1. Compete

Eligibility & Fees

Eligibility

All World Beer Cup entries must be commercially available, fermented malt beverages conforming to the trade understanding of “beer” or “cider” (see “Eligibility Criteria” section below) brewed by a permitted commercial brewery or cidermaker.

“Commercially available” means available for sale at retail at the time of registration. Entering United States breweries must have a current Brewer’s Notice on file with the U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).

Entries that contain any substances not authorized for use in human food, or which are made with ingredients that contain such substances, or which are made in contact with materials not authorized as food contact materials, all in accordance with the United States federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as interpreted and administered by U.S. FDA are not eligible to compete in the World Beer Cup.

Note: Entries that do not comply with the Brewers Association Advertising & Marketing Code will be disqualified from the competition and will not be refunded for competition fees.

Breweries/Cideries must meet each of the following conditions at the time of registration:

  • Your company is fully licensed for the manufacture and commercial sale of beer in your home country.
  • Your brewery or cidery is fully open and operating with all required permits.
  • Your brewery or cidery currently has at least one beer or cider that is commercially available for sale at retail at the time of application.
  • Only breweries or cidermakers that meet the Brewery Eligibility requirements are eligible to enter beers or ciders in the World Beer Cup competition. Businesses in planning, homebrewers and others not meeting these criteria are not eligible to enter.
  • Your company has a Brewer’s Notice on file with the TTB (applies to U.S. breweries or cidermakers only).

Only companies that meet the Brewery or Cidermaker Eligibility requirements are eligible to enter products in the competition. Those that don’t meet all the criteria above and still register for the World Beer Cup are subject to disqualification without further notice or refund of registration/entry fees.*

*Brewers Association retains sole discretion to determine eligibility for competition at the World Beer Cup.

If you own the rights to a brand, but your beverage(s) is/are produced by another producer, you are still eligible to enter the competition. The facility producing your beers must meet the eligibility requirements above.

Enter the TTB Basic Permit/Brewer’s Notice number of the brewery producing the beer on your registration entry. Any award won by a contract brand is property of the winning contract producer which owns the brand, not the company producing the entry.

In order for an entry to be eligible for entry, your company must first meet all above brewery or cidermaker eligibility requirements. If your business does not meet all of the requirements, your entries are not eligible for entry.

All entries must be commercially available for sale at retail on or before April 1, 2025 and possess the characteristics generally attributed to and conforming to the consumer understanding of “beer” or “cider”.

Eligible

  • For beers, At least 51% of the fermentable carbohydrates must be derived from malted grains. Beverages made with malt substitutes, honey, fruit or fruit juices, or anything other than malted grains as the majority of fermentable sugars are not eligible to participate.
  • Beer entries must contain hops. Exceptions to this include gruit or other historical beer styles that traditionally use other herbs or spices (such as heather, myrtle, etc).
  • All beer entries from U.S.-based breweries must comply with all U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau regulations, including formula/ingredient approval requirements (as stated in Title 27, Chapter 1, Part 25, Subpart F, §25.55 of the Federal Code of Regulations).
  • Entries must comply with the Brewers Association Advertising & Marketing Code. Entries not in compliance will be disqualified immediately. The entry will not be judged, and no refund will be given.

Not eligible

  • Mead, spirits, seltzers, hard soda, hard water, and flavored malt beverages including kombucha and most shandies and radlers (see first and second bullet point in “eligible” section) are not eligible to be entered in the World Beer Cup.
  • Any entries that contain any substances not authorized for use in human food, or which are made with ingredients that contain such substances, or which are made in contact with materials not authorized as food contact materials, all in accordance with the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act as interpreted and administered by FDA. Common examples of these ingredients include, but are not limited to: Tonka Beans (Coumarin), Amburana Wood (Coumarin), Motherwort, Sassafras (Safrole), Wormwood/Yarrow/Mugwort (Thujone), Cannabis. Very rare exceptions may occasionally be made and must get explicit competition approval to be eligible.
  • Many other ingredients are not considered safe for food and beverage contact by FDA. Brewers are responsible for ensuring their entries comply with all food safety requirements. When asked, brewers must be able to provide an approved Statement of Process from TTB showing the use of any ingredient is approved and possible lab analysis showing beer does not contain any trace of unauthorized compounds
  • Entries must comply with the Brewers Association Advertising & Marketing Code. Entries not in compliance will be disqualified immediately. The entry will not be judged, and no refund will be given.

Each brewery may enter up to 20 beers into the competition.

Beers may not be “double-entered” into the competition – each individual beer may only be entered and judged in one competition category.

  • A beer brand may not be renamed and entered in multiple categories
  • Beer brands produced at multiple locations may not be entered by more than ONE brewery. This includes brands made at various locations within a chain of stores or breweries, by breweries with related names or aligned marketing strategies, or by multiple breweries that have collaborated on a brand.

Please note: our goal is to accommodate as many breweries as possible in an effort to host a robust competition; if demand for the competition exceeds capacity, breweries with a higher number of entries may be asked to reduce their entry count. Alternatively, if there is additional available competition space after registration closes on December 7, we may allow breweries to enter more beers, beyond the original entry cap.

Fees

The cost to participate is $185 per entry.

REFUND/CANCELLATION POLICY: No refunds will be issued after the cancellation deadline for cancelled entries that are not sent in for competition. The World Beer Cup does not offer credits for future competitions.

Once the Brewers Association receives your entries at our warehouse (currently located at 587 S. Taylor Avenue, Louisville, CO 80027), we will transport entries via refrigerated trailer to the venue where the competition will take place. In the event of an unforeseen event or circumstance where we are unable to execute the competition (e.g., a truck crash), the Brewers Association will refund associated entry fees. Refunds are limited to the entry fees paid by the entering brewery for the World Beer Cup 2024 competition ($185US). The entry fee reimbursement shall be an entering brewery’s sole and exclusive remedy and any related shipping or transit costs are not reimbursable.