The Brewbound Best of 2026 awards list is out, and two Southern California breweries are on it: San Diego’s Pure Project and Torrance’s Smog City Brewing Co. Brewbound published the nominees on Nov. 9, 2026. Winners will be announced Dec. 10 at Brewbound Live, the trade publication’s two-day conference at the Marina del Rey Marriott.
The nominee announcement names categories — Craft Brewery of the Year, Large Brewery of the Year, Beyond Beer Company of the Year, Person of the Year, Rising Stars and Best New Products — then lists companies and people alphabetically. It does not say which category any individual nominee is in. This post follows that list and does not assign one.
Brewbound frames the Brewbound Best of 2026 ballot as a snapshot of a changing beer business: craft breweries winning with lagers, light beers and fruited styles, non-alcoholic IPAs and hop-forward options, and cider, hard soda and beer-inspired drinks growing beside the taproom. That is the publication’s own preface to the list, not a description of any single nominee. The awards, it says, celebrate the breweries, beyond-beer companies, people, products and ideas “shaping the future of the beer business.”
California names on the Brewbound Best of 2026 list
Pure Project is the San Diego brewery on the Brewbound Best of 2026 ballot. Smog City Brewing Co., based in Torrance, is the other obvious Southern California pick. Novo Brazil, the Chula Vista brewery, also appears on the same alphabetical list, as does Fieldwork Brewing Co., which is based in Berkeley and has several California taprooms. Brewbound does not explain why any of them were nominated, and it does not separate breweries from people or “beyond beer” companies in the listing.
Elsewhere on the list are familiar national craft names such as Allagash Brewing Company, Athletic Brewing Company, Other Half Brewing, pFriem Family Brewers, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, TailGate Brewery, SweetWater Brewing Co. and Westbound & Down Brewing Company, along with a long run of cider, non-alcoholic and other beverage companies. Some entries are people, including Allagash brewmaster Jason Perkins, Athletic’s Bill Shufelt, and Ari Opsahl of Tivoli Brewing Company / Outlaw Light Beer. For the complete roster, use Brewbound’s nominee page.
When Brewbound Best of 2026 winners are announced
Brewbound says the Brewbound Best of 2026 winners will be announced on Dec. 10, 2026, at Brewbound Live 2026. The conference itself runs Dec. 9–10 at the Marina del Rey Marriott, 4100 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey, CA 90292, according to the official event venue page. The published agenda includes sessions both days and lists an “Awards & Rising Stars Video Announcement” on the schedule; the nominee story is the one that pins the winner reveal to Dec. 10.
Brewbound Live is a trade event for brewers, distributors, investors and suppliers, not a public beer festival. The official event page describes two days of sessions, one-to-one meetings and a Pitch Slam, with an official party at Firestone Walker’s Propagator in Marina del Rey on Dec. 9. Details and registration are on the Brewbound Live 2026 site.
Until the envelopes are opened, the only hard local fact is the one on the nominee list: Pure Project and Smog City are in the Brewbound Best of 2026 field, and Novo Brazil is there with them. We’ll come back to the winners after Dec. 10.
