San Diegan named Homebrewer of the Year

On Saturday, the American Homebrewers Association announced winners from the 48th edition of the largest and most prestigious amateur brewing competition in the world. Held in Asheville, North Carolina, the National Homebrew Competition (NHC) included 3,575 entries from 1,054 homebrewers across 46 states, the District of Columbia and seven countries. Prior to final-round judging, which took place last week in the event’s host city, entries made it through first-round scrutinization in nine U.S. cities*, including San Diego.

As is typically the case, the names of numerous local homebrewers were called out during this year’s ceremony. Amateurs residing in San Diego County matched the total number of awards garnered by locals at last year’s NHC, eight, with one being named the 2026 Homebrewer of the Year. That individual is Benjamin Frymark, a member of local homebrew club QUAFF, whose American barleywine was named Best of Show out of every beer in this year’s competition.

“It’s meaningful to me that I won with my barleywine, as Sierra Nevada Brewing‘s Bigfoot was one of the first real craft beers that I had back in the early ’90s, and a huge reason I got into the craft. This beer was like nothing else around. It was big in alcohol, but also full of complex malt flavors with piney character and bitterness,” says Frymark. “My brew is not a true clone, but an updated variant, coming in at 11% (alcohol-by-volume) with 82 IBUs (international bittering units), and Chinook and CTZ hops. It was bottle-conditioned, and I think this helped it mellow a bit over the last few months. The alcohol aged and the malt rounded, while the hops remained significant.”

Frymark was the only San Diegan to earn a first-place award, but a trio of QUAFF members combined to notch five second-place wins. Doug Brown garnered silver in the Traditional Cider & Perry and Wood-Aged Beer categories, while Eli Palma medaled in Specialty & Seasonal Spiced Beer as well as Strong American Ale. Combined with Frymark’s first-place win, he and Palma came a bronze shy of an all-San-Diego run in the latter category.

Jeffry Battles (who medaled at last year’s Great American Beer Festival with a pro-am hefeweizen he developed in collaboration with San Diego Brewing Co.), also earned a second-place win in the Amber & Brown American Ale category. Meanwhile, Alex Mullen and Tijuana Homebrew Club member Juan Pablo Saucedo took third-place in the American Wheat & Blonde and Pale European Beer categories, respectively.

Unlike last year, where three of the county’s wins came in mead categories – including Brown being named Meadmaker of the Year – no locals were recognized in that beverage category, however, Brown did make good for one of his ciders, a segment San Diego was shut out of in 2025.

The following are all of the winners from the 2026 NHC with home cities and homebrew club affiliations, where applicable…

MAJOR AWARDS
Homebrewer of the Year: Benjamin Frymark, San Diego (QUAFF)

FIRST PLACE AWARDS (1)
Strong American Ale: Benjamin Frymark, San Diego (QUAFF)

SECOND PLACE AWARDS (5)
Amber & Brown American Ale: Jeffry Battles, Lemon Grove (QUAFF)
Specialty & Seasonal Spiced Beer: Eli Palma, San Diego (QUAFF)
Strong American Ale: Eli Palma, San Diego (QUAFF)
Traditional Cider & Perry: Doug Brown, San Diego (QUAFF)
Wood-Aged Beer: Doug Brown, San Diego (QUAFF)

THIRD PLACE AWARDS (2)
American Wheat & Blonde: Alex Mullen, San Diego (Independent)
Pale European Beer: Juan Pablo Salcedo, San Ysidro (Tijuana Homebrew Club)

* First-round judging took place in Chicago, Ill.; Indianapolis, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.; Longmont, Colo.; Philadelphia, Pa.; San Diego, Calif.; San Francisco, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; and Tampa, Fla.