Oceanside Brewery Wins Gold At Great American Beer Festival

OCEANSIDE, CA — Five beer makers in San Diego County — including one in Oceanside — left the 40th annual American Beer Festival with gold medals this year.

The local gold medal winners were San Marcos' Craft Coast Beer & Tacos for its Chillzner in the "International-Style Pilsner" category, Solana Beach's Culture Brewing Co. for its 3 Citrus Gose in the "Contemporary Gose" category, Oceanside's Green Cheek Beer Co. for its Jeff's Baltic Porter in the "Strong Porter" category, Imperial Beach's Pizza Port for its Indie Roo in the "Imperial Stout" category, and Mission Valley's Puesto Cerveceria for its Puesto Negra in the "International Dark Lager" category.

"America's Finest City had yet another fine performance in the Rockies this year," said San Diego Brewers Guild Executive Director Erik Fowler. "What I particularly love is how the five local gold medal winners from this year were all different than the five from 2023. The quality of craft beer is certainly spread throughout the county. As always, we hope San Diegans will go out and try these great beers, along with great food in many cases at these breweries and brewpubs."

The nation's largest beer festival has wrapped its 2024 competition, awarding 325 medals to 273 breweries and cideries across the country. This year also marked a first for the prestigious contest with the inclusion of cider and canned cocktails.

The festival is held in Denver, Colorado every year, allowing thousands of people to try hundreds of competing beers ranging in flavor from hoppy to funky. This year, the festival hosted hundreds of breweries at the Colorado Convention Center from Oct. 10 through Oct. 12.

Breweries earned accolades across various categories, from American pilsners to sours, coffee beers, non-alcoholic brews and beyond.

This marks the second year in a row five different San Diego breweries won gold medals.

Pizza Port and Athletic Brewing Co. in Miramar were the only San Diego operations that won multiple medals. Pizza Port's Ocean Beach brewery also took home a bronze medal for its Guillaume in the "Session Beer or Belgian-Style Table" category. Athletic Brewing Co. won a pair of silver medals.

Here's who won medals in San Diego County:

Gold

• Craft Coast Beer & Tacos - San Marcos
• Culture Brewing Co. - Solana Beach
• Green Check Beer Co. - Oceanside
• Pizza Port - Imperial Beach
• Puesto Cerveceria - San Diego

Silver

• Athletic Brewing Co. - San Diego (two silver medals)
• Pure Project - Vista
• Rouleur Brewing Co. - Carlsbad

Bronze

• Kilowatt Brewing - San Diego
• Pizza Port Ocean Beach - San Diego
• Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens - Liberty Station - San Diego

See the full list of winning brews across the country here.