'A Prestigious Honor': Long Beach Brewery Wins 2 Medals At World Beer Cup

LONG BEACH, CA — And they stick the landing!

ISM Brewing in Downtown Long Beach took home two silver medals at this year's World Beer Cup competition.

"To win an award, any award at the Beer Cup is a prestigious honor," ISM Brewing Owner Ian McCall told Patch. "The opportunity, the hope to bring one medal is enough. For us to earn two silvers was an amazing accomplishment."

The World Beer Cup, also known as the "Olympics of beer," is an annual international competition held in conjunction with the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America. It was created in 1996 to celebrate the art and science of brewing, according to the World Beer Cup organization. This year, the competition was held in Indianapolis.

This year, ISM submitted 10 beers in 10 different categories. It won silver in the Classic Saison category for its Plough & Harrow brew and the Italian-Style Pilsner category for its Hamburghini beer — a collaboration with local pop-up Hamburger Nice.

"From a brewer's perspective, if you look at who won — Russian River won gold and Firestone Walker won bronze —to be sandwiched between those two highly respected brewing establishments is pretty amazing," McCall said.

This is the third medal overall for ISM's Plough & Harrow, which previously won bronze last year at the World Beer Cup and again at the American Beer Festival in Colorado.

ISM opened in 2023 and is known for its innovation behind the scenes, exploring new brew flavors.

McCall said ISM has been working to translate that innovation and creativity into the breweries' dining options.

So far, they've released a new sandwich called "Tired of Taxation," about the current economic climate. It's a fried bologna sandwich with American cheese on a toasted white brioche.

"It's a super simple sandwich, but just packed with flavor," McCall said. "I hope the community will be able to enjoy all of these new flavors coming out."