Alvarado Street Brewery Wins Big in Best in Beer 2025

The 2025 Craft Beer & Brewing Best in Beer Awards just dropped and we have been buzzing ever since the results came in. This list is always one of the clearest snapshots of what is happening in craft beer, and seeing Alvarado Street show up the way we did this year feels incredibly rewarding for our whole crew.

Before diving into the stories behind each one, here is a quick look at what we brought home this year:

2025 Best in Beer Highlights
• Number 4 Small Regional Brewery
• Mai Tai ranked number 6 in the Readers Top 25 Beers of 2025
• Double Cone selected as an Editors Pick in the 20 Best Beers of 2025
• Favorite American or West Coast IPA Brewer number 12
• Sour or Wild Ale Brewer number 5
• Hazy IPA Brewer number 15
• Pale Ale Brewer number 14
• Lager Brewer number 18
• Monterey ranked number 15 Best Beer City in the United States

Seeing all of that in one place still feels pretty surreal.

One of the biggest moments for us was the number 4 Small Regional Brewery ranking. Our team puts so much work into every batch across Monterey and Salinas, and recognition like this really shines a light on that day to day effort.

Mai Tai kept doing what it does best by landing at number 6 in the Readers Top 25 Beers of 2025. That list is entirely driven by drinkers across the country, which makes its placement incredibly meaningful. It is always cool to see a beer that has been with us for so long still resonate like that.

Double Cone being named an Editors Pick was another huge highlight. Jason Stange wrote an awesome piece about it in the magazine and reading that was a moment of real pride for our team. The last time we earned an Editors Pick was back in 2018 with Contains No Juice, so earning that honor again after seven years feels pretty incredible.

Readers also showed us love across five different style categories. Seeing Alvarado Street recognized for West Coast IPA, sours, skaze (hazy), pale ale and lager shows how much range our brewing program currently has. This is one thing we are extremely happy with. 

And to round it all out, our hometown of Monterey was named number 15 in the Best Beer Cities in the United States. Well we certainly love this place and it is awesome to see the Central Coast getting some national recognition in the beer scene!

None of this happens without the people who drink our beer, share it with their friends, introduce it to family or crack one open at the end of the day. Every vote and every pour means something to us.

We are grateful, fired up and excited for what is coming next. Thanks for being part of the Alvarado Street family! Luv ya