IPAs remain the most popular selling craft beer style in America, as well as the top seller at the vast majority of individual breweries. This popularity was reflected in entries to the World Beer Cup this year, with more than 1200 IPAs submitted, significantly more than any other style of beer entered at this year’s competition.
From that field, judges selected seven gold medals, one for each official IPA subcategory. Three additional IPAs took home gold in the Hoppy Lager, Juicy Pale Ale and Hoppy Non-alcoholic beer categories. The most popular category overall was the Juicy or Hazy style India Pale ale category, which alone received 290 entries.
Judging took place this spring in Indianapolis. In 14 tasting sessions, 265 judges hailing from 273 countries tasted 8,375 entries submitted by 17,61 breweries and cideries from 49 different countries. Ultimately, 349 beers and ciders received awards, but only one gold medal was awarded per category.
Run by the Brewers Association, the World Beer Cup is one of, if not the most prestigious, beer competitions in the world. We’ve already looked at the best hazy IPA and best German-style pilsners crowned at the competition, so here is a closer look at all the IPAs judges deemed elite enough to take home gold and earn the title of best IPA of 2025.
The Best IPAs of 2025
These IPAs all received top marks in their respective categories. As you can see from a quick glance, the broader IPA category encompasses a wide range of hoppy styles these days, from hazy and juicy variants to American-style IPAs, session IPAs and more. The category was also dominated by Western American breweries, particularly Californian ones.
Session India Pale Ale
Gold: Micro Blaster, Shred Beer Co., Rocklin, CA
Experimental India Pale Ale
Gold: Pepper & Peaches, Claremont Craft Ales, Claremont, CA
New Zealand-Style India Pale Ale
Gold: Perverse Inverse, Ghost Town Brewing, Oakland, CA
Imperial India Pale Ale
Gold: Punchface Champion, Grains of Wrath Brewing – Camas, Camas, WA
Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale
Gold: Juice Master, Shred Beer Co., Rocklin, CA
American-Style India Pale Ale
Gold: Super Slap, Brewery X, Anaheim, CA
Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale
Gold: Shifted Visions, Everywhere, Orange, CA
IPAs That Won Gold in Non-IPA categories
The three IPAs below won gold in broader categories that went beyond IPAs alone, so an IPA could win but the winner did not have to be an IPA. Two of these winning IPAs are made by pFriem Family Brewers and the third is a non-alcoholic hazy IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., which has national distribution.
Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale
Gold: Hazy IPA, pFriem Family Brewers, Hood River, OR
Hoppy Lager
Gold: Cold IPA, pFriem Family Brewers, Hood River, OR
Hoppy Non-Alcoholic Beer
Gold: Trail Pass Hazy IPA, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA