Here Are The Best Beers According To The World’s Oldest Beer Competition

The International Brewing Awards have been recognizing the world’s best beers since 1886, making it the oldest beer competition in the world. The International Cider Awards were added in 2013.

Judging for the awards is conducted only by working professionals in brewing and cider making and awards are given after discussion and consensus, rather than scoring and averaging. Most beer awards are judged by a mix of industry professionals and trained judges, making the International Brewing Awards unique in having the beverages judged by other brewers and cider makers.

For the 2024 awards, 31 beer judges and nine cider judges from 15 countries evaluated almost 600 beers and over 100 ciders. Judges were selected from small craft breweries and cideries to the largest brewing companies in the world.

Ruth Evans, director of the awards and CEO of the Brewing, Food & Beverage Industry Suppliers Association which runs the awards, noted in a video interview that the awards had been held for so long, entries are indicative of global trends in the beer and cider industries. She noted that the entries were down this year, a result of the struggles the beer and cider industries are currently facing — in strong years, entries might be double what they were this year.

“Entries from Japan were up and entries from Australia were down,” said Evans, indicating strength and weakness in the beer industry in those countries. “Entries for Non & Low Alcohol were up and Strong Beer were down. Entries in Specialty Beer was strong due to Japan, which always excels in that category.”

On May 1, The International Brewing Awards and The International Cider Awards announced their 2024 trophy winners, selected from the 30 gold-medal winning beers and 13 gold-medal winning ciders previously announced on March 22. While the medals are awarded by panels of six judges, the trophy winners are determined by the entire slate of judges. The trophy winners for 2024 are:

International Smallpack (cans or bottles) Lager Competition — Kirin Ichiban, Kirin Holdings Company of Japan

International Keg Lager Competition — Capital Dry Hopped Lager, Windsor & Eton Brewery of the United Kingdom

International Smallpack Ale Competition (two trophies awarded) — Barley Griffin, BentSpoke Brewing Co of Australia and Samuel Adams Wicked Hazy, Boston Beer Company of the United States of America

International Keg Ale Competition — Drovers Hazy Session IPA, Round Corner Brewing Ltd. of the United Kingdom

International Cask Ale Competition — WORK, Forest Road Brewing Company of the United Kingdom

International Non & Low Alcohol Beer Competition — Free Damm, Damm S.A of Spain

International Specialty Beer Competition — Jazzberry, Spring Valley Brewery of Japan

International Dark Beer Competition — NAMA-KADO Smoked Oyster Stout, Isekado Brewery of Japan

International Strong Beer Competition — Tsingtao Legend, Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd. of China

International Classic Cider Competition — Original Gold, Portland Cider Company of the United States of America

International Flavored Cider Competition — Ros, Stonewell Cider of Ireland

International Innovative Cider Competition — Phantom Of The Orchard LO-ALC 1% Cider, Cotswold Cider Company of the United Kingdom