The World Beer Cup announced head scratching new styles for the 2027 edition of the prestigious international beer competition which will take place April 7th in San Antonio, Texas at the Craft Brewers Conference® & BrewExpo America®
Ran by the Boulder, Colorado-based Brewers Association, the World Beer Cup is essentially the global version of the U.S. only Great American Beer Festival competition but with some notable differences in beer style categories to appeal to a broader international audience.
It is the job of a good competition to update style definitions and categories not just for new creations but also for evolving brewing processes and changing consumer palates. However, the recent addition of 6 new beer categories and 3 new cider categories appear to be in part an attempt to buoy the sagging participation rate and increase the likelihood of winning medals.
The 2026 World Beer Cup had 1,644 breweries and ciders competing, down by 144 since 2025, and the lowest number since 2014. The amount of individual beer or cider entries in 2026 fared slightly better at 8166, down 209 entries from 2025, and the lowest total since 2016.
Contrast with the quickly growing number of potential award categories that jumped from 118 in 2026 to 128 at the upcoming 2027 WBC. That’s up from 103 categories in 2022 and 91 in 2008. The only time that the amount of awards categories has decreased was from 95 in 2012 to 94 in 2014.
On a surface level review, some of the new categories make a lot of sense, and others much less so.
New Cider Categories:
Cider was added to the World Beer Cup for the first time in 2025 and at the upcoming 2027 edition they will recognize a Champion Cidery for the first time.
Low & No Alcohol Cider
New guideline for ciders containing up to 3% ABV.
Natural Cider
New guideline for low-intervention ciders, including spontaneous and/or malolactic fermentations.
Ice Cider or Fortified Cider
New combined cider category with distinct descriptions and technical information requirements for concentrated ice cider and cider strengthened with fruit spirits.
New Beer Style Categories & Sub-Categories:
Alsatian-style Pilsener
A sub-category of International-style Pilsener created solely to recognize a French interpretation of an adjunct lager with rice or corn. There are a handful of French Style-Pilsners but the style seems rare and not incredibly distinct, still its a sub-category and not an entirely new category so there is no harm in the addition.
Czech-style Dark Lager
A worthy and distinct style to have it’s own category for sure. But with categories already existing for International-Style Dark Lager, European-Style Dark Lager, American-Style Dark Lager, and German-style Schwarzbier, even a seasoned pro would be hard pressed to taste these and tell you why one was Czech versus European-style.
New Zealand-Style Pilsener
“Overall impression should be crisp, bright, and finish with a perceptive minerality. These beers balance the fresh, assertive expression of New Zealand grown hops with the drinkability found in a Pilsner.”
New Zealand-style Pils or IPA is increasingly popular, but also New Zealand and other Southern Hemisphere hops have made their way into the more generic Hoppy Lager categories, as well as the much more popular West Coast-style Pilsner style which also welcomes the diesel-y distinct New Zealand hops. Its important to underline that New Zealand-style Pilsener isn’t really a distinct style to the actual country of New Zealand, its mostly just about a handful of hop varieties that are more popular in the U.S. then their home turf. A New Zealand-style Pils, aka a Southern Hemisphere hopped Pils could potentially be just as home in a West Coast-style IPA category that specifically describes “assertive expression of Pacific Northwest and Southern Hemisphere hops with the drinkability found in a Pilsner.” It’s even possible that a strong New Zealand-style Pilsener could just as well compete in the New Zealand-style IPA category which welcomes 6%+ Lager-yeast IPA's.
Distinct Gluten-Free Categories (Classic Ale or Lager, Hoppy, Specialty)
Instead of just one award and 3 Medals for best gluten-free beer, there are now thrice and more opportunities to showcase the breadth of gluten-free brewing. No complaints with that and high fives all around for our celiac friends.
Multi-Adjunct Beer or Hybrid/Crossover Beer (as subcategories of Specialty Beer)
They might as well just call this the kitchen sink category, or the choice to make no choice category, a catch all for beers that go for a melange of competing flavors but in a harmonious balance - in other words a well constructed beer.
“Multi-Adjunct Beers contain two or more specialty ingredients that, if used individually, would typically qualify the beer for entry into an existing ingredient-driven specialty beer category (i.e. Chili Beer, Field Beer, Herb/Spice Beer, etc.). The hallmark of Multi-Adjunct Beer is the balanced integration of these ingredients with one another and with the underlying beer. Examples might include a Belgian Golden Ale with Lavender and Strawberries, or a English Mild with Coffee, Chocolate & Vanilla.”
This creates another medaling opportunity for many beers. The WBC’s own descriptor uses a classic English Mild Ale with chocolate and other flavorings as an example. But the standalone Chocolate Beer category would also welcome these as “Chocolate Beers are beers of any classic style which incorporate dark chocolate or cocoa in any form.” Something like a Pumpkin Mocha Stout could be entered into the Multi-Adjunct Beer category, as well as Coffee Beer, Chocolate Beer, and Pumpkin/Squash or Pumpkin Spice Beer. Chili/pepper beer is a notable exception that in most instances would not be allowable in the new multi-adjunct/hybrid category.
Italian-Style Grape Ale (3 subcategories – Red, White & Sour)
This might be the most perplexing new category, perhaps pushed in by the big juicy Italian Grape lobby.
“Italian-style Red Grape Ales are a hybrid of beer and red/black grape varieties that strive to achieve a balance between the character of beer and wine across a wide range of beer styles and red/black grape varieties"
Last year was the launch of Italian Grape Ale Day aka IGA Day with a campaign website, Instagram handle, hashtags, graphics and the entire media push that we covered in 2025. IGA Day however seems to be a one-and-done affair, no 2026 IGA Day was ever promoted and the accounts haven’t been updated since October ‘25.
Hybrid wild and farmhouse ales using red and white wine grapes are relatively popular in the sour and funky beers fandoms. Usually made as co-ferments of grape and beer, sometimes with just the juice, or the pomace or lees, these hybrids are beautifully expressive merging of wine and beer. But those beers don’t seem to have a home in the Italian-style Grape Ale category according to the guidelines, “versions exhibiting strong or dominant Brettanomyces or wood/barrel-aging characteristics are better entered in the appropriate wood-or-barrel-aged or Brett beer categories.”
I can’t recall ever having a beer made with grapes that wasn’t farmhouse-style with Brett or bacteria. Are these big in Italy? If so, does this awards category exist almost solely to cater towards Italian breweries? I can’t wait to see how many entries this new category gets and who the winners are, maybe there is an entire world of cotton candy grape cream ales that I never new existed and will have to excitedly track down.
Style Reclassifications/Regrouping of existing categories:
• Specialty India Pale Ale: Experimental India Pale Ale is renamed Specialty India Pale Ale. AmericanStyle Black Ale (Black IPA) is also grouped as a substyle within this category. Related references throughout the guidelines are updated from Experimental IPA to Specialty IPA.
• Baltic Porter / American-Style Imperial Stout and Porter: American-Style Imperial Porter is grouped with American-Style Imperial Stout. Baltic-Style Porter becomes a standalone category.
• Barley Wine or Wheat Wine-style Ale: American-Style Wheat Wine Ale moves from Other Strong Beer to join American-Style and British-Style Barley Wine Ale.
• American-Style Sour Ales & Wood & Barrel Aged Sour Ale Groupings: American-Style Sour Ale and Fruited American-Style Sour Ale are grouped together. Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer and Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer form a separate group.
• Belgian-Style or Spontaneous Sour Ale: Wild Beer moves from Experimental Beer to join BelgianStyle Lambic and Belgian-Style Gueuze. The group name is broadened to reflect these styles.
• Pale Ale groupings: Classic Australian-Style Pale Ale and Australian-Style Pale Ale join InternationalStyle Pale Ale. New Zealand-Style Pale Ale becomes a standalone category
• South German wheat beers: Bernsteinfarbenes Weizen joins Dunkel Weizen in a South German-Style Amber to Dark Weissbier category. Hefeweizen and Kristal Weizen remain grouped as South GermanStyle Weissbier.
