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The Best Pilsners Of 2025—According To The World Beer Cup
Breweries in the U.S. and Japan were honored for their pilsners at this year's World Beer Cup.
The best pilsner beers in 5 subcategories of pilsner were recently selected at this year's World Beer Cup. The winning beers were made by breweries across the U.S. and globe, though surprisingly, given the style's European roots, no breweries from Europe took home pilsner medals.
The World Beer Cup took place this spring in Indianapolis. The prestigious competition is run by the Brewers Association, a not-for-profit trade association representing American independent craft brewers. This year, judges assessed 8,375 beers and ciders in more than 300 categories submitted by producers from 49 countries. Submissions included hundreds of pilsners—a clean and crisp style of lager that is often referred to as a brewer's handshake because it is considered one of the clearest indicators of a given brewer's skill. For each pilsner category and beer category overall at the competition, only three medals were awarded: gold, silver, and bronze.
Forbes previously looked at the pilsner gold medal winners, particularly Haha Pils,the German-style pilsner gold medal winner. Here we're taking a closer look at all the pilsners that took home a medal at this year's World Beer Cup.
Gold: Birkebeinerpils, Victor 23, Portland, OR
Silver: Hi-Wire Lager, Hi-Wire Brewing, Asheville, NC
Bronze: Icicle Premium Pilsner, Icicle Brewing Co., Leavenworth, WA
Gold: STS Pils, Russian River Brewing Co., Windsor, CA
Silver: Hamburghini, ISM Brewing, Long Beach, CA
Bronze: Pivo, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Gold: Haha Pils, Arbeiter Brewing Co., Minneapolis, MN
Silver: Kinabik Pilsner, Snake Lake Brewing Co., Sylvan Lake, Canada
Bronze: Planks, MadeWest Brewing Co., Ventura, CA
Gold: Bay Pilsner, Yokohama Bay Brewing Co., Yokohama, Japan
Silver: Pilsner Rešov, Equal Parts Brewing, Houston, TX
Bronze: Minoh Beer Pilsner, Minoh Brewery, Minoh-shi, Japan
Gold: Highwayman, Roadhouse Brewing, Jackson, WY
Silver: Bellevue 1882 Lager, Bellevue Brewing Co., Bellevue, WA
Bronze: Gold Country Pilsner, Auburn Alehouse, Auburn, CA
The pilsner category has seen increasing interest from brewers and beer fans overall in recent years. All pilsner variants are themselves a type of pale light lager. These beers are generally noted for their crisp, clean flavors, low bitterness, and subtle malt flavors. Hops are important in this style of beer, but they take on a less in-your-face role than they do in an IBA. The differences between types of pilsners can range from subtle to more pronounced. German pilsners tend to have more bitterness than other styles of pilsner and frequently use Tettnang or Hallertau hops. They are also often unfiltered and cloudy in appearance. Czech pilsners tend to be clear in appearance and often use the Saaz hop, which gives them a distinct taste. American pilsners are based upon German pilsners but can incorporate a wider variety of ingredients, including corn and can be described as falling between a Bohemian pilsner and German pilsner in terms of flavor. Meanwhile, Italian pilsners add dry hopping to the traditional pilsner brewing process, adding more hop character to the finished product.
