Several WNC-area breweries had excellent showings at a recent awards night.

The 2025 NC Beer Industry Awards Banquet was held in downtown Durham on Tuesday, November 18th, during the annual NC Craft Brewers Conference. The annual Awards Banquet celebrated the individuals, organizations, and breweries who are advocating for and shaping the state's craft beer landscape. 

This year’s event marked a milestone moment for North Carolina’s brewing community, highlighting extraordinary leadership during natural disaster recovery, expanded Guild initiatives, and a record-setting year for the NC Brewers Cup.

One of the highlights of the night was the awarding of the 2025 NC Brewers Cup medalists. Now in its 14th year, the competition reached new heights with 935 entries from 123 North Carolina breweries, making it the largest in competition history and the largest single-state commercial beer competition in the Southeast. 

Many local breweries had great nights, highlighted by Asheville’s Diatribe Brewing Company, which won a gold medal and two silver medals.

Here is the list of WNC breweries that took home honors.

Gold medal brews included: Boone’s Lost Province Brewing Company (Black Cat Porter in the British Porter and Brown Ales category), Asheville’s Green Man Brewery (Green Man Porter in American Porter, Amber and Brown Ales), Hickory’s Olde Hickory Brewery (Forest Hills in Strong Ale), Hendersonville’s Oklawaha Brewing Company (Dead West in American Pale Ale), Asheville’s Diatribe Brewing Company (Rauchbier in Smoke Beer), and Black Mountain’s Black Mountain Brewing (Sakura in NC Home Grown).

Silver medal earners included: Asheville’s Diatribe Brewing Company (Vera Sour for American-Style Sour Ale), Asheville’s Highland Brewing Company (Daycation Gold for European Hybrid Styles), Asheville’s Diatribe Brewing Company (New Zealand Pils in International Style Pale Ale and IPA), and Asheville’s Cellarest Beer Project (Sisu 2025 in Brett, Mixed Culture and Wild Ales).

Bronze medal earners included: Asheville’s Sale Face Mule Brewing Company (Made for Walkin’ in British Pale and Bitter Ale), Hendersonville’s Trailside Brewing Co. (Trail Hazer in Juicy or Hazy IPA), Asheville’s Twin Leaf Brewery (Luminosity for Belgian Strong Ale/Monastic Ale), Asheville’s Riverside Rhapsody Beer Company (Drum>Space Galaxy in International Style Pale Ale and IPA), Asheville’s Cellarest Beer Project (Henotic 2025 in Brett, Mixed Culture and Wild Ales), and Asheville’s DSSOLVR (Society #8 in Wood and Barrel-Aged Beer).

Earning an honorable mention were: Franklin’s Lazy Hiker Brewing Co. (Trail Candy Tropical IPA in Session IPA) and Hendersonville’s Guidon Brewing Co. (Bandera Mexican Amber Ale for North American Style Amber and Dark Lager).

For more information, check out the NC Craft Brewers Guild website: https://drinkncbeer.org