Pink Boots Category: Stone Brewing takes home the Gold
The U.S. Open Beer Championship partners with the Pink Boots Society, an organization that assists, inspires, and encourages women and non-binary individuals in the fermented/alcoholic beverage profession through education, to create the Pink Boots Blend Category. The organization has partnered with Yakima Chief Hops for several years to sell a special hops blend to benefit the Pink Boots scholarship fund, and all beers developed using this hop blend were eligible to enter the category. In 2025, She’s The Brewer IPA, brewed by Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido, CA, brought home the gold medal. All entry fees for the category will be matched by the U.S. Open Beer Championship and donated back to the Pink Boots Society Scholarship Fund.

National Brain Tumor Society
The Thumper Award is a prestigious honor bestowed annually at the U.S. Open Cider Championship to the cider and cidery recognized as “Best in Show.” Introduced in 2024 to mark the competition’s 10th anniversary in partnership with Arsenal Cider House, the award is named in memory of Andy “Thumper” Rich, a pioneering cidermaker at Arsenal Cider House who led the cidery to the 2020 Grand National Champion title before passing away in December 2023 after battling cancer. The inaugural recipient was 2 Towns Ciderhouse for their 10th Anniversary Special Cider Release, while in 2025, Arsenal Cider House claimed it for their Alfred’s Pear, Son! perry. Each year, proceeds from the competition are donated to the National Brain Tumor Society in Thumper’s honor, celebrating his lasting impact on the craft cider community.

ALS Ice Bucket or Beer Bucket Challenge
At the U.S. Open Beer Championship, we keep coolers packed with ice water to chill the beers and beverages for the judges during judging.  When the judging is done, the fun begins: we started by dumping the leftover ice water on founder Dow Scoggins’s head. Then a judge had a brilliant upgrade—collect all the dumped beers into one cooler, add fresh ice, and unleash the ultimate frothy pour on Dow. A soaked, laughing tradition was born!  Every year since, the crew rounds up the leftover pours, chills them arctic-cold, and gives the founder the full beer-bucket treatment amid cheers and chaos. We keep the good vibes going by sending a donation to the ALS Association, honoring the original Ice Bucket Challenge spirit—because this beer community knows how to pour it on for a cause that matters.

Other U.S. Open Charities
Maui Brewing Company’s Kōkua Project
In response to the devastating August 2023 wildfires that ravaged Lahaina and other parts of Maui, Maui Brewing Company launched the Kōkua Project, a collaborative initiative inspired by Sierra Nevada’s Resilience effort, inviting breweries worldwide to brew a shared Session IPA recipe—with all proceeds donated to wildfire relief via the Maui Brewing Company Fire Fund in partnership with the Global Empowerment Mission. The U.S. Open Beer Championship supported this cause during its 2023 event by creating dedicated categories for Kōkua IPA and Kōkua Session IPA entries, judging them alongside its cider competitions to highlight the project’s unity and raise awareness. Breweries submitting Kōkua beers paid a $85 entry fee that was donated directly to relief efforts, and the championship itself contributed an additional $3,000 to the fund. HighGrain Brewing in Ohio took gold in the Kōkua IPA category, while Twin Creeks Brewing in Virginia won gold for Kōkua Session IPA. Overall, the Kōkua Project involved over 700 breweries and raised more than $1.5 million, exemplifying the craft beer community’s spirit of aloha and solidarity in aiding Maui’s recovery.

Black is Beautiful Imperial Stout
In 2020, amid widespread calls for racial justice following the murder of George Floyd, Weathered Souls Brewing Company in San Antonio, Texas, launched the Black is Beautiful initiative—a global collaboration inviting breweries to brew variations of a shared imperial stout recipe, with proceeds supporting organizations focused on police brutality reform, equity, inclusion, and legal defenses for those wronged by systemic injustices. The U.S. Open Beer Championship demonstrated the craft beer community’s solidarity by adding a dedicated Black is Beautiful Imperial Stout category to its competition that year, judging entries blind alongside over 140 other styles. Notably, 100% of the entry fees from this special category were donated to a foundation or organization promoting equity, inclusion, and justice, selected by the gold medal winner. Pontoon Brewing in Georgia claimed the inaugural gold medal, followed by silver to Maui Brewing in Hawaii and bronzes to Durty Bull Brewing in North Carolina and Stone Brewing in California. This effort highlighted the industry’s commitment to addressing discrimination and injustice, amplifying the initiative that ultimately involved over 1,000 breweries worldwide and raised millions for related causes.

Ukraine Relief Fund
In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. Open Beer Championship swiftly demonstrated the craft beer industry’s global solidarity by introducing two dedicated categories in its 2022 competition to raise funds for humanitarian relief. At the suggestion of board member Jon Downing—who had helped establish breweries in Ukraine during the 1990s—the event added Ukrainian Golden Ale and Resist Ukrainian Anti-Imperial Stout as official styles. All entry fees from these categories were donated directly to the Red Cross for Ukraine relief efforts. In total, the U.S. Open contributed $1,700 to the relief fund. The Resist stout was based on a collaborative recipe developed by displaced Ukrainian brewers, featuring a borscht-inspired profile to evoke Ukrainian heritage, while the Golden Ale drew from recipes like those from Pravda Brewery in Lviv. Midwest Coast Brewing (Illinois) claimed gold in Ukrainian Golden Ale with their Peremoha, and Final Gravity Brewing (Michigan) took gold in Resist Ukrainian Anti-Imperial Stout. This initiative not only highlighted exceptional beers judged blindly among over 150 styles but also amplified awareness, complementing broader industry efforts like the Drinkers for Ukraine campaign. While these specific fundraiser categories were prominent in 2022, Ukrainian-inspired entries continued to appear in later years, such as Kilowatt Brewing’s gold-winning “Brew For Ukraine” in the 2024 British/Russian Imperial Stout category, underscoring the community’s ongoing support for Ukraine’s resilience.