14 Orange County Breweries Shine as the Great American Beer Festival Announces the Nation’s Best Beers and Ciders

Orange County Breweries Shine in 2025 GABF

DENVER—The Brewers Association (BA) announced the 2025 award-winning beers and ciders at this year’s Great American Beer Festival® (GABF) competition ceremony. Expanding on last year’s introduction of cider categories, the 2025 competition featured a special, one-time-only Vera Hop category.

Over seven days, 250 expert judges evaluated 8,315 beer and cider entries from breweries spanning all 50 states and Washington, D.C. A total of 273 breweries and cideries took home 347 medals in this year’s GABF competition. 

“Year after year, the Great American Beer Festival sets the bar for American brewing (and for the second year in a row, cider making). The 2025 competition was no exception,” said Chris Williams, competition director for the Brewers Association. “There were extremely strong showings from numerous breweries and cider makers across the U.S., maximizing the level of competition among the entire competition community. With 347 winners this year, these medals honor the talent, dedication, and creativity of our nation’s brewers and cider makers. Congratulations to all 2025 GABF medalists! You should be proud to know that you’re taking home one of the most competitive accolades in the world!”

PhotographⒸ  provided courtesy of the Brewers Association.

Orange County Breweries Shine

Fourteen different breweries in Orange County received 18 medals from the GABF competition. Hence, OC breweries claimed a whopping 5% of the awards from across all of the United States and Washington, D.C. The winning Orange County breweries and medals (with beer name and style) are:

1886 Brewing Co. (Orange)

Gold Medal; “Record Beer”; Brown Porter

Beachwood Brewing HB (Huntington Beach)

Silver Medal; “Moooving On”; Sweet Stout or Cream Stout

Bottle Logic Brewing Co. (Anaheim)

Silver Medal; “Darkstar November”; Wood- and Barrel Aged Strong Stout

Docent Brewing (San Juan Capistrano)

Silver Medal; “Pint of Soul”; International Style Pale Ale

Bronze Medal; “Super Tonic” Coffee Stout or Porter

everywhere (Orange)

Gold Medal; “tracing the departed”; Juicy or Hazy Imperial IPA

Golden Road Brewing (Anaheim)

Silver Medal; “Guava Cart”; Fruit Wheat Beer 

Green Cheek Beer Co. (Costa Mesa)

Silver Medal; “Doom Sludge”; American Black Ale or American Stout

Silver Medal; “Saison for Papa”; Classic Saison

Bronze Medal; “DDH The Other Brian”; Juicy or Hazy Imperial IPA

Left Coast Brewing Co. Tasting Room, Smokehouse & Distillery (Irvine)

Gold Medal; “Trunk Box”; American Style Brown Ale

Los Molinos Beer Co. (San Clemente)

Silver Medal; “Coast Molinos”; West Coast IPA

Pizza Port SC (San Clemente)

Gold Medal; “Way Heavy”; Scottish Style Ale

Radiant Beer Co. (Anaheim)

Silver Medal; “Gaining Momentum”; Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale

Bronze Medal; “A Dark in the Light”; American Black Ale or American Stout

Station Craft (Dana Point)

Bronze Medal; “Californios”; Mexican Style Pale Lager

Tustin Brewing Co. (Tustin)

Silver Medal; “Blimp Hangar Porter”; Robust Porter

Unsung Brewing Co. (Tustin)

Gold Medal; “Chaos Erupts”; American Style Strong Pale Ale

 

Orange County Breweries Shine in 2025 GABFLos Molinos Head Brewer Jon Eckelberger holds his Silver Medal-winning Coast Molinos (a West Coast IPA). Los Molinos Beer Co. opened on April 16, 2022. San Clemente’s newest brewery is a “Community-Focused Micro Brewery that is committed to crafting the ideal beer for the perfect day in the most incredible location in California.”

More About GABF

The Great American Beer Festival is the premier U.S. beer competition, crowning the finest beverages in over 100 beer and cider styles. 2025 marked the 39th edition of the GABF Competition.

Competition Statistics

  • 8,315 beers judged
  • 1,555 breweries & cideries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
  • 250 judges
  • 300 + volunteers
  • Average number of beers entered in each category: 71
  • Category with the highest number of entries: Category # 107- Juicy/Hazy India Pale Ale (301 entries)
  • 347 total medals awarded
  • 273 medal-winning breweries and cideries
  • 180 first-time GABF competition entrants
  • 12 first-time GABF competition winners
  • 6 cider categories
  • 3 new categories: Vera Hop, Mexican-Style Pale Lager, International Amber Lager

Complete List of Winners

A complete list of the 2025 GABF Competition winners can be found by clicking HERE.