GABF 2025: Ryan’s Top 40 Beers
For a more detailed breakdown of this year’s Great American Beer Festival, along with interviews from a few select brewers that caught our attention (and appear on this list), be sure to check out our GABF 2025 podcast episode.
Ryan’s Top 40 Beers at GABF 2025
40. Oktoberfest | Märzen | von Trapp Brewing | Stowe, VT | 5.6% ABV
Since I spent most of September drinking Märzens and Festbiers – almost exclusively – I thought I was starting to reach my limit with those styles. So if I’m saying “see you next August” to Oktoberfest, this is a proper send-off. It’s full of honey wheat bread crusts, a slight touch of floral and spicy hop, and just enough chew in the mouthfeel to feel full while still drinking like a refreshing lager.
39. Astronaut Sauce | Belgian Pale Ale dry-hopped w/ Galaxy hops | Lake Time Brewing & Spirits | Bridgman, MI | 5.8% ABV
Pete Crowley is a local legend for us Chicagoans with over 30 years in brewing, and when he left the beloved Haymarket, we wondered if he would be taking some much-earned time off. Turns out, he was readying a new brewery in his adopted hometown of Bridgman, and now they’ve already won a Gold medal before their first anniversary. This beer marries the big peachy notes of Galaxy with a bubblegum and peppercorn Belgian yeast character, leaving a nice sharpness and slight lingering bitterness in the finish.
38. Ragnarök | DDH New England IPA w/ Strata hops | False Idol Brewing | North Richland Hills, TX| 6.5% ABV
False Idol’s booth has been a highlight for us the last three years, and each year we find a different style as a standout. I didn’t expect the hazy to rise to the top of my list, but this one is a showcase for one of my favorite newer hop varietals – Strata. Aromatically, it’s hugely dank and tropical, but in the flavor there’s more subtle notes of strawberry, passion fruit, and honeydew.
37. Clubhaus Lager | American Light Lager | Von Ebert Brewing | Portland, OR | 4% ABV
Not a lot of beers get to claim double Gold in the same year at the World Beer Cup and GABF, but this one does. Von Ebert makes a lot of incredible stuff, including their Volatile Substance Northeast IPA, but this beer balances bigger-than-average flavor for the style with an expected light-bodied drinkability like few other American Light Lagers we’ve had recently. Our sample pour wasn’t enough – this one needs to be experienced as a 12 pack.
36. Pale Horse | American IPA | Ghost Town Brewing | Oakland, CA | 6.8% ABV
Ghost Town won three medals this year, and somewhat surprisingly, their stellar Nose Goblin DIPA got shut out – which is only the second time in five years that has happened. Their Pale Horse is a much different beer, and probably too big on white grape juice, berries, and sticky dank to pick up any recognition in the American IPA category. But it certainly continues to establish Ghost Town as one of the best hoppy breweries on the West Coast.
35. Barrel-Aged Others In Darkness: Irish Coffee | Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels w/ coffee and milk sugar | Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project | Loveland, CO | 15.5% ABV
Verboten is a FoBAB legend locally for their complex, blended barleywines, but don’t count out their other barrel-aged beers. This rich and oily stout, full-bodied and bitter like dark espresso beans drinks creamy and dangerously easy.
34. Pernicious | American IPA | Wicked Weed Brewing | Asheville, NC | 7.3% ABV
We’ve been on a quest recently to find the best IPA in the U.S. (that we can get our hands on) through a blind-tasting series for the podcast, and it’s forced us to really re-assess what we love about the style. This beer hits all those notes – it’s fruit-forward with a complex citrus and tropical melange, stacked on a decent honey-bread malt body, with a bitterness that lingers beyond the sip.
33. Colorado Wild Sage | Brett Saison w/ fresh white sage & lemongrass | Crooked Stave Brewing Co. | Denver, CO | 7.2% ABV
I made the mistake of taking this booth for granted and waited until the end of the session Saturday to stop by, and while I had a hankerin’ for something sour, this beer was a welcome surprise. Earthy and herbal in all the right ways, this beer also gives off big notes of Brett-enhanced funk, like wet hay, old pineapple, and new bandage.
