The World’s Best Pilsner—According To The U.S. Open Beer Championship

The world’s best pilsners in various sub-categories were announced by The U.S. Open Beer Championship in early July. The Ohio-based beer festival is one of the most prestigious in the world and along with the World Beer Cup and The Great American Beer Festival, is one of the big three beer festivals in the U.S.

The competition was founded by brewer Dow Scoggins in 2009 and Scoggins recently told me the festival has always prided itself in the diversity of the categories it judges. You can see that when it comes to pilsners. The festival has five pilsner categories and a sixth category that can go either to a lager or pilsner (pilsners are a type of lager so although all pilsners are lagers, not all lagers are pilsners).

This year many major beer festivals have seen an uptick in pilsner submissions reflecting growing interest in the category from consumers. Many brewers I speak to have long preferred the subtle yet complex pilsner category to the more in-your-face IPA category which had come to dominate beer sales. In part becuase of this, these days pilsners are starting to take some market share from IPAs, though they they are not yet as popular.

The pilsners below were all gold medal winners at this years’s U.S. Open Beer Championship, meaning they were deemed the best of the best by the festival’s panel of judges.

American-Style Pilsner, Blind Tiger From Denver Beer Co., CO

This popular Denver brewery with several locations is no stranger to success with several previous medals from prestigious beer competitions to its name. These include a 2024 bronze medal from the World Beer Cup for a beer called Smooth Exportations, a German-Style Oktoberfest. Here it took home the top prize in this competitive light and crisp lager category.

Bohemian-Style Pilsener: La Boheme From Alaro Craft Brewery, CA

This brewery Czechs all the marks (get it?) for lovers of Czech/Bohemian pilsners with Czech Republic ingredients including the quintessential pilsner Saaz hop. Per the brewery, this beer has “a slight honey-like sweetness and toasted cracker flavor from the lightly kilned malt and a wonderfully spicy, herbal, and floral hop aroma.”

German-Style Pilsener: Kayak Pils From Riverlands Brewing Co, IL

Only a true pill wouldn’t like this pils from Riverlands Brewing Co. that is made with German pilsner yeast and a mix of American Sterling hops and German Saphir hops. The brewery’s tasting notes say this beer features “a beautiful blend of floral, spice, lemongrass, and citrus hop flavors,” and “a pleasant bitterness.”

International Style Pilsner: Digital Chicken From Taproom Beer Co., CA

This gets the gold medal from me for best name on this list, which is all the more impressive because the brewery that released it, Taproom Beer Co., doesn’t exactly earn creativity points for its name. Getting back to this beer, it’s made with a new experimental hop called HRC-003 from the Hop Research Council and per the brewery “boasts [a] bouquet of tropical, stonefruit, and berry qualities.”

Italian Pilsner: Italian Stallion From Flix Brewhouse, TX

The latest award-winning brew from this critically acclaimed brewhouse and movie theater is named for the nickname given to the main character in the iconic Rocky franchise. Not only is this beer and many others from the San Antonio beer award-winning, I’m betting it pairs well with popcorn.