Burgeon Beer Co. Crowned Champion Brewery at 2026 San Diego Beer News Awards

Carlsbad's Burgeon Beer Co. walked away from the 2026 San Diego Beer News Awards wearing the Champion Brewery title for the second time in three years, capping a performance that put the brewery in the top three across a dozen categories. Presented by Yakima Chief Hops, the top honor came on the strength of three first-place finishes: Best Imperial IPA, Best Hoppy Beer (non-IPA), and Best Brewery in the West Region.

The ceremony itself, held March 31 at Harland Brewing's headquarters on Carroll Canyon Road in Scripps Ranch, marked the sixth edition of the awards and its largest to date. Three months of nominations and many thousands of votes from San Diego's beer community funneled down into 34 competitive categories spanning beer styles, taproom operations, and business performance. Event co-hosts Brandon Hernández, the founder and executive editor of San Diego Beer News, and CBS 8 anchor Neda Iranpour presided over an Oscars-style ceremony that drew brewery owners, brewers, local media, and industry supporters alike.

While Burgeon claimed the night's top prize, North Park Beer Co. collected more first-place hardware than anyone else in the room, finishing atop five categories: Best Brewery in the South Region, Best West Coast IPA, Best Hazy IPA, Best Barrel-Aged Beer, and Best Collaboration Beer. Hopnonymous Brewing matched that energy across a striking range of styles, claiming first in Best U.K. or Irish Ale, Best Alternative Beverage, Best Customer Service, and Best Expansion Project, the last of those recognizing the brewery's recently opened Normal Heights taproom. Defending Champion Brewery Seek Beer Co. remained a force, logging the third-most top-three finishes overall and taking second place in six categories, with a medal in the German Beer (non-Pilsner) category as well.

Regional Best Brewery plaques rounded out the competitive picture: Fall Brewing took the Central Region, Harland claimed the East, Pure Project Brewing won the North, and North Park Beer Co. secured the South. Those five regional honors, combined with Burgeon's West Region win, effectively mapped the county's most community-acclaimed taprooms.

Off the scoring sheet, the evening's most ceremonially significant moment may have been the fifth annual San Diego Vanguard Brewer induction. To mark that half-decade milestone, all four previous recipients returned to the stage before Shawn Mcilhenney of Mcilhenney Brewing was named the 2026 honoree, recognized for decades of contributions to the local industry.

San Diego's craft beer scene remains one of the most concentrated in the country, and the SDBN Awards, now six years old and still growing, function as a kind of community-curated tasting map. For Burgeon, a second Champion Brewery title in three years is as strong a signal as any that Carlsbad has become one of the region's most consistently respected addresses.