GABF 2026 bring new results and collaborations.

GABF 2026 results are in!

The American Cider Association and Brewers Association are strengthening their collaboration by putting specialized cider expertise at the center of one of the country's most recognized beverage competitions.

Cider is earning its place on the national stage, and the 2026 Great American Beer Festival® (GABF) is another opportunity to celebrate the people pushing the category forward.

The ACA is building on its collaboration with the Brewers Association to advance cider education, professional evaluation, and recognition, including a new commitment to having cider entries judged exclusively by Certified Pommeliers™.

The Great American Beer Festival provides cider producers with a national platform for recognition alongside the country's leading craft beverage makers. Its blind-judging process evaluates entries against industry-standard defined criteria, with medals recognizing excellence in quality, aroma, flavor, and fruit expression.

The 2026 competition features five cider categories:

Tannic Cider

No/Low Tannin Cider

Fruited Cider

Botanical or Spiced Cider

Experimental, Barrel-Aged or Specialty Cider

Meet the 2026 Winners

Tannic Cider:

• Gold: Kingston Black- Snow Capped Cider
• Silver: 1876- Gowan's Heirloom Cider
• Bronze: Classic Dry- Gowan's Heirloom Cider

No/ Low Tannin Cider

• Gold: The Russets- Snow Capped Cider
• Silver: Harrison Reserve- Snow Capped Cider
• Bronze: Pink Pearl- Snow Capped Cider

Fruited Cider

• Gold: Honey Citron- Gowan's Heirloom Cider
• Silver: Golden Lime Cosmic Crisp- 2 Towns Ciderhouse
• Bronze: Huckleberry Cosmic Crisp- 2 Towns Ciderhouse

Botanical/ Spiced Cider

• Gold: Spiced Apple- Sweet Heart Brands
• Silver: Spiced Apple- Gowan's Heirloom Cider
• Bronze: Spiced- Snow Capped Cider

Experimental, Barrel Aged & Specialty

• Gold: Newtown Ice Cider- Haykin Family Cider
• Silver: Lucy Ice Cider- Haykin Family Cider
• Bronze: Rosé- Gowan's Heirloom Cider

2026 Cidermaker of the Year

Snow Capped Cider

Kari WIlliams & Dylan Stratman

Congratulations to all. Your work shows consumers, retailers, distributors, and fellow beverage professionals the quality, range, and potential of American cider.

The ACA and Brewers Association first partnered in 2024 to bring cider into the GABF competition, opening a new avenue for cider producers to compete for recognition in a major national craft beverage competition.

That partnership reflects a shared understanding: cider deserves to be evaluated and celebrated as its own category, with the same attention to craftsmanship, style, and quality that professional beverage competitions bring to beer.

The collaboration also gives cider professionals opportunities to share their expertise, connect with the broader craft beverage community, and help more people discover cider's diversity.

Now, the partnership is taking another important step forward.

Certified Pommeliers at the center of Cider Judging.

Under the new collaboration, Certified Pommeliers™ will judge cider entries exclusively at GABF.

The Certified Cider Professional™ program is the ACA's international cider education and certification program, designed to develop the knowledge and sensory skills needed to understand, evaluate, and communicate cider's many styles and characteristics.

Certified Pommeliers bring advanced cider knowledge and sensory evaluation experience to the judging table. Their specialized training supports a nuanced understanding of cider's defining elements, including acidity, sweetness, tannin, aroma, flavor, body, carbonation, and structure.

This matters because cider is more than just another fruit-based beverage. Its raw materials, fermentation choices, regional traditions, and production techniques create a category with its own language and complexity.

A successful judging process must recognize those distinctions while maintaining rigorous standards and evaluating each entry against the appropriate style guidelines.

By placing Certified Pommeliers at the center of cider judging, the ACA and Brewers Association reinforce the value of cider-specific expertise and support a more knowledgeable, consistent approach to evaluating the category.

For producers, a GABF medal can be a meaningful tool for telling their story. Recognition from a nationally respected competition can help introduce a cider to new audiences, create conversations with buyers, and give consumers another reason to explore a producer's portfolio.

Specialized judging also reinforces the importance of professional cider education. Understanding style expectations, communicating production choices, and recognizing balance and sensory character are essential skills for both producers and the professionals evaluating their work.

For the wider industry, this collaboration shows what's possible when organizations work together to support distinct beverage categories while sharing a commitment to quality and professional development.

The ACA's work extends beyond a single competition. Through the Certified Cider Professional™ program, industry partnerships, educational resources, and professional development opportunities, the association is building a stronger foundation for cider knowledge worldwide.

The partnership with the Brewers Association is an important part of that effort. It connects cider expertise with a broader craft beverage audience while helping ensure that professionals who understand cider's distinctive qualities represent it.

As we celebrate the 2026 GABF cider medalists, we also celebrate the educators, judges, producers, and industry partners who continue to move cider forward.

Congratulations to this year's winners, and here's to a future where great cider gets the recognition, expertise, and attention it deserves.

Learn more about the American Cider Association and the Certified Cider Professional™ program at ciderassociation.org/certification.