beach): Kostka-busser, “Honey Beer” category
Karl Strauss Brewing Company (San Diego): Golden Stout, “Coffee Beer” category
North Park Beer Company: Hop-Fu!, “American-Style IPA” category
BRONZE (5)
Abnormal Co. (Rancho Bernardo): Eddie’s Redux, “West Coast-Style IPA” category
Craft Coast Beer & Tacos: XPA, “Australian-Style Pale Ale” category
Fall Brewing Company (North Park): Tora!, “International Lager” category
Julian Beer Company: Dolphin of the Desert, Belgian-Style Quadrupel” category
Kilowatt Brewing (Kearny Mesa): OB Bubble Dubbel, “Belgian-Style Dubbel” category
The World Beer Cup Competition Manager selects judges from a list of internationally recognized brewers, consultants, industry suppliers, and writers. Judging is blind, with no brand knowledge of any kind provided to judges. Beer entries are judged solely on their merits.
A list of all winners can be found at https://www.worldbeercup.org/winners/current-winners/. The World Beer Cup was developed by the Brewers Association in 1996 to celebrate the art and science of brewing.
With more than 150 craft brewery locations, San Diego County is known as The Capital of Craft.