MEDIA CONTACT:
Jenna Wines
Communications & Digital Marketing Manager
Virginia Craft Brewers Guild
jwines@vacraftbrewersguild.com
The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild Announces Winners of the 2026 Virginia Craft Beer Cup
-Winners Announced: Selvedge Brewing Earns Best of Show; Fine Creek Brewing Named Virginia Brewery of the Year™-
RICHMOND, VA—The Virginia Craft Brewers Guild recognized the Commonwealth’s top craft beers during the Virginia Craft Beer Summit & Gala on Monday, August 10, announcing the winners of the 2026 Virginia Craft Beer Cup™. This year’s competition featured 347 beer entries and brought together 36 judges to evaluate beers spanning a wide range of styles.
“The Virginia Craft Beer Cup has assembled one of the most credentialed judging panels a regional competition can field, with 94.4% of its 36 judges holding official BJCP rank, up from 91% the year prior, and 91.7% certified or higher, a bar that places this event’s evaluation standards on par with national-caliber competitions,” said Charlie Harr, Head Cup Judge.
Judging rounds were hosted earlier this year at The Veil Brewing Co.’s Operations Facility. New this year, the Guild introduced a Pro-Am category, allowing professional breweries and home brewers to collaborate and enter joint creations into the competition.
“Virginia brewers continue to produce exceptional beers,” said Stacie Gordon, Executive Director of the Virginia Craft Brewers Guild. “The Virginia Craft Beer Cup is an opportunity to celebrate the talent, innovation, and dedication of our independent craft breweries while recognizing the beers that exemplify excellence in brewing.”
Join the Guild in congratulating the recipients of this year’s awards:
- Virginia Craft Beer Cup, 2026 Best of Show (Gold): Selvedge Brewing’s Batiste
- Virginia Craft Beer Cup, 2026 Best of Show (Silver): The Answer Brewpub’s Rauchpause
- Virginia Craft Beer Cup, 2026 Best of Show (Bronze): Port City Brewing Company’s Optimal Wit
- Virginia Brewery of the Year™: Fine Creek Brewing Company
- The Most Revolutionary Brew in Virginia™: Afterglow Brewing’s Declaration of Fermentation
The medalists of each beer style category, based upon BJCP beer style guidelines, are listed below:
American Lager & Light Lagers
Gold, Big Ugly Brewing’s One Heart
Silver, Parkway Brewing Company’s Macabrew Pilsner
Bronze, Harvest Gap Brewery’s Stud Light Lager
American Wheat/German Weiss & Rye
Gold, 2 Silos Brewing Co’s Hefe
Silver, Rockfish Brewing Company’s Hefeweizen
Bronze, Old House Brewing’s The Stagshead
American Wild Ale
Gold, Fine Creek Brewing Company’s 2026 Bière De Printemps
Silver, Stable Craft Brewing’s Hermitage Berliner Weisse
Bronze, Broken Window Brewing Company, LLC’s Sour Patch Jacob
Alternative Sugar/Grains
Gold, Caboose Brewing Company’s Yo!
Silver, 7 Dogs Brewpub’s Misty Mountain Honey Kolsch
Bronze, St. George Brewing Co.’s Honey Lager
Amber Ale
Gold, Crazy Rooster Brewing Company’s Devil’s Pay
Silver, Caboose Brewing Company’s CTRL-ALT-DEL
Bronze, Waygone Brewery’s Route 6
Amber Lager
Gold, Starr Hill Brewery’s Under the Radar
Silver, Seven Arrows Brewing Co.’s Copper Canyon Mexican Lager
Bronze, The Farm Brewery at Broad Run’s Vienna is for Lagers
Belgian Ales
Gold, Port City Brewing Company’s Optimal Wit
Silver, Bald Top Brewing Company’s Bière de Garde
Bronze, Caboose Brewing Company’s It’s Wit!
British Bitters/Scottish
Gold, SuperFly Brewing Co.’s TESTIFY
Silver, Caiseal Beer & Spirits Co. (The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery)’s Red Ale
Bronze, Long Way Brewing’s aRe U Kilting Me?
