Brewbound is an industry-leading, multimedia trade publication providing comprehensive information about the beer space, analysis of industry trends, and in-depth interviews with industry leaders. Recently, at its 2025 business conference in Marina del Rey, California, Brewbound revealed its list of 2025 Award Winners and Rising Stars to recognize and celebrate the achievements of industry leaders, trendsetters, breakout brands, change agents, and up-and-coming entrepreneurs over the last year.
Northwest Winners
The Oregon Beverage Alliance was awarded Beer Champion of the Year. Craft breweries, wineries, distilleries, distributors, ingredient suppliers, and trade groups banded together to fend off debilitating tax hikes that threatened to raise taxes by 8% to 1,200% in the coming years. So far, the effort has proven successful, though the Oregon Beverage Alliance is not backing down.
Deschutes Brewery was named Large Brewery of the Year. Following 2024’s 11% decline, it bounced back with a 9% increase in 2025. The recovery was fueled by the continued success of its fresh IPA series (Fresh Squeezed, Fresh Haze, Tropical Fresh, NA Fresh Squeezed, etc.). Also, the partnership between Deschutes Brewery and Costco gained momentum as more and more beer drinkers realized that Kirkland Signature Helles-Style Lager is an excellent beer. FYI, it is the same beer Deschutes originally brewed under the name Prinz Crispy. Today, they just call it Helles Lager. Whether you call it Deschutes Helles, Prinz Crispy, or Kirkland Signature Helles-Style Lager, know that it earned a gold medal at the 2023 GABF and a silver medal at the 2025 World Beer Cup.
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Complete list of winners in the 2025 Brewbound Awards
Craft Brewery of the Year: New Trail Brewing
The Craft Brewery of the Year is awarded to one independent craft beer company producing fewer than 100,000 barrels annually that has excelled in this increasingly challenging marketplace.
Williamsport, Pennsylvania-based New Trail cracked the top 50 craft breweries by volume in 2024, marking a third-consecutive year of double-digit growth.
Large Brewery of the Year: Deschutes Brewery
The Large Brewery of the Year is awarded to one large beer company producing more than 100,000 barrels annually that continues to innovate and grow.
Call it a comeback. Bend, Oregon’s Deschutes posted 9% volume growth in 2024, bouncing back from an 11% decline the previous year.
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Person of the Year: Lauren Woods Limbach, New Belgium Brewing
Reserved for individuals whose work has created lasting, substantial, positive change in the bev-alc industry.
Lauren Woods Limbach has built a legacy in 28 years at New Belgium. Woods Limbach created the Fort Collins, Colorado-headquartered brewery’s famed wood-aged sour beer program, including La Folie, Le Terroir and Transatlantique Kriek.
Beyond Beer Company of the Year: Carbliss
The Beyond Beer Company of the Year is awarded to one company within the cider, hard seltzer, alcoholic kombucha, packaged wine or canned cocktail segments.
Carbliss has established itself as a fast-growing player in the canned cocktail market, posting double-digit growth in 2025.
Best New Product: Sierra Nevada Pils
Line or SKU that have been introduced in the previous year that have at least one outstanding quality in terms of taste, design, cause, formulation, or that generate interest over their disruptive potential.
Sierra Nevada went back to basics with Pils, starting as a draft-only offering to win over consumers in bars and restaurants before entering off-premise retailers.
Cause of the Year: Executive Order Me A Beer – Right Proper
When federal workers began losing their jobs earlier this year, Right Proper Brewing stepped up with the Executive Order Me A Beer program to buy beer for out-of-work federal employees.
Beer Champion of the Year: Oregon Beverage Alliance
Oregon craft breweries, wineries, distillers, distributors, ingredients suppliers and trade groups have banded together in recent years under the Oregon Beverage Alliance to fend off attempts to raise taxes on beer anywhere from 8% to 1,200% over a half decade.
Rising Stars
Rising Stars are bev-alc companies whose work has great potential to shift or create categories, bring forth new ideas about products or brands and show growth that indicates they will have an enduring presence in the bev-alc industry.
This year’s rising stars are:
- Best Day Brewing
- Bravazzi
- Destihl Brewery
- Good Boy Vodka
- Outlaw Light Beer
- Pure Project
- Rationale Brewing
- Rupee Beer
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