Firestone Walker’s Union Jack Is the No. 1 American Beer of 2025

Paso Robles, California–based Firestone Walker Brewing Company beat out 35 American breweries this year to win Best American Beer with its flagship IPA, Union Jack, at the 2025 Brussels Beer Challenge. “The Brussels Beer Challenge is a top world-class competition that draws some of the very best,” says Firestone Walker brewmaster Matt Brynildson. “It means a lot to win.”

Founded in 2012, the Brussels Beer Challenge has grown into one of Europe’s most prominent international beer competitions, with thousands of entries judged annually by an international panel of brewers, beer writers, and sommeliers. While the World Beer Cup and the Great American Beer Festival remain the most influential competitions for U.S. breweries — particularly in terms of domestic prestige and market impact — the Brussels Beer Challenge offers a different kind of validation: recognition from a European judging body historically more rooted in Old World styles. For American breweries, a win in Brussels can signal international credibility as much as technical excellence.

Union Jack’s roots date back nearly two decades. Brynildson says that initial brewing trials for the beer began in 2006 — the same year as Firestone Walker’s tenth anniversary — and the resulting beer was officially released in 2008. “It was inspired by the many great IPAs coming from California brewers at that time,” says Brynildson. “Beers like Sierra Nevada Celebration, Russian River Pliny the Elder, and Anchor Liberty Ale.”

Early recognition helped cement Union Jack’s reputation during the height of the West Coast IPA boom. Brynildson notes that in 2008 and 2009, the beer earned back-to-back gold medals in the American IPA category at the Great American Beer Festival, which “helped to put Union Jack on the map as a leading West Coast IPA and the beer helped us grow our brewery’s distribution outside of Central Coastal California.”

Since then, both the IPA category and Firestone Walker’s portfolio have expanded considerably. The brewery’s IPA lineup now includes a more modern take on the West Coast IPA and a hazy IPA with its own variety pack and radler spin-off — styles that reflect broader shifts in consumer demand away from the piney, bitter profiles that once defined the category. Still, Brynildson says those newer beers remain connected to the original. They were “all inspired by what we have learned through Union Jack and share at least a little of its core DNA,” according to Brynildson.

While Mind Haze IPA has now overtaken Union Jack as the brand’s bestseller in-market, the older beer continues to play a significant role in Firestone Walker’s identity. Brynildson says Union Jack’s continued popularity keeps it a top seller in Firestone Walker’s taprooms.

“It’s rewarding to see a beer that you’ve thought about and brewed over and over again continue to be relevant and recognized around the world,” says Brynildson. This year alone, Union Jack took home gold medals at both the World Beer Cup and the Brussels Beer Challenge, where it competed in the Pale & Amber Ale: English IPA category.

That category placement underscores one of the more interesting aspects of Union Jack’s appeal. Though often associated with the American West Coast IPA tradition, the beer found success in Brussels within a stylistic framework more closely aligned with English brewing heritage. 

Luc De Raedemaeker, beer sommelier, editor-in-chief of Belgium-based Bière Grand Cru, and co-founder and director of the Brussels Beer Challenge, says that while Union Jack’s hop profile may not be 100% textbook for an English IPA, its balance of a “solid malt backbone is exactly what a good English IPA should have,” making it a category favorite with the panel of six judges. “Firestone Walker is a top brewery,” says De Raedemaeker, “Fresh, hoppy, and well-balanced, this beer has it all.”