Three Major Competitions. One Clear Result: The Bay Area Sets the Standard
Last week, much of the brewing industry gathered in Philadelphia, PA, for the Craft Brewers Conference, where the 2026 World Beer Cup medals were awarded. Alongside the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), which takes place annually in October, the World Beer Cup (WBC) is one of the two most prestigious and competitive global benchmarks of beer excellence.
In the days surrounding World Beer Cup 2026:
- The 9th Annual Best of Craft Beer Awards took place in Sun River, Oregon
- The Brewers Cup of California wrapped up in Sacramento
Unsurprisingly, BABG member breweries delivered in a big way across all three competitions.
These competitions all draw from organizations like the MBAA, Cicerone, and the BJCP to find their judges, but the individuals judging each competition differ, as do the pools of beers submitted and the settings in which the judging takes place. Yet several of the same breweries and many of the same beers rose to the top in these and other recent major competitions. A consistency which speaks to both the legitimacy of the results and the quality of the beers that received recognition.
World Beer Cup 2026 — The Main Event
Often called “the Olympics of Beer,” the World Beer Cup brings together thousands of entries from breweries across dozens of countries, judged by hyper-elite international panels in rigorously defined style categories.
Bay Area Brewers Guild members earned 10 Total Medals:
🥇 4 Gold Medals
🥈 3 Silver Medals
🥉 3 Bronze Medals
Gold Medal Winners:
- Morgan Territory Brewing, Tracy, CA — Lock’d, Bock’d, & Ready to Rock (German-Style Bock or Maibock)
- Fieldwork Brewing Company, Berkeley, CA— High & Fine (Hoppy Lager)
- Danville Brewing Company, Danville, CA — In Tasty We Trust (American-Style Strong Pale Ale)
- Alvarado Street Brewery, Salinas, CA— Howzit Punch (Fruited American-Style Sour Ale)
Additional medals from Hop Dogma (a silver in Chili Beer, and a bronze in the ultra-competitive German-style Pilsner category), Barebottle (two bronze medals), and Standard Deviant (a silver for their flagship Kölsch) rounded out a strong showing.
You can find a full list of 2026 WBC medal winners here.
Best of Craft Beer Awards — The Prelude
A week prior to WBC the 9th Annual Best of Craft Beer Awards (BOCBA) took place in Sun River, OR. With over 1,400 entries, analyzed by 60 judges, BOCBA has grown into the third-largest professional brewing competition in North America.
BABG Members won:
- 🏆 1 Brewery of the Year Award!
- 🥇 3 Gold medals
- 🥈 6 Silver medals
- 🥉 4 Bronze medals
The Big Winner:
Fruition Brewery & Kitchen (Watsonville) —
🏆 Small-Size Brewery of the Year
🥇 Yuzu Haze | 🥈 Watsonville Wildflower
This is a major milestone for Fruition, one rooted not just in great beer, but an obsessive attention to quality all the way through the empty glass:
Fruition was not the only member brewery with a strong performance in Sunriver. Additional multi-medal performances from Del Cielo (who won four!), Pond Farm, and Danville Brewing along with wins from Alvarado Street (Howzit, again!), Discretion, and Berryessa Brewing reflect our region's strength across a broad range of beer styles and brewery sizes.
👉The full list of medals handed out at BOCBA 2026: https://bestofcraftbeerawards.com/medalists/
Brewers Cup of California — Our Largest State-Level Competition
Last but not least, BABG member breweries had our most overwhelming performance this past Friday night in Sacramento at the 6th Annual Brewers Cup Of California. California is home to just under 1,000 commercial breweries and despite its state-level focus, this competition boasted 1,360 entries in 2025, making it one of the largest commercial beer competitions in the nation.
We Absolutely Crushed It:
- BABG Member Breweries took home 44 of 218 total medals awarded
- 21 of our 75 Guild member breweries medaled, including at least one member brewery from each of our five chapters
The Big Winner
Morgan Territory Brewing (Tracy)
- 🏆 Brewery of the Year (MTB has now won this award in 3 of last 4 years!)
- 🏆 Best in Show — "Lock’d, Bock’d, & Ready to Rock" (following its World Beer Cup gold!)
- 🥇Six medals total
Statewide Leader
Fieldwork Brewing Company — 7 Medals! 🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇(Most of Any Brewery)
A competition-leading performance, highlighted by four wins in Belgian-inspired styles.
Other Standouts
- Danville Brewing — 4 medals
- Clandestine Brewing — 3 gold medals
- Otherwise Brewing — swept the Gluten-Free category!
