On the 9th, the winners of the beer category of the 2025 Korea Wine & Spirits Awards EXPO “Best of 2025″ were announced. HiteJinro’s “Kelly” and OB’s “Cass Fresh” and “Cass Lemon Squeeze 0.0″, Diageo Korea’s “Guinness Draft”, and Beber Brewery’s “Beber Weizen” won the top award, “Best of Best”, in the beer category.
“Kelly” and “Cass Fresh” won the best in the standard beer institutional sector. “Kelly” used premium malt from Denmark. It applied a double aging process involving two maturation stages at 7℃ and minus 1.5℃ to achieve smoothness and refreshment. “Cass Fresh” received high praise as the country’s first non-thermal processed beer, characterized by intense carbonation and a light feel.
Among imported beers, Diageo Korea’s “Guinness Draft” was selected as the best. It is a stout that holds the top sales record worldwide, praised for its clean roasted malt flavor and harmonious coffee notes. It features low carbonation, rich creamy foam, and a smooth finish.
Beber Brewery’s “Beber Weizen” won the best award in the craft beer institutional sector. It is an authentic German wheat beer from Bavaria in southern Germany. It is distinguished by a vibrant aroma characteristic of Munich yeast and has a subtle malt and hop flavor. The beer is characterized by rich and refreshing banana and bubblegum aromas, smooth texture, and adequate body.
“Cass Lemon Squeeze 0.0″ from OB won the best award in the non-alcoholic beer institutional sector. OB released “Cass Lemon Squeeze,” which adds Italian lemon juice to “Cass,” using a smart separation method to eliminate alcohol, resulting in “Cass Lemon Squeeze 0.0.” Despite being non-alcoholic, it replicates the fresh and invigorating taste of “Cass Lemon Squeeze.”
The Korea Wine & Spirits Awards is this year’s 12th edition of the country’s representative liquor evaluation event. Sponsored by ChosunBiz, it has been held annually since 2014 with the goal of “discovering and widely promoting good domestic liquors and supporting the establishment of a healthy liquor culture.”
This year’s event featured 236 companies showcasing a total of 1,008 brands. It is the largest scale among domestic evaluations covering comprehensive alcoholic beverages. Of these, 431 brands received grand awards. Among the award-winning liquors, the 25 brands that received the highest scores by type were selected for the top honor, “Best of Best (Best of Best) 2025.”