Held annually in Denver, Colorado by the Brewers Association as part of the three-day beer-sampling event of the same name, the Great American Beer Festival is the competitive event U.S. brewers circle on their calendars. Though representative of just one country’s professional brewing industry, GABF is the most prestigious competition of its type on the planet.
Founded in 1982, the event has expanded greatly over the decades, in the process providing a template for other national and international competitions the world over to follow. And with the U.S. still serving as a guiding light for brewing innovation and quality, medals from this annual event remain the most coveted among our nation’s beermakers.
San Diego County breweries have historically fared well at GABF. Last year, local operations earned a dozen medals, an admirable total that was actually the lowest for the region over the past decade. Prior to that, county brewing companies accounted for 18 medals in 2023, 15 in 2022, 18 in 2021, 13 in 2020, 18 in 2019, 16 in 2018, 14 in 2017, 18 in 2016 and a whopping 20 in 2015.
Winners from the 2025 GABF competition were announced this morning. This year, San Diego County breweries brought home 12 medals. That total was bolstered by a gold medal from Pizza Port Brewing’s San Clemente brewpub, and five medals from out-of-town brewing companies operating locations in San Diego County. Of the dozen-and-a-half medals, two of them were gold, eight were silver and eight were bronze.
The lone gold from a local operation went to The Brigantine restaurant group’s Kearny Mesa craft-beer operation, Ketch Brewing, for its flagship Brig Blonde, combining with a bronze from Coronado Brewing for its Salty Crew for a near San Diego sweep of the Golden or Blonde Ale category. The only locally based brewing company to bring home multiple medals was Pizza Port with the aforementioned gold and a silver in the Specialty Berliner-style Weisse category for its perennial award-winning Paloma.
Meanwhile, Costa Mesa-based Green Cheek Beer Co., which operates a brewpub in Oceanside, earned two silvers (including one in the only category where no gold was awarded, American Black Ale or American Stout) and a bronze, while Docent Brewing, which has a taproom in Carlsbad, nabbed a silver and bronze. Vista’s BattleMage Brewing earned another medal, a silver, for its red ale, Summon Ifrit, while Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station, racked up another award for its brown ale, Lifeblood.
From the fun-fact files, two former San Diego Beer News Beer of the Week brews, TapRoom Beer Co.’s fresh-hop IPA, DAMP., and The Original 40 Brewing’s barrel-aged stout, Magnetic Ribbon: Final Cut Edition, medaled. Also, Battles for Bavaria, a hefeweizen San Diego Brewing Co. crafted with local amateur brewer Jeffry Battles as part of SDBN’s Homebrew Summer program, took bronze in the GABF Pro-Am Competition.
The 2025 edition of GABF included 8,300 entries (beers as well as ciders) in more than 100 style categories from 1,550 U.S. breweries and cideries. Those entries were judged by 250 certified judges and experienced veterans from the brewing industry in the U.S. and eight other countries. That assemblage included individuals from various San Diego County beer companies.
The following is a full list of beers from San Diego County breweries that medaled at this year’s GABF competition…
Gold Medals (2)
Golden or Blonde Ale: Brig Blonde, Ketch Brewing (Kearny Mesa)
Scottish-style Ale: Way Heavy, Pizza Port Brewing (San Clemente) *
Silver Medals (8)
American Amber / Red Ale: Summon Ifrit, BattleMage Brewing (Vista)
American Black Ale or American Stout: Doom Sludge, Green Cheek Beer Co. (Costa Mesa) **
Classic Saison: Saison for Papa, Green Cheek Beer Co. (Costa Mesa) **
Hoppy Non-alcohol Beer: Run Wild, Athletic Brewing (Miramar)
International-style Pale Ale: Pint of Soul, Docent Brewing (San Juan Capistrano) **
South German-style Hefeweizen: Abso-Hefin’-Lutely, East Village Brewing (East Village)
Specialty Berliner-style Weisse: Paloma, Pizza Port Brewing (Ocean Beach)
Wood- & Barrel-aged Dessert Stout: Magnetic Ribbon: Final Cut Edition, The Original 40 Brewing (North Park) †
Bronze Medals (8)
American-style Brown Ale: Stone Lifeblood, Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station (Point Loma)
Coffee Stout or Porter: Supertonic, Docent Brewing (San Juan Capistrano) **
Fresh Hop Beer: DAMP., TapRoom Beer Co. (North Park) †
Golden or Blonde Ale: Salty Crew, Coronado Brewing (Bay Park)
Hazy or Juicy Imperial India Pale Ale: DDH the Other Brian, Green Cheek Beer Co. (Costa Mesa) **
Honey Beer: Honey Brown Ale, Culture Brewing (Solana Beach)
International Dark Lager: Burlingame, North Park Beer Co. (North Park)
Pro-Am Competition: Battles for Bavaria, San Diego Brewing Co. with Jeffery Battles (Mission Valley) ††
* Beer was brewed at a local company’s facility located outside of San Diego County
** Beer brewed by company based outside the county which operates a location in San Diego County
† Former San Diego Beer News Beer of the Week
†† San Diego Beer News Homebrew Summer pro-am collaboration beer
All of the winning beers and brewing companies from the 2025 Great American Beer Festival can be found online