Fat Head’s, Third Eye win ‘Brewery of the Year’ honors at Great American Beer Festival

Ohio breweries set a state record at the 2025 Great American Beer Festival with a combined 21 medals and two breweries taking home “Brewery of the Year” awards in their divisions.

Eleven Ohio breweries won medals at the event, held each year at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The awards were announced Oct. 11. This year’s competition featured more than 1,500 breweries from across the country and 8,315 beer and cider entries.

“This is a banner day for Ohio craft beer,” Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association, said in a prepared statement. “Our breweries deserve so much recognition for the high-quality, world-class and award-winning beers they brew, as well as their innovation beyond beer and the ways they positively contribute to their local communities.”

The previous record for Ohio was 12 breweries winning 19 medals in 2023. Since 1987, 65 Ohio craft breweries have combined to win 230 medals, including 81 gold, at the event.

“Year after year, the Great American Beer Festival sets the bar for American brewing (and for the second year in a row, cidermaking). The 2025 competition was no exception,” Chris Williams, competition director for the Brewers Association, said in a prepared statement. “There were extremely strong showings from numerous breweries and cidermakers across the U.S., maximizing the level of competition among the entire competition community.”

Fat Head’s Brewery wins 2025 Brewery of the Year award at Great American Beer Festival

Fat Head’s Brewery won “Brewery of the Year” in the 15,001- to 100,000-barrel division. Fat Head’s — which has brewing locations in Middleburg Heights, North Olmsted and Plain Township — won five medals.

Goggle Fogger and Battle Axe earned gold medals in the South German-style hefeweizen and strong porter categories, respectively. It was the third gold medal for Goggle Fogger in the past six years.

Meanwhile, Bone Head (strong red ale) won silver; and Excursion Journeyman (specialty non-alcohol beer) and Hop JuJu (imperial India pale ale) won bronze medals.

“In a field packed with world-class breweries and unforgettable beers, we’re humbled to stand among them,” the brewery said in a Facebook post. “Huge shout-out to all the other winners, especially our fellow #OhioCraftBeer friends!”

The brewery has now won 35 medals at the competition since 2009, the association noted.

Third Eye Brewing wins Brewery of the Year award at 2025 Great American Beer Festival

Third Eye Brewing in Cincinnati also took home a “Brewery of the Year” award in the 2,001- to 5000-barrel division.

Third Eye won two gold medals and a silver, as well as two collaboration beer medals: a gold with Municipal Brew Works in Hamilton and a bronze with Narrow Path Brewing in Loveland.

Higher Consciousness and Gourd Darn It! won gold medals in the scotch ale and pumpkin beer categories, respectively. Wired Euphoria (coffee stout or porter) won silver.

“We are so incredibly proud of this team for their dedication and hard work to continuously to create high quality award-winning beers,” Third Eye Brewing posted on Facebook.

Which Ohio beers won medals at the 2025 Great American Beer Festival?

Eleven Ohio breweries combined to win 21 medals at the Great American Beer Festival. Here are the winners, categories and medals:

Fat Head’s Brewery

• Battle Axe: strong porter, gold
• Goggle Fogger: South German-style hefeweizen, gold
• Bone Head: strong red ale, silver
• Excursion Journeyman: specialty non-alcohol beer, bronze
• Hop JuJu: imperial India pale ale, bronze

Third Eye Brewing

• Gourd Darn It!: pumpkin beer, gold
• Higher Consciousness: scotch ale, gold
• Route 4 Revive-ALE: collaboration beer (with Municipal Brew Works), gold
• Wired Euphoria: coffee stout or porter, silver
• Mounds of Importance: collaboration beer (with Narrow Path Brewing), bronze

Brewing Brewing (Cincinnati)

• Lil Zoomie: coffee stout or porter, gold
• Moozie: sweet stout or cream stout, gold

Gemut Biergarten (Columbus)

• Helheim Helles: Munich-style helles, silver
• Woden’s Hunt: Munich-style dunkel, bronze

Rhinegeist Brewery (Cincinnati)

• Ring of Kerry: Munich-style helles, silver
• Ghost Pils: classic non-alcohol ale or lager, bronze

Forbidden Root (Columbus)

• Festhalle: Munich-style helles, gold

Streetside Brewery (Cincinnati)

• Sofa King: strong red ale, gold

Inside the Five Brewing (Toledo)

• Prepare for Glory: English Ale, silver

Narrow Path Brewing (Loveland)

• Polar Bear: coffee beer, silver

JAFB Wooster Brewery (Wooster)

Hefeweizen: South German-style hefeweizen, bronze