San Diego County breweries won five gold medals and 18 medals overall at the recent 2023 Great American Beer Festival.
The nation’s largest professional brewing competition, an annual event in Denver, is commonly referred to as the “Oscars” of the craft beer industry.
The five golds and 18 medals overall beat out last year’s local totals – three and 15, respectively.
The gold medals went to breweries throughout the county. They are:
- Ballast Point Brewing Company – Little Italy for Barometer Drop in the “Strong Porter” category
- Belching Beaver Brewery – Oceanside Brewhouse for Tropical Terps IPA in the “Experimental IPA” category
- Santee’s BNS Brewing and Distilling for Gatling Gun in the “Imperial Stout” category
- East Village Brewing Company for IZOLA Kvass in the “Historical Beer” category, and
- North Park’s TapRoom Beer Company for PB Haze in the “Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale” category.
Point Loma’s Modern Times Beer (one silver, one bronze) and Carmel Mountain’s Second Chance Beer Company (two bronze) were San Diego’s only multiple winners.
“Our breweries showed incredibly well once again in the Mile High City,” said San Diego Brewers Guild Executive Director Erik Fowler. “It seems like every year we justify our moniker as The Capital of Craft, and I couldn’t be happier for the medal winners and the entire San Diego craft beer scene.”
The other local winners, of silver medals:
- Bagby Beer Company, Oceanside: Herd of Turtles in “Strong Porter” category
- Burgeon Beer Company, Carlsbad, Carlsbad Crush in “International-Style Pale Ale” category
- Modern Times, Mega Devil’s Teeth: Double Dutch S’mores Edition in “Dessert Stout or Pastry Stout” category
- North Park Beer Company, X-Raying Flowers in “Juicy or Hazy Imperial IPA” category
- Pizza Port Ocean Beach, Giullaume in “Session Beer or Belgian-Style Table Beer” category
- Rouleur Brewing Company, Carlsbad, DOMESTIQUE Blonde Ale in “Belgian-Style Ale or French-Style Ale” category
- Rip Current Brewing. North Park, Breakline Bock in “Bock” category
And bronze:
- AleSmith Brewing Company, Miramar, Nut Brown in “English-Style Brown Ale” category
- Breakwater Brewing Company, Oceanside, Rye Dawn in “Rye Beers” category
- Fall Brewing Company, North Park, Tora! In “International-Style Pilsener” category
- Modern Times Beer, Chaos Grid: The Final Final Course in “Dessert Stout or Pastry Stout” category
- Second Chance Beer Company, Fistful of Gummies in “Fruited Sour” category
- Second Chance Beer Company, Tabula Rasa in “Robust Porter” category
The 41st Great American Beer Festival, presented by the Brewers Association, included roughly 9,300 entries within 100 different categories.
More than 2,000 breweries entered, and medals were awarded by more than 200 certified judges and experienced members of the brewing industry.