• European-Style Amber Ale: French-Style Biere de Garde and Belgian-Style Speciale Belge are grouped together.
• Oud Bruin and Flanders Red: The combined Belgian-Style Flanders Oud Bruin or Oud Red Ale guideline is split into distinct Belgian-Style Oud Bruin and Flanders-Style Red Ale descriptions within a shared category.
• Belgian Strong Ales: Belgian-Style Strong Blonde Ale and Belgian-Style Strong Dark Ale become standalone categories. Other Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale and Other Belgian-Style Abbey Ale remain grouped together.
• English-style categories: Pale and Dark Mild Ales are grouped separately from bitters. Ordinary Bitter and Special/Best Bitter join English-Style Summer Ale and Classic English-Style Pale Ale. English-Style Extra Special Bitter joins English-Style India Pale Ale;
• Export and American Stout: Export Stout and American-Style Stout are grouped together.
• Light Lager groupings: Mexican-Style Light Lager joins International-Style Light Lager and GermanStyle Leichtbier. Contemporary American-Style Light Lager joins Contemporary American-Style Lager. American-Style Light Lager becomes standalone.
• American-Style Lager: American-Style Malt Liquor moves from Other Strong Beer to join AmericanStyle Lager.
• Amber and Dark Lager groupings: German-Style Maerzen and Franconian-Style Rotbier form GermanStyle Amber Lager; Czech-Style and Mexican-Style Amber Lager remain grouped as International-Style Amber Lager. Czech-Style Dark Lager becomes standalone, while European-, American-, and MexicanStyle Dark Lagers remain grouped.
• Dry and Sweet Ciders: Tannic Cider, No/Low-Tannin Cider, and Fruited Cider each receive separate
Dry and Sweet guidelines. Tannic and Fruited Dry/Sweet versions remain paired within their respective categories; No/Low-Tannin Dry and Sweet are separate award categories.
Style Guideline Updates:
• Various guideline maintenance and updates made to the following categories: Classic French & Belgian-Style Saison, Belgian-Style Oud Bruin, Flanders-Style Red Ale, Dessert or Pastry Beer (both unaged & wood-aged versions), Barley Wine (American & British), Non-Alcohol Categories
• IPA (lager versions) and hoppy-lager routing: Fresh Hop IPAs may be entered as Specialty IPA or in their appropriate IPA category. All lager-yeast IPAs at 6% ABV and above should compete in their appropriate West Coast, New Zealand, American, or Specialty IPA category.
2027 World Beer Cup® Registration is Now Open
Registration for the 2027 competition will be open from November 5, 2026, through January 2027 (subject to availability), at worldbeercup.org. The competition will be held in conjunction with the 2027 Craft Brewers Conference® & BrewExpo America®, where winners will be announced during a live awards ceremony.
The World Beer Cup is the most prestigious professional beer and cider competition in the world, celebrating the art and science of brewing by recognizing outstanding beers and ciders and brewers across the globe. Following the announcement of the 2027 Craft Brewers Conference® & BrewExpo America® and CiderCon co-location, World Beer Cup will also expand recognition of its cider categories to a new standalone World Cider Cup competition. Judging will feature dedicated Certified Pommelier™ judges and expanded cider award category created in partnership with the American Cider Association. Winners in both competitions will be featured at the award ceremony on April 7, 2027.
“The World Beer Cup is one of the most meaningful honors a brewery can earn,” said Chris Williams, competition director for the World Beer Cup. “An award reflects the evaluation and recognition of some of the best judges from around the world. Additionally, we’re excited to continue to recognize cidermakers as part of our new World Cider Cup in 2027. We look forward to celebrating the craftsmanship, consistency, and innovation that move our industry forward.”
Often referred to as the “Olympics of Beer” and organized by the Brewers Association, the World Beer Cup was established in 1996 to promote the international exchange of brewing excellence. The competition features more than 100 beer style categories, evaluated by an elite panel of international judges. The 2026 competition brought together 1,644 breweries representing 50 nations, underscoring the event’s role as a truly global benchmark for quality.