Brown Ale
Gold, Tradition Brewing Company’s Tradition Honey Brown Ale
Silver, Gloucester Brewing Company’s Low Ground
Bronze, The Virginia Beer Company’s Trail Magic
Cream & Blond Ale
Gold, Water’s End Brewery’s Damn Beer
Silver, The Farm Brewery at Broad Run’s Broad Run Blonde
Bronze, The Farm Brewery at Broad Run’s American Ale
Dark European Lagers
Gold, Cave Hill Farms Brewery’s Zeigenbock
Silver, Laudenbach Brewing’s Schwarzwald Lager
Bronze, Olde Salem Brewing Company’s Black Betty
Double IPA
Gold, Precarious Beer Project’s Brewery Boyz Want To Believe
Silver, Pro Re Nata’s Double Dose
Bronze, Three Leg Run’s Fat Russell Crowe
European Sour
Gold, Strangeways Brewing Company’s Uberlin
Silver, Fine Creek Brewing Company’s Barrel Aged Sour Red
Bronze, Starr Hill Brewery’s Stupid Sexy Flanders
Fruit
Gold, Blue Mountain Barrel House’s Raspberries on Acid
Silver, 2 Silos Brewing Co’s Squared Pants
Bronze, Southern Revere Cellars’ Salty Beach
Hazy IPA
Gold, The Answer Brewpub’s Unfamiliar Sheep
Silver, New Realm Brewing Company’s Hazy Like a Fox
Bronze, Heliotrope Brewery’s Nebular Velvet
IPA
Gold, New Realm Brewing Company’s Kickflipper
Silver, WildManDan Brewery’s Roy Kent
Bronze, Kindred Spirit Brewing’s Headspace IPA
International Lager
Gold, Smartmouth Brewing Co.’s Señorita Vesa
Silver, Billsburg Brewery’s Classic Lager
Bronze, Three Leg Run’s El Vikingo
Irish Red
Gold, Iron Pipe Alewerks’ Bearded Charmer
Silver, Water’s End Brewery’s Irish Red
Bronze, Seven Arrows Brewing Co.’s Maelstrom Irish Red
Kolsch/Leichtbier
Gold, Big Lick Brewing Company’s Leicht & Frisch
Silver, Bear Chase Brewing Company’s Kodiak Kolsch
Bronze, Great American Restaurants – Sweetwater Tavern’s Barking Frog Kolsch
Monastic
Gold, Solstice Farm Brewery’s Cerberus
Silver, Caiseal Beer & Spirits Co. (The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery)’s Namur the Merrier Belgian Quad
Bronze, Trouvaille Brewing Company’s Octave
Pale Ale
Gold, Decipher Brewing’s 109 E. Pale Ale
Silver, Loudoun Brewing Company’s Mosaic Sunshine
Bronze, Big Lick Brewing Company’s Star City Pale Ale
Pale European Lager
Gold, Bingo Beer Co.’s Special
Silver, Strangeways Brewing Company’s Helles Frozen Over
Bronze, Harvest Gap Brewery’s Devil Dog Helles Lager
Pilsner
Gold, Selvedge Brewing’s Batiste
Silver, Crazy Rooster Brewing Company’s Burnin’ Shore
Bronze, Hardywood Park Craft Brewery’s Pils
Porter
Gold, SuperFly Brewing Co.’s MIDNIGHT TRAIN
Silver, Decipher Brewing’s Porta
Bronze, Three Leg Run’s We The People
Pro-Am
Gold, Heliotrope Brewery & Stephen Goadhouse’s Brave Helios, Wake Up Your Steeds
Silver, Lake Anne Brew House & Nick Arleth’s Sun-Ryes-Valley IPA
Bronze, Patch Brewing Company & Charlie Harr’s Chesterfield’s Secret Voyage
Smoked Beer
Gold, The Answer Brewpub’s Rauchpause
Silver, Patch Brewing Company’s Sea Smoke
Bronze, Northern Neck Brewing Company’s McGinniss’ Ordinary
Specialty IPA
Gold, Harvest Gap Brewery’s Dark Star Cascadian Dark IPA
Silver, Eleven Eleven Brewing Company’s Chinook Ones Pt 2
Bronze, Starr Hill Brewery’s Exit Strategy
Stout
Gold, Barley Naked Brewing Company’s Irish Prenup
Silver, 6 Bears and a Goat Brewing Co.’s O’Dark Thirty
Bronze, Outback Brewhouse’s Choc-A-Bloc Stout
Strong Ale
Gold, Fine Creek Brewing Company’s Wheatwine
Silver, Broken Window Brewing Company, LLC’s Tim Reaper
Bronze, Caiseal Beer & Spirits Co. (The Vanguard Brewpub & Distillery)’s Fifth Force Imperial Stout
Strong European Lagers
Gold, Heliotrope Brewery’s Armoured Bear
Silver, Barley Naked Brewing Company’s Hung Monk
Bronze, Solstice Farm Brewery’s Bottom Creek
Vegetable
Gold, Three Leg Run’s You’re Gherkin My Chain
Silver, Old Bust Head Brewing Company’s Caramel Macchiato Stout
Bronze, Strangeways Brewing Company’s Owl Stare Coffee Brown Ale
Wood Aged
Gold, Eavesdrop Brewery’s Unspoken
Silver, Southern Revere Cellars’ Three Oaks Bourbon Barrel Aged Honey Brown Lager
Bronze, Blue Mountain Barrel House’s Dark Hollow