The World’s Best Lager—According To The World Beer Cup

Lagers are having a moment in craft beer, said Chris Williams, competition director for the Brewers Association, which presents the World Beer Cup. At this year’s competition, lagers were the most popular category along with IPAs. This popularity included pilsners, dark and amber lagers, as well as light lagers — a type of lager that has seen particular growth of late, Williams told me.

“In the past 5-plus years, German-style pilsners have historically been one of the largest most competitive categories,” Williams said. “ However, in recent years, light lagers have really started to shine and become one of the most competitive categories in the competition.”

Globally light lagers have long been the dominion of big beer. “Light lagers are nearly ubiquitous all around the world,” Williams said. “But U.S. craft brewers have recently reclaimed them and found ways to make flavorful and exciting light lagers that appeal to a wider audience.”

ForbesThe World’s Best Pilsner-According To The World Beer CupBy Erik Ofgang

I’ve previously written about the best pilsners at the World Beer Cup, but now we’ll take a closer look at the best non-pilsner lagers entered into this year’s World Beer Cup. These lagers were selected by expert judges who tasted hundreds of lagers in blind taste tests, choosing the best of the best from entries from across the globe.

International Light Lager: 192 Entries

Gold: Prost Leichtbier, Prost Brewing Co., Denver, CO

Prost Brewing Co.’s leichtbier “light beer” is designed for summer drinking. Modeled on an American light lager, it has a mellow 4.2 ABV but still, like all the beers from Prost I’ve had, brings a lot of flavor.

International Lager: 100 Entries

Gold: Nado, Coronado Brewing Co., Coronado, CA

Coronado Brewing Co. brews this beer with jasmine rice in addition to Hallertau Mittlefruh hops. The result of this process is an imminently drinkable beer that has notes of yuzu and citrus, according to the brewery.

International Dark Lager: 129 Entries

Gold: The Dark, Third Window Brewing Co., Santa Barbara, CA

Third Window Brewing Co. proudly features foraged ingredients in many of its beers and this is just the latest award for its dark lager, aptly named The Dark. In 2021 the beer took home the gold from Great American Beer Festival. Per Third Window Brewing Co., it has “Aromas of coffee and dark chocolate, flavors of wafer cookie, brown sugar, and roasted marshmallow.”

Vienna-Style Lager: 102 Entries

Gold: Ludwig, Brother Chimp Brewing, North Aurora, IL

This beer pours a walnut brown color. “The flavor is dominated by a traditional toasty Vienna malt presence, accentuated by biscuity grain notes, with a limited hop presence for exceedingly smooth drinkability,” says Brother Chimp Brewing.

American-Style Lager: 108 Entries

Gold: Cole’s Light Lager, Wild Ride Brewing, Redmond, OR

Made with American-grown barley and hops, Cole’s Light Lager is no stranger to competition success. Last year, the World Beer Cup awarded it a bronze medal and this year it also took home bronze at the U.S. Open Beer Championship.

Contemporary American-Style Lager: 80 Entries

Gold: Zona, 12 West Brewing, Mesa, AZ

This pilsner has a 4.3 ABV and was brewed as a tribute to the Grand Canyon State. Zona is one of the core beers from 12 West Brewing, and won over the judges at the World Beer Cup with its light crisp flavors.

American-Style Amber Lager: 92 Entries

Gold: Chismosa, Old Caz Beer, Rohnert Park, CA

Inspired by Negra Modelo, this Mexican-style Amber lager is proudly malt-forward. Made with Cascade and Hallertau hops it is designed to be clean and crushable, writes Old Caz Beer in its tasting notes for the brew.

Share your favorite lagers in the comments below or tag me on social media @erikofgang (Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter/X).

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