32. Northern Hemisphere Harvest | Wet-hopped IPA | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico, CA | 6.7% ABV
It’s a shame we really don’t see this one in the Midwest, because the phrase “Wet Centennial” needs to be in my life a whole lot more. This one is big on the pine and grapefruit notes and drinks with a lot of green hop dust, anchored by a caramelized malt note sweetness.
31. HopTomic | Double IPA | Morgan Territory Brewing | Tracy, CA | 8.5% ABV
With two straight medal-winning years for this Double IPA (Gold last year and Silver this year), Morgan Territory is halfway to matching the number of medal wins in the Imperial IPA category that Pliny the Elder has. That’s the kind of stat-bending that can sell some beers! But undeniably, this beer is dripping with dank herbal bitterness led off by some bright citrus at the start.
30. Stringray Jesus | West Coast IPA | Our Mutual Friend Brewing Co. | Denver, CO | 7.5% ABV
Though I came to this booth looking for one of their incredible saisons, I came a little too late and “settled” for this West Coast IPA. Aromatically, it bursts with tropical citrus and passion fruit, touched up by a little dank. Those notes come through bright and clear in the beer alongside a nice doughy malt before ending nicely bitter.
29. Spruce Pilsner | Imperial Pilsner w/ blue spruce tips | Short’s Brewing Company | Elk Rapids, MI | 9.5% ABV
Amongst the weird ingredients in the beers Short’s was pouring (like partridge berry, carrots, Roma tomatoes, and horseradish), spruce tips is one of the most normal. Their application in this beer is akin to gin botanicals, taking a higher ABV pilsner than usual and giving it a bit more of a cocktail flavor.
28. Velvety Kush | Triple Dry-Hopped Hazy IPA | Pax Verum Brewing | Lapel, IN | 6.8% ABV
If one were to partake in the entirely legal (in many states) recreational use of cannabis vape products, they’d take a whiff and a sniff of this beer and instinctively let out a slow and deliberate exhale. This one is dripping with terpenes that blur the lines between hops and weed, and it has enough fruit to balance out the dank.
27. City of Dreams | Hazy Pale Ale | Fort George Brewery | Astoria, OR | 5.5% ABV
Fort George has long been in the mix for having standout hoppy beers at the fest, and this year’s Gold medal winner for Hazy or Juicy Pale Ale is a tropical and melon-forward fruity fiesta with a little bitterness to bring it back to reality.
26. Pre-War Pils | Pre-Prohibition Lager | Live Oak Brewing Company | Austin, TX | 5% ABV
Maybe the most surprising GABF history is that Live Oak – indisputably one of the best lager breweries in the country – has only ever won two medals at the fest. But talk to any lager maker in the U.S. (like we did with Amos Lowe of ABGB), and they’ll tip their cap to Live Oak for helping pioneer the craft lager revolution. This beer has some notes of sweet corn bread alongside a little grassy bite, making it crisp and crushable while full of flavor worth fussing over.
25. Saigon Stout | Coffee Milk Stout | DZO Brewing Company | Garden Grove, CA | 5.1% ABV
This was my last pour of the fest, and it was a great note to end on. DZO is the first Vietnamese-American owned brewery in the U.S., and this beer is an homage to the condensed milk-enhanced Vietnamese iced coffee with big robust roast character that’s cut by the creaminess from the milk stout recipe.
24. Trump Hands | Session IPA | Cannonball Creek Brewing Co. | Golden, CO | 4.6% ABV
I wonder if it’s a coincidence that this beer won its first medal since 2019 (and previous to that, 2016), but this very small IPA certainly carries a lot of bombast. Like the best session IPAs, it’s cramming a lot of hop flavor into a very light beer, but it finishes with enough bitterness and a touch of sweetness to remind you it’s not a dry-hopped lager.
