Five San Diego Breweries win Gold Medals at 2024 Great American Beer Festival

SAN DIEGO, CA – Five San Diego County breweries won Gold Medals on Saturday at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver, Colo., the nation’s largest professional brewing competition commonly referred to as “The Oscars” of the craft beer industry.

The local Gold Medal winners are San Marcos’ Craft Coast Beer & Tacos for its Chillzner in the “International-Style Pilsner” category, Solana Beach’s Culture Brewing Co for its 3 Citrus Gose in the “Contemporary Gose” category, Oceanside’s Green Cheek Beer Co for its Jeff’s Baltic Porter in the “Strong Porter” category, Imperial Beach’s Pizza Port for its Indie Roo in the “Imperial Stout” category, and Mission Valley’s Puesto Cerveceria for its Puesto Negra in the “International Dark Lager” category.

Gold Medals are awarded for a “world-class beer that accurately exemplifies the specified style, displaying the proper balance of taste, aroma and appearance,” according to the GABF website.

This marks the second year in a row five different San Diego breweries won Gold Medals. Twelve medals were earned overall by San Diego breweries in 2024, including four silver and three bronze.

Pizza Port and Athletic Brewing Co. (Miramar) are the only San Diego operations that won multiple medals. Pizza Port’s Ocean Beach brewery took home a Bronze Medal for its Guillaume in the “Session Beer or Belgian-Style Table” category. (Pizza Port’s San Clemente brewery also won a Gold for its Dusk Til Dawn in the “Coffee Stout or Porter” category.) Athletic Brewing Co. won a pair of Silver Medals.

The local silver and bronze winners:

Silver (4):

Athletic Brewing Co.                                        Free Wave Hazy IPA                         “Pale Non-Alcohol Beer” category

Athletic Brewing Co.                                        Tropical Sour                                      “Specialty Non-Alcohol Beer” category

Pure Project (Vista)                                         Mount Eden                                       “Specialty Saison” category

Rouleur Brewing Company (Carlsbad)     Domestique Blonde Ale                 “Belgian- Style Ale or French Style Ale” category

Bronze (3):

Kilowatt Brewing (Clairemont Mesa)        Peanut Butter & Jelly Tiempo      “Dessert Stout or Pastry Stout” category

Pizza Port (Ocean Beach)                               Guillaume                                            “Session Beer or Belgian-Style Table Beer” category

Stone Brewing (Liberty Station)                  Stone LifeBlurred                              “Other Strong Beer” category

“American’s Finest City had yet another fine performance in the Rockies this year,” said San Diego Brewers Guild Executive Director Erik Fowler. “What I particularly love is how the five local Gold Medal winners from this year were all different than the five from 2023. The quality of craft beer is certainly spread throughout the County. As always, we hope San Diegans will go out and try these great beers, along with great food in many cases at these breweries and brewpubs.”

The GABF competition, which is presented by the Brewers Association, included more than 9,000 entries within 102 different categories. An average of 85 beers were entered in each category, and the medals were awarded by 285 certified judges and experienced members of the brewing industry. For a complete list of winners, visit https://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/the-competition/2024-winners/.

San Diego County is known as The Capital of Craft™, a moniker that was trademarked in 2015. San Diego has the most craft brewery locations among all counties in the United States with more than 150.

San Diego Brewers Guild is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization that promotes local small businesses and entrepreneurs of craft beer via education, events, and community involvement. The 16th Annual San Diego Beer Week, presented by the Guild, returns November 1-10 at breweries, brewpubs, bars, and restaurants throughout San Diego County.

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