American Craft Brewers Shine at European Beer Competitions

Brussels Beer Challenge 2025 © Bart Van der Perre

The Brewers Association is proud to announce the success of its Export Development Programme (EDP) American craft brewery members at two prestigious international beer competitions - Brussels Beer Challenge and European Beer Star - where an impressive haul of medals was garnered on both occasions.

Brussels Beer Challenge

The 14th edition of the Brussels Beer Challenge was held in Marche en Famenne, Belgium, in early November 2025. Over three days, 1,701 beers from 36 countries were evaluated by a panel of 78 international judges. The beers were categorised by origin, specificity, and style, ensuring a comprehensive and fair judging process.

American craft breweries performed strongly in the competition, winning a total of 28 medals (up from 19 in 2024), including six gold, eight silver, and 14 bronze. Special mention goes to Firestone Walker Brewing Co for Union Jack which was awarded the title of Best American Beer in the competition.

European Beer Star

Held annually in Nuremburg, Germany, the European Beer Star Awards, took place in August 2025 for the 22nd time.  As one of the world’s most respected beer competitions, it celebrates authentic and high-quality beers rooted in traditional European brewing techniques. The competition received 2,202 entries from over 510 breweries across 43countries.  The competition was judged by 45 experts from 33 countries.

American craft brewers excelled once again securing 19 medals, five gold, three silver and nine bronze.

Lotte Peplow, Brewers Association’s American craft beer ambassador for Europe, comments:  “Year after year, American craft brewers excel on the world stage winning top honours at prestigious European beer competitions.  Such success creates a point of difference and drives awareness helping to develop distribution opportunities in global export markets.  This year’s impressive medal haul is a true reflection of the skill and creativity of American craft brewers, the world class quality of their beers and their innovative, boundary-pushing approach to brewing.  Congratulations to all of the winners!”

See winners of both competitions here

Success at international beer competitions helps raise awareness for American craft beer abroad and assists EDP member breweries with generating publicity for their brands in overseas markets.   As part of its programming, the EDP helps facilitate U.S. brewery participation and performance in select competitions by covering entry fees and consolidated airfreight shipment to judging sites. 

The work of the EDP is made possible by grants from the United States Department of Agriculture. The BA is committed to increasing trade relationships, enhancing media visibility, and raising consumer awareness of American craft beer internationally via festival participation, trade conferences, retail promotions, media campaigns, and international beer competitions.

The UK is an important export market for American craft beer, accounting for 8.2% of all exports and ranking as the third largest market globally.  It is available from Athletic Brewing, Cave Direct, Brew Export, Beer  Merchants.com  Hop the Pond. Distant Lands and Cask International.  Find it in select bottle shops, supermarkets, bars and pubs.

UK brewers are invited to compete on the global stage and register for the World Beer Cup 2026, the largest and most prestigious beer competition in the world.  Registration is now open until mid-December 2025, with winners crowned at the annual Craft Brewers Conference ® in Philadelphia, 22 April 2026. More details: www.worldbeercup.org 

Free downloadable resources about American craft beer are available at www.brewersassociation.org or www.craftbeer.com

-ENDS-

About the Brewers Association

The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The BA represents 5,600-plus U.S. breweries. The BA’s independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup®, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference® & BrewExpo America® and American Craft Beer Week®. The BA publishes The New Brewer® magazine, and Brewers Publications® is the leading publisher of brewing literature in the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com® and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association® and the free Brew Guru® mobile app. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Issued on behalf of the Brewers Association, 1327 Spruce Street, Boulder, Colorado, 80302 USA.  www.brewersassociation.org

For further press information: Lotte Peplow  at lotte@brewersassociation.org  +44 (0)7973 698 414

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