Originally held under the name California Craft Brewers Cup, the Brewers Cup of California has steadily grown over the past six years. This year’s edition of that statewide brewing competition was the largest yet, with 1,323 entries from 203 independent Golden State craft breweries. A panel of more than 60 judges worked together to determine the top three entries in 73 distinct style categories, with the winning beers announced this evening at the B Street Theatre in Sacramento.
Only two days removed from an outstanding performance at the 2026 World Beer Cup (WBC), San Diego County brewing companies turned in another good showing. As a region, local breweries earned a total of 23 medals (plus two from an out-of-town company operating a brewing facility in San Marcos). Of those medals, nine were gold, five were silver and five were bronze.
The biggest winners of the night were Carlsbad-based Burgeon Beer Co., which took gold in Low/No Alcohol Beers and Schwarzbier, silvers in American Amber / Red Ale and American Pale Ales, and a bronze in International Pale Ales, and El Cajon’s Burning Beard Brewing, which hauled in two golds in the American Light Lagers and Euro Sours category, while also earning bronze in the latter category. Two of Burgeon’s beers, Tank Top & Schwartz and Redwood Remedy, also medaled at the aforementioned WBC.
A pair of Pizza Port Brewing’s brewpubs also medaled, with its Solana Beach spot grabbing a gold (Vegetable Beers) and its Ocean Beach location racking up three bronzes (Belgian Pales / Session, Fruit Beers, German Wheats). Other multi-medal winners included AleSmith Brewing (a gold and silver) and Deft Brewing (two bronzes), while Kairoa Brewing and Puesto Cerveria accounted for the county’s other gold-medal wins.
Additionally, San Diego operations came one beer short of running a pair of categories – Euro Sours and International Pale Ales.
It was a solid effort from America’s Finest City, but came shy of L.A. breweries. Those businesses’ combined to win the most collective medals, earning the Los Angeles County Brewers Guild the Guild of the Year award. The Best of Show designation went to Lock’d, Bock’d & Ready to Rock, a German-style Maibock from Morgan Territory Brewing in Tracy, and North Coast Brewing co-founder Mark Ruedrich was named the 2026 Craft Beer Pioneer for helping shape and propel the state’s craft-beer industry.
The following is a full list of local winners from the 2026 Brewers Cup of California competition…
GOLD (8)
American Dark Lager: Puesto Negra, Puesto Cervecería (Mission Valley)
American Light Lagers: Normcore, Burning Beard Brewing (El Cajon)
English Brown Ale: Nut Brown, AleSmith Brewing (Miramar)
Euro Sours: Song of Orpheus, Burning Beard Brewing (El Cajon)
German Wheats: Hasselhef, Kairoa Brewing (University Heights)
Low/No Alcohol Beers: Clever Kiwi, Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad)
Schwarzbier: Tank Top & Schwartz, Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad)
Vegetable Beers: Broken Chairs w/ Coconut, Pizza Port Brewing (Solana Beach)
SILVER (6)
American Amber / Red Ale: Redwood Remedy, Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad)
American Brown Ale: Who’s That? Brown!, Tarantula Hill Brewing (Thousand Oaks) *
American Pale Ales: Treevana, Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad)
English Stouts: Pace Car, AleSmith Brewing (Miramar)
International Pale Ales: Mosaic IPA, Karl Strauss Brewing (Pacific Beach)
Strong Belgian Darks: Dolphin of the Desert, Julian Beer Co. (Julian)
BRONZE (11)
American Strong Ales: Riders on the Storm, Tarantula Hill Brewing (Thousand Oaks) *
Belgian Pales / Session: Guillaume, Pizza Port Brewing (Ocean Beach)
Bohemian Pilsener: Czech Please, Hodad’s Brewing (Serra Mesa)
Chocolate Beers: Night Scenes, San Diego Brewing Co. (Mission Valley)
Euro Sours: Gueuzeapalooza, Burning Beard Brewing (El Cajon)
Fruit Beers: Paloma, Pizza Port Brewing (Ocean Beach)
German Wheats: Junk in da Trunkel Dunkel, Pizza Port Brewing (Ocean Beach)
Gose: Kirschbier Gose, Deft Brewing (Bay Park)
International Pale Ales: Kombi Ride, Burgeon Beer Co. (Carlsbad)
Strong Belgian Darks: DeftCon 4, Deft Brewing (Bay Park)
Vienna Lager: Grazias Especial, Mike Hess Brewing (North Park)
* Company based outside the county, which operates a brewing facility in San Marcos