- Sonoma Springs — 3 medals
Five breweries earned two medals each: Barebottle, Bartlett Hall (2 gold), Old Caz (both malty lagers), Pond Farm, and Laughing Monk.
Additional medals came from:
Alvarado Street ("Howzit," again!), Cooperage, Fruition ("Yuzu Haze," again!) Half Moon Bay, Hop Dogma, Humble Sea, Standard Deviant, and Steel Bonnet.
👉 Full results: https://brewerscupofca.com/2026-winners/
The Bigger Picture — Sustained Excellence
What elevates this from a strong week to a meaningful moment is consistency across competitions.
- Morgan Territory — Year after year of WBC medals, GABF medals, back-to-back BOTY and Best in Show at Brewers Cup, and a medal at February's highly-competitive DIPA Festival in Hayward!
- Fieldwork — WBC Gold + 7-medal Brewers Cup performance
- Barebottle — 2 WBC medals + GABF double gold + 2 Brewers Cup medals
- Hop Dogma — continued success across major competitions in the most crowded categories!
- Danville — medals at WBC, BOCBA, and Brewers Cup
- Alvarado Street — Howzit Punch winning across every major competition
- Fruition — Brewery of the Year + additional medals at BOCBA and Brewers Cup
- Standard Deviant — medals at both WBC and Brewers Cup
As David from Fruition put it:
“It’s a great morale boost and a reminder to continue pushing for quality at every turn.”
What This Means For You
You live in an extraordinary place to drink beer! A region that:
- Wins at the highest global level
- Shows depth across dozens of breweries, from Tracy to Half Moon Bay, Monterey to Sonoma County
- And does it consistently, across time and a variety of competitions
Make plans to visit these winning breweries and seek out these winning brands when you are beer shopping! If a brewery you are unfamiliar with was among the big winners listed above, perhaps it is time to plan a day trip!
🍻 Upcoming Events Featuring Our Member Breweries
🎉 Public Events This Week!
Friday, 5/1—First Friday at Hop Oast!
(San Francisco, CA)
$7 pints, Housemade Jumbo Pretzels and Live Jazz!
More Info –> www.hopoast.com
Saturday, 5/2—CoopMania V at Cooperage!
(Santa Rosa, CA)
Cooperage's annual mega-celebration features a Taco Competition, Lucha Libre, Live Music, and ofcourse, delicious beer
More Info –> Tacos and Wrestling in Santa Rosa!
Friday-Sunday, 5/1-5/3—Chismosa Weekend at Old Caz!
(Rohnert Park, CA)
A whole weekend of events celebrating Culture, Cars, and Community!
More Info –> Chismosa Weekend in Rohnert Park!
Tuesday, 5/5—Loteria Night at Otherwise!
(San Francisco, CA| 7 PM)
Celebrating Cinco De Mayo, and Otherwise's Brewers Cup sweep with a lively night of Loteria games, prizes, gluten-free drinks, and awesome vibes!
More Info –> Loteria in San Francisco!
📅 Save the Dates
Saturday, 5/9—8 Years of Magic: Original Pattern Brewing's 8th Anniversary Celebration!
(Oakland, CA| Noon-8 PM)
OP's "8 Years Of Magic" Anniversary Party will be an unforgettable day of craft beer, live music, themed decor, and magic! Expect: 8 limited-edition collab beers with some of the best breweries around, live music from local artists, limited-edition keepsake glassware, delicious food, and... Some Magical Guests you don't want to miss! 🔮
More Info & Pre-Purchase Tickets –> Celebrate 8 Years Of Magic In Oakland!
Friday & Saturday, 5/15 & 5/16—10 Years Strong at Morgan Territory!
(Tracy, CA)
Celebrate a decade of award-winning beer with Morgan Territory! Live music on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, beer releases and a vendor faire!
More Info –> Celebrate With MTB In Tracy!
Saturday, 5/16—Sun Tripping Festival at Private Press!
(Santa Cruz, CA| Noon-8 PM)
An annual celebration of beer, records and community featuring DJ's, Record Vendors, Live Music and some of the best barrel-aged beers on the planet!
More Info –> Sun Tripping In Santa Cruz!
Friday - Sunday, 5/29 - 5/31—"Fate Of The 8" Anniversary Celebration at Del Cielo!
(Martinez, CA)
Celebrate Del Cielo's 4 BOCBA medals and their 8th Anniversary with live music and all the Magic 8 Ball fun!
More Info –> Celebrate With Del Cielo In Martinez!