Colorado breweries made an impressive showing at the 2025 U.S. Open Beer Championship, led by the Bull & Bush Brewery, which took home the top title of the Grand National Champion.
The winners, announced this week, were selected from a pool of more than 8,000 entries, according to competition organizers. In all, Colorado beer makers collected 29 awards — five gold medals, 12 silver and 12 bronze. That’s a decrease from last year, when local beer makers earned 38 accolades.
Judges awarded Bull & Bush Brewery, 4700 Cherry Creek Drive South in Glendale, three gold medals for its Pimp My Rye beer, its Royal Oil barrel-aged strong beer, and Nappy Nap Time tea beer. It also earned a silver and a bronze for a total of five medals – enough to earn the Grand National Champion title.
Other big winners include River North Brewery in Denver, which collected five medals; Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. in Lafayette, which earned three; and Phantom Canyon Brewing Co. in Colorado Springs, which tookhome three. Several other breweries, including Golden’s New Terrain Brewing Co. and Loveland’s Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project, collected two medals.
Notably, Colorado dominated the American IPA category with New Terrain Brewing Co. scoring silver and Cellar West Brewery in Lafayette scoring bronze.
The U.S. Open Beer Championship allows home brewers to compete with professionals, a rarity among contests. It served Castle Rock resident Christopher Burgess well; he scored silver in the Brut IPA category, the same category in which he placed in 2024.
See the local U.S. Open Beer Championship winners below and visit the competition website to see the full list of medal-winning beers.
Gold
Aged beer — Pimp My Rye, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver
Barrel-aged strong beer – Royal Oil, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver
Collaboration beer (lagers) – ¿Cómo Se Dice Nice?, Los Dos Potrillos Cervecería, Castle Rock, and Littleton Brewing Co., Littleton
Old ale – Mountain Man, Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project, Loveland
Tea beer – Nappy Nap Time, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver
Silver
American IPA – Lost, New Terrain Brewing Co., Golden
American strong pale ale – Lucid AD, Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co., Lafayette
American-style fruit beer – Vanilla Black Currant Tart Ale, Los Dos Potrillos Cerveceria, Parker
American-style pilsener – Cerveza Mecania, Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co., Lafayette
Brut IPA – Like Falling Off a Bike, homebrewer Christopher Burgess
Collaboration beer (dark beers) – Celestial Death, River North Brewery, Denver, and Third Eye Brewing, Cincinnati
Fruit gose – Prickly Pear Dough Boiz, Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co., Lafayette
International-style pale ale – Goldengrass, New Terrain Brewing Co., Golden
Non-alcoholic malt beverage – Gruvi Weekday Wit, Gruvi, Denver
Pumpkin beer – Pumpkin Spice J. Marie, River North Brewery, Denver
Specialty honey beer – Honey lager, Lone Tree Brewing Co., Lone Tree
Wood/barrel-aged fruit beer – Huckleberry Hounds, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver
Bronze
American IPA – Langdon, Cellar West Brewery, Lafayette
Barrel-aged quad/Belgian dark ale – Barrel Reserve 2025, River North Brewery, Denver
Brown porter – Patio Porter, LUKI Brewery, Arvada
Coconut beer – Tropic Like It’s Hop, Phantom Canyon Brewing Co., Colorado Springs
Collaboration beer (lagers) – Czech 10 P Lager, Monday Night Brewing, Atlanta, and Cohesion Brewing Co., Denver
Fruit gose – Fresca Muerta, Phantom Canyon Brewing Co., Colorado Springs
Imperial stout/porter – Hello Darkness, River North Brewery, Denver
Nut beer – Pistachio Cream Ale, Platt Park Brewing, Denver
Old ale – Bucket of Bolts, River North Brewery, Denver
Rum barrel-aged beer – The Rum Diaries, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver
Specialty honey beer – Bear Creek Honey Brown Ale, Phantom Canyon Brewing Co., Colorado Springs
Spirits barrel-aged beer (non-whiskey) – Double Oaked Cognac Grow Old With You, Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project, Loveland
