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

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — “The Capital of Craft” has, once again, made it’s impact known after five San Diego County breweries were awarded Gold Medals at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colo. last weekend.

The event is the largest professional brewing competition in the nation and has been described as “The Oscars” of the craft beer industry. With the winners announced , this marks the second year in a row that five local breweries have won Gold Medals.

“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.”

Which brewing teams are the top tier winners? Here’s a breakdown of each brewery, along with their prized craft beer and specific category:

— Craft Coast Beer & Tacos (San Marcos) for its Chillzner in the “International-Style Pilsner” category.

— Culture Brewing Co (Solana Beach) for its 3 Citrus Gose in the “Contemporary Gose” category.

— Green Cheek Beer Co (Oceanside) for its Jeff’s Baltic Porter in the “Strong Porter” category.

— Pizza Port (Imperial Beach) for its Indie Roo in the “Imperial Stout” category.

— Puesto Cerveceria (Mission Valley) for its Puesto Negra in the “International Dark Lager” category.

On top of these winners, several other local breweries earned Silver and Bronze Medals. Here’s a breakdown of the remaining winners from this year’s competition:

Silver

— Athletic Brewing Co . (San Diego) for its Free Wave Hazy IPA in the “Pale Non-Alcohol Beer” category and its Tropical Sour in the “Specialty Non-Alcohol Beer” category.

— Pure Project (Vista) for its Mount Eden in the “Specialty Saison” category.

— Rouleur Brewing Company (Carlsbad) for its Domestique Blonde Ale in the “Belgian- Style Ale or French Style Ale” category.

Bronze

— Kilowatt Brewing (Clairemont Mesa) for its Peanut Butter & Jelly Tiempo in the “Dessert Stout or Pastry Stout” category.

— Pizza Port (Ocean Beach) for its Guillaume in the “Session Beer or Belgian-Style Table Beer” category.

— Stone Brewing (Liberty Station) for its Stone LifeBlurred in the “Other Strong Beer” category.

“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,” Fowler continued.

The Great America Beer Festival 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 the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.