23. Kelly’s Private Stash (2025) | Barrel-aged Barleywine Blend | Third Eye Brewing Company | Cincinnati, OH | 13.8% ABV
Third Eye has won two brewery awards in the last few years, and they do it through a large variety of styles. We have grown accustomed to being really impressed by their barrel-aged beers, and this smooth caramel and toffee-forward barleywine blend did the trick for me.
22. Munich Dunkles | Munich Dunkel Lager | Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant | Topeka, KS | 4.8% ABV
This brewery has taken home 18 medals since the turn of the century, all in more traditional styles like lagers and smoked beers. They added two more medals this year, including a silver for this very nutty and toasty dunkel that was a standout considering not many other dunkels were pouring at the fest.
21. Fourth Meal at Graceland | Barrel-aged blended stout w/ bananas, marshmallows, and peanut butter | Firestone Walker Brewing & Green Cheek Beer & Pinthouse Brewing | Paso Robles, CA & Orange, CA & Austin, TX | 11.2% ABV
It wasn’t immediately clear that this beer was barrel-aged because it really did smell and taste like a PB & Fluff & banana sandwich with all of those flavors working in tandem without anything overly sweet lingering in the end. Indulgent and impressive.
20. Highwayman | German-Style Pilsner | Roadhouse Brewing Company | Jackson, WY | 4% ABV
I was somewhat surprised with how many great American-made German-style pilsners we came across at the fest, and that speaks to the increasing technical skill lager brewers have gained over the last decade. This one leans on the noble hop bitterness with floral and spicy notes, but it doesn’t overtake the light honey biscuit base.
19. Extra Extra Broccoli | Hazy Double IPA | WeldWerks Brewing & Other Half Brewing | Greeley, CO & Brooklyn, NY | 8.3% ABV
There was so much to try at the WeldWerks booth that I initially overlooked this one due to my general indifference towards double hazy IPAs, but this collaboration represents the best of that style. It’s full-bodied with a dreamsicle-like creaminess, but there’s a climbing hoppy bitterness that’s both green and full of orange pith that makes this one absolutely redrinkable.
18. Moozie | Milk Stout | Brink Brewing Co. | Cincinnati, OH | 5.7% ABV
We haven’t seen Brink pouring at GABF in many years, unfortunately, as they have a tremendous medal pedigree at the fest, especially due to this beer – which won its fifth medal this year since 2018. Thankfully, it was pouring at the Ohio State Guild booth, and it’s just as rich and chocolate malt milkshake-tasting as I remembered.
17. Fresher Than Fresh | Fresh Hop West Coast IPA | Trap Door Brewing | Vancouver, WA | 7% ABV
Repeating as the Gold medal winner in the Fresh Hop Beer category again this year, this beer is teeming with slightly underripe tangerine with big herbal and dank notes that almost push some wintergreen. It’s about as close to biting into a dripping wet hop cone as you can get.
16. Rocket 100 | Pre-Prohibition Lager | The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. | Austin, TX | 5.6% ABV
This is one of those booths where you could throw a dart at their board and anything it hits would be one of the best lagers you had at the fest. The ABGB is legendary for their immaculate beers, and they have the GABF hardware to prove it. This one has some slight notes of bread dough and an easy hop bitterness that’s both herbal and floral.
15. Sip of Sunshine | American IPA | Lawson’s Finest Liquids | Waitsfield, VT | 8% ABV
This was a popular corner booth, and it gives me hope that the crowds are starting to go for IPAs of yesteryear more and more. Lawson’s has been making excellent clear hoppy beers for almost two decades, and Sip of Sunshine (their lighter take on their popular Double Sunshine) hasn’t lost a step. Vibrantly fruity with resinous dank notes and a toothsome mouthfeel, this is one that you can redrink to a dangerous degree.
14. Broward County Brand Stout | Imperial Stout aged in Rye Whiskey barrels w/ vanilla beans | 3 Sons Brewing Co. | Dania Beach, FL | 14.4% ABV
Our first experience with this brewery was back in 2016 when we had their Summation, one of Craig’s all-time favorite beers: a barrel-aged stout with vanilla and coffee. That was an extremely limited release to the point of myth-making, but their Broward County Brand Stout is much more accessible on an annual basis (at least if you’re in Florida.) We drink a lot of barrel-aged imperial stouts, and this one would rise above many of our local releases – the vanilla is just a perfectly toasted marshmallow atop a dark chocolate and roast-forward, full-bodied stout.
