Altstadt Brewery Wins Big at 2026 U.S. Beer Open

After a seven-year hiatus, Fredericksburg’s Altstadt Brewery finished among the top 10 breweries at the 2026 U.S. Beer Open. In 2019, the one-year-old brewery won big at the Great American Beer Festival and took home the fourth-most prizes of any brewery at the U.S. Beer Open, becoming the third brewery ever from Central Texas to place in the competition (the two previous top-10 finishes were by New Braunfels’ Guadalupe Brewing Company in 2016 and the now-defunct Pedernales Brewing Company in 2015). While Altstadt finished a few rungs lower in 2026 with the eighth-most prizes, they also took home the Brewery of the Year (5,001-15,000 Barrels) category.

Four Altstadt beers took home medals. Gold medals went to Altstadt Kolsch in the German Kolsch category, Altstadt Peach Radler in the American-Style Fruit Beer–Peach category, and Altstadt Lager in the Munich-Style Helles category. Altstadt Pilsner won a silver medal in the German Pilsner category. A total of 53 beers from 28 Texas breweries took home awards, including 22 gold medals. Other Central Texas winners were Infamous Brewing Company (three medals, including a gold for Non Alcoholic Hop Water) and Flix Brewhouse Round Rock (two medals). The full list of winners and awarded beers is available here.