The World Beer Cup is one of the world's most prestigious beer competitions and billed as the Olympics of beer. Each year, thousands of beers are entered from breweries across the globe. Only three medals are awarded per category -- gold, silver and bronze. Winning any medal at the World Beer Cup can change a brewery's fortune and has been known to lead to long lines and sell-outs. Many of the beers that do win awards at the World Beer Cup are produced in small quantities by regional craft breweries that often don't distribute much further than their taprooms. This can be frustrating for beer fans who aren't lucky enough to live close to one of the award-winning breweries. But every once in a while a brewery is so dialed in with a recipe that they are able to produce an award-winning beer on a massive scale without sacrificing quality. Judges at this year's World Beer Cup awarded several top medals to beers with wide national, or international, distribution. These beers range from lagers to a pale ale and a Belgian-style tripel. Many of them will be familiar to readers, but just because they're easy to find does not mean they're not worth seeking out. After all, at this year's competition in Indianapolis over the spring, judges tasted 8,375 entries submitted by 1,761 breweries and cideries from 49 different countries. Only a tiny fraction of those beers submitted earned medals, and all those who did are prime examples of their respective styles. Here's a closer look at some of the best beers in the world you can actually find close to your house.
The fact that Sierra Nevada's flagship beer won gold at the World Beer Cup in the Extra Special Bitter category led to some understandable head-scratching, as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is, as its name implies, a pale ale, not an ESB. But regardless of how you classify it, this is a great beer. Not only is it one of the brews that got me into craft beer, it remains one I continue to enjoy.
The Kirkland Helles Lager is an easy-drinking lager available at almost every Costco. It took home the silver medal at this year's World Beer Cup and had previously earned gold at The Great American Beer Festival. Those are two of the most prestigious awards in the beer competition, and as I've previously written, this beer lives up to those honors; it's light and refreshing but still full of character.
La Fin Du Monde, Unibroue, is a Belgian-style triple made in Canada that won bronze this year and gold at 2024's World Beer Cup. The back-to-back medals prove this beers success is not a fluke. Dedicated to the French explorers' journeys in what would become Quebec, this beer has won many awards. Fans love its mix of grain, fruit and spice notes.
Hoegaarden White is a ubiquitous Belgian white at most places beer is sold, and this year World Beer Cup judges found it's also one of the best examples of the Belgian witbier style. As such, it features those classic citrus and coriander notes, which combine to make this excellent witbier a widely refreshing choice and a wonderful example of everything this style of beer can be.
This beloved Texas dark lager took home the silver medal at this year's World Beer Cup, demonstrating once again that mass availability doesn't equal lack of quality. Made with roasted barley malt and German specialty hops, Shiner Bock is available nationwide and is indeed an excellent and highly sessionable beer that you can likely grab from your nearest beer seller.