One of the most renowned beer competitions in the world
In tune with the times
The European Beer Star honors beers that are genuine, full of character, and of high quality. Most of the beer styles considered are those that have their origins in Europe. The world of beer styles is constantly changing. Therefore, the categories of the European Beer Star are reviewed, adapted or supplemented every year.
Open to the whole world
All commercial breweries in the world can participate in the European Beer Star. Local, regional, national, and international breweries, no matter from which country, from which continent.
Gold, silver and bronze
Only the best three beers in each category receive an award. This means that the European Beer Star follows the Olympic evaluation principle with gold, silver and bronze. This makes the European Beer Star the toughest competition in the world - and the winning beers the stars among beers.
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Competition mode
The following picture illustrates the competition mode of the European Beer Star with an examplary category with 32 entries.
It's time to celebrate...
The “Winners' Night” is the exclusive highlight of the European Beer Star. Here, the winning beers of the year are celebrated in a glamorous setting immediately following the awards ceremony. The party begins right at the awards ceremony, where the lucky winners whoop up their well-deserved awards.
The highlight of the evening is the “world’s most prestigious beer bar,” where all the gold, silver, and bronze medal-winning beers from the current competition are available for tasting.
Development of the beer competition
Submitted beers
Since its inception in 2004, the European Beer Star competition's entry numbers have grown steadily.
Year after year, submissions increased, reaching an all-time high of 2,483 beers in 2019. The Corona pandemic briefly dampened this momentum - even in that challenging year for breweries, the EBS organizers were pleased with 2,036 entries - but in recent years, numbers have stabilized at a very high level.
In 2025, 2,202 beers were tasted at the competition.
Expert jury
An increasing number of beers to be evaluated requires an equally expanding panel of experts.
While there were 23 judges in the founding year, the tasting jury has grown to 147 beer experts from 33 different countries in 2025. For the competition, it is crucial to have an international tasting team; we also place great emphasis on ensuring that diverse international beer styles are evaluated by judges from the respective nationalities.
Internationalization
Country distribution of the European Beer Star 2025
The European Beer Star has become increasingly international in its history. While the submitted beers in the first year came from 13 European countries and the USA, the first entries from Africa, Asia and Central America followed as early as 2005. In 2007, beers from Australia and South America entered the competition.
In 2021, most of the entries - just over a third - came from Germany. The organizers received record entries from Italy, Austria, China, France and Japan. All in all, almost two-thirds of the beers entered came from abroad - a clear sign of how highly regarded the European Beer Star is in the international brewing industry!
In 2025, 34% of the entries again came from Germany. The positive trend in China and the USA continues.