The online registration portal for the European Beer Star 2025 will go live on 1 April. The registration for the most important beer competition on European soil begins.

Open to the whole world

Nobody should be fooled by the ‘European’ in the name of the beer competition, which is organised annually by the German Association of Private Brauereien Deutschland. All breweries in the world can enter their beers. ‘European Beer Star’ stands for the European venue. The expert tasting takes place in Nuremberg, Bavaria.

Prizes according to the Olympic principle

The awards are highly coveted and fiercely contested. This is because only the three best beers in each category are honoured with gold, silver and bronze - just as the medals are awarded at the Olympic Games. In some other beer competitions, the rules allow several winners per category. A precious metal at the European Beer Star is therefore something very special.

There will be 72 beer categories in 2025. As every year, the categories have been reviewed and revised. Click here for the category descriptions.

For the first time: Beer Mix Champion

Following the introduction of the ‘Future Awards’ four years ago, another ‘competition within the competition’ will follow in 2025. This takes into account the increasing importance of mixed beer drinks, i.e. Radler, Alster, Shandy and co. The ‘Beer Mix Champion’ is looking for the best mixes in two categories: alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The corresponding category descriptions can be found on the European Beer Star website.

Guaranteed blind tasting

A jury of 150 experts will subject the submitted beers (and beer mixes) to a critical and objective examination on 7 and 8 August. During the two-day tasting at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre, only the sensory quality of the beers counts: the focus is on appearance, aroma and taste as well as typical varietal characteristics.

Blind tasting is guaranteed. No juror will know which brewery the samples to be judged come from. The strict rules also ensure that even those brewmasters who are part of the expert jury can never taste the beers from their own brewery.

Future Award, the fourth

The ‘Future Award’ sustainability prize is also being organised this year. For the fourth time, breweries are being sought that manage to combine outstanding beer quality with sustainable management. This year's focus will be on the efficient use of water as a raw material. An interdisciplinary jury will judge the submitted entries in terms of ecology, economy, social and cultural aspects and select the winners of the sustainability award.

Schedule European Beer Star 2025

Start of registration: 01 April 2025
End of early bird discount: 16 May 2025
End of the registration phase: 27 June 2025
Dispatch and beer acceptance: 07 - 25 July 2025
Expert tasting: 06 - 09 August 2025
Award ceremony & night of the winners: 17 September 2025

Photo: © European Beer Star - Volker Martin

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