13. Flower Child | Peach, Chamomile, and Cardamom Gose | UPP Liquids | Bend, OR | 5.2% ABV
Though the name UPP Liquids is pretty new on the beer scene, the brewery itself and those that run it are old pros in the Pacific Northwest. Formerly Immersion Brewing, UPP Liquids is a rebranding led by former innovation brewers at 10 Barrel that were laid off by the beverage corporation that gutted that brand. All-in-all, UPP won five medals and a brewery award at this year’s GABF, and this beer in particular won a silver in the Contemporary Gose category. It’s a great balance of flower and fruity, more dry than it is tart, and it required a second pour to really unwrap all of its complexities. This whole booth was excellent – this is a brewery to watch.
12. TourBus | DDH Hazy IPA | DESTIHL Brewing | Normal, IL | 7.4% ABV
Illinois did not bring in as many medals as in years past, earning only four in total, and we waited until the very end of the awards ceremony to celebrate the biggest award for our state. Amongst 301 entries – the largest category at GABF – this gold-medal winning hazy IPA uses the classic combination of Citra and Mosaic to stunning effect. We’ve had this one and enjoyed it before, but whatever magic spell they put on this particular batch truly elevated this to legendary status. Grab this while it’s fresh – it’s one of the best hazies we’ve ever had.
11. Zonker Stout | Export-Style Stout | Snake River Brewing | Jackson Hole, WY | 6% ABV
This is a classic of stout that I only get to drink once a year, so I savor the opportunity. This beer has won six medals in GABF history dating all the way back to when The Simpsons were in their peak years (1994), and it’s full of roast, caramelized sugar, anise, and cocoa powder while being ridiculously drinkable. We’d love to see more “throwback” stouts like this being made – if only drinkers were willing to give up the need for sweet candy adjuncts.
10. Mezcal Barrel-Aged Mexican Achromatic | Imperial Stout aged in bourbon and mezcal barrels w/ cocoa nibs, vanilla, and cinnamon | WeldWerks Brewing | Greeley, CO | 14.2% ABV
The most consistent line at the fest was for the massive WeldWerks booth – which is always a must-stop at the fest. With the sizable crew they have pouring at all times, though, it was possible to move through that long line several times without feeling like you were missing out on other breweries. And WeldWerks gives you many reasons to return – their fruited beers, hazies, and barrel-aged stouts are some of the most flavorful you’ll find on the floor. Though their Gyro Gose experimental offering for this year was weirdly delicious, I was impressed by how this beer mixed in some subtle smoke from the Mezcal to compliment the chocolate and cinnamon notes off of the Achromatic.
9. Pacific Coast Pils | Pilsner | pFriem Family Brewers | Hood River, OR | 6% ABV
Everything pFriem does is immaculate and having them back at the fest this year was a major highlight. I started with the Frambozen at their booth for old times’ sake, and it was just as raspberry-forward, tart, and dry as I remembered. But this fruit burst of a West Coast pilsner stood out as one of the best I’ve had of the style – a vibrant beer that only uses bitterness to cut off the sweetness that pops at the start of the sip.
8. Simcoe 25 | West Coast IPA | Russian River Brewing Company | Windsor, CA | 7% ABV
For the 25th anniversary of the Simcoe hop, Russian River had a slew of options to celebrate like their Row 2/Hill 56 pale ale and this excellent Simcoe 25. It’s dripping with pine resin and grapefruit, bitter enough to linger far past the sip. Experiencing this hop as a feature rather than one in the mix of hops used for Pliny the Elder really highlights how much it adds to their signature Double IPA – and why we wish more brewers would layer on the Simcoe in their clear, hoppy beers.
