Oregon, and especially Bend, OR breweries, did exceptionally well at the 2024 World Beer Cup taking home 29 medals

The prestigious World Beer Cup awards were announced at The Venetian Las Vegas on April 24th, 2024. The Brewers Association developed the World Beer Cup Competition in 1996 to celebrate the art and science of brewing internationally. Unlike the other big BA beer competition the Great American Beer Festival, the World Beer Cup awards beers from across the world not just in the U.S., with an international set of judges at what is referred to as “The Olympics of Beer Competitions.”

Central Oregon dominance:

The 2024 World Beer Cup was a huge year for Oregon breweries that combined to take home 29 medals (7 more than they took home in 2023.) It proved to be a momentous year for quite a few of them, with central Oregon and Bend specifically dominating the medal haul with 3 golds and a silver for Deschutes Brewery, and 2 golds 1 silver 1 bronze and a total sweep of the German-style Sour category for 10 Barrel Brewing. Notably Monkless Belgian Ales also added 1 gold and 1 bronze, Bend Brewing’s 2 bronze medals, Sunriver Brewing with 1 silver and 1 bronze, and Wild Ride Brewing was the cherry on top with 1 gold.

More Oregon Beer takeaways:

• Fort George Brewery’s gold medal for their hazy pale City of Dreams is a big deal for a beer that sometimes seems to fly under the radar.

• Grand Fir Brewing is just heating up after the Oregon Beer Awards and added 3 world beer cup silver medals to their 2024 accolades.

• pFriem’s Pilsner won a gold, putting it in the conversation as arguably the best American brewed German-style Pilsner.

• Alesong Brewing and ColdFire Brewing both in Eugene are killing it at fruited farmhouse ales with gold and silver respectively in the Belgian Fruit beer category.

Awards Philosophy

“When industry professionals acknowledge the excellence in products from around the market, the beer drinker can be sure that those brands are the finest available,” says Chris Williams, World Beer Cup competition director.

The World Beer Cup recognizes brewing excellence in more than 100 categories but does not automatically award the top three entries in a particular category. When judges determine that a category contains three excellent examples of the style, they present gold, silver, and bronze awards for the first, second, and third place beers, respectively.

“Evaluating beer happens on many levels,” says Williams. “On a professional level, beer evaluation is a form of peer review. The results are public, so consumers can learn what beers meet a high level of quality and what beers exemplify certain styles as interpreted by the judges.”

Judges may grant an award in any one or more of the three award places without granting awards in all three places. For example, judges may recognize a beer as a silver or bronze award winner yet not grant a gold award.

2024 World Beer Cup Statistics:

 15th competition (skipped 2020; annualized starting 2022) 

Entries: 9,300

Breweries: 2,060

International breweries: 25%

Countries: 50

First-time brewery entries: 436

Judges: 280

International judges: 103

Judge countries: 37

First-time judges: 39

Judging sessions and days: 7 days, 14 sessions

Beer style categories: 110

Beer styles: 172 (includes all subcategories) 

Avg number of beers in each category: 54

Most entered style categories:

Category 109, Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale: 326 entries

Category 110, West-Coast Style India Pale Ale: 281 entries

Category 40, German-Style Pilsener: 221 entries

Category 108, American-Style India Pale Ale: 213 entries

Category 29, Wood & Barrel-Aged Strong Stout: 198 entries 

Out of 330 possible awards, 329 were conferred. Gold was not awarded in Category 69 for Belgian-Style or French-Style Ale.

2024 OREGON WBC MEDAL WINNERS:

🥇GOLD
Ginzu, by 10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Westside (Herb and Spice Beer)

🥇GOLD
Hachimitsu Mai, by Deschutes Brewery - PDX Pub (Honey Beer)

🥇GOLD
Black Butte Non-Alcoholic, by Deschutes Brewery (Non-Alcohol Beer)

🥈SILVER
Foxglove, by Grand Fir Brewing (Session India Pale Ale)

🥉BRONZE
Wild Gravity, by Bend Brewing Co. (Session India Pale Ale)

🥇GOLD
Peppercorn Imperial Wit, by Monkless Belgian Ales (Other Strong Beer)

🥉BRONZE
Capitulation, by Monkless Belgian Ales (American-Belgo-Style Ale)

🥇GOLD
Neon Butterfly, by Deschutes Brewery (Brett Beer)

🥈SILVER
Abrikoos, by pFriem Family Brewers (Brett Beer)

🥈SILVER
Sensationator, by Deschutes Brewery - PDX Pub (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer)

🥉BRONZE
Staying Hoptimistic, by Cascade Brewing (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer)

🥈SILVER
Secret Secret, by Wayfinder Beer (International Dark Lager)

🥇GOLD
Pilsner, by pFriem Family Brewers (German-style Pilsener)

🥉BRONZE
Vienna Lager, by Von Ebert Brewing - Glendoveer (Vienna-style Lager)

🥇GOLD
Cole’s Light Lager, by Wild Ride Brewing (American-style Lager)

🥈SILVER
Tack Shack, by Grand Fir Brewing (American-style Amber Lager)

🥉BRONZE
Breakside Thriving Metropolis, by Breakside Brewery (New Zealand-style India Pale Ale)

🥇GOLD
Raspberry Parliament, by Alesong Brewing & Blending (Belgian Fruit Beer)

🥈SILVER
Cerise Rouge, by ColdFire Brewing (Belgian Fruit Beer)

🥉BRONZE
Mosaic Mega Pint, by Bend Brewing Co. - High Desert (American-style Pale Ale)

🥇GOLD
City of Dreams Pale Ale, by Fort George Brewery (Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale)

🥈SILVER
Something Dank This Way Comes, by Sunriver Brewing Co. (American-style Strong Pale Ale)

🥈SILVER
Redside, by Grand Fir Brewing (Strong Red Ale)

🥉BRONZE
Cinder Beast, by Sunriver Brewing Co. (Strong Red Ale)

🥈SILVER
Night Howler Imperial Stout, by Baerlic Brewing Co. (American-style Imperial Stout)

🥇GOLD
German Sparkle Party, by 10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Eastside (German-Style Sour Ale)

🥈SILVER
Riviera, by 10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Westside (German-Style Sour Ale)

🥉BRONZE
Baywindow, by 10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Westside (German-Style Sour Ale)

🥇GOLD
Cactus Makes Perfect, by Oregon City Brewing Co. (Specialty Berliner-Style Weisse)

View the full list of winners in every category from breweries across the world here