7. Schloss Tor | German-Style Pilsner | Helper Beer | Helper, UT | 5% ABV
We were tipped off by Jacob Sembrano of Cruz Blanca to try this brewery’s Japanese Rice Lager – and that beer was indeed impressive. But this pilsner won a Gold in a category that had 184 entries, and that’s no coincidence. This represents everything we love about pilsner: grain-forward malt notes and a good noble hop bitterness, clean and crisp with an even-keel grassy character. It’s no surprise head brewer Joran Anderson (who we interviewed on our GABF 2025 episode) spent time brewing with Kevin Templin of Templin Family Brewing.
6. Pub Ale | English-Style Bitter | Pilot Brewing | Charlotte, NC | 5.6% ABV
Pilot Brewing was previously unknown to us, but they are quite familiar to the awards stage. Though they were sadly shut out this year at GABF, they have the highest medal count of any brewery in Charlotte, including a Gold at World Beer Cup this year for their Czech Dark Lager, and a Gold at last year’s GABF for this Pub Ale. This beer is the perfect combination of breadiness, accented by a touch of fruity sweetness, before a lightly bitter finish that keeps it all clean in the end.
5. Don’t Worry About the Fireplace | Stout, barleywine, and porter blend aged in Apple Brandy barrels w/ vanilla | Breakside Brewery | Portland, OR | 13.5% ABV
In the midst of festival distraction, I grabbed a pour of this, walked away from the booth, sampled it, audibly said “WHOA,” and had to return to the booth to see exactly what the hell it was. My first reaction was a chocolate and caramel covered apple, laden with a syrupy but comfortable booze note. Breakside does just about everything well – this was exceptional.
4. Head Hunter | American IPA | Fat Head’s Brewery | Middleburgh Heights, OH | 7.5% ABV
No surprises here – we had this one as part of our IPA All-Stars Blind series a few months back, and it really might stand up as the finest IPA made in America. We even ran into Trevor from Old Irving – who make some stellar, well-awarded hoppy beers as well – and he was still reeling from his first experience with this beer, just a stunning example of how vibrant and fruity hops perfectly balanced with bitterness and an almost woodsy caramel malt note come together for the gold standard of hoppy beers.
3. Duck Duck Gooze | Gueuze-Style Ale | The Lost Abbey | Vista, CA | 7% ABV
One of the biggest surprises for us as veteran GABF attendees was seeing this beer being served until basically the end of each session – possibly America’s best gueuze-style beer. Years ago, this beer would draw lines that would snake on forever, and the “KICKED” sticker would be up after an hour or so. Times may have changed, but this beer largely has not – and it’s still only released once every three years. The sourness is sharp and upfront before settling into a peachy prosecco mimosa, with some otherworldly funk thrown in.
2. Granary KellerBier | Unfiltered German Pilsner | Templin Family Brewing | Salt Lake City, UT | 4.7%
At this point, I’m amazed I can still find a pilsner-style beer that does something unique without breaking style, and this one from Utah’s Templin will live in my memory for a long time. The star of this beer is its grain character – it tastes like a rustic slice of artisanal bread, lightly touched by a honey-like sweetness. The noble hop characters here bring in just a touch of floral and earth, adding a very slight yet crisp bitterness in the late palate.
1. Funksloth | Foeder-aged Farmhouse Ale | Bow & Arrow Brewing Co. | Albuquerque, NM | 6.3% ABV
When we first attended GABF over a decade ago, so many brewers spoke of building sour programs – buying up foeders and wine barrels for Belgian-inspired ales teeming with tartness and funk. For a few years, the results of these efforts – though both wild in terms of fermentation and, ahem, quality – were easy to find all over the festival floor. At the 2025 fest, there were very few wild, funky, or sour beers being offered largely due to economic downturns and changes in consumer tastes. So when we came across any at all, we were excited to relive the good ol’ sour days. This beer from the excellent Bow & Arrow veers more towards a funky, terroir-driven beer that gives a little tartness in its dry finish rather than some tannic sour bomb. It’s a little earthy with some notes of grass, bubblegum, peach skin, and gooseberry. It was the most memorable and satisfying sip of the whole fest – and one that I went back for several times.
