Gowan Ciders Just Won Three World Titles. These Trees Make the Best Cider
- Gowans Cider
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
We're Still Catching our Breath!
At the 2026 World Beer Cup — considered the most prestigious cider and beer competition in the world, with 255 judges from 38 countries — Gowan's Heirloom Cider took home three world titles and a Silver medal, making us the most decorated cidery at this year's competition.
Three Golds. One Silver. All from the same family farm. All from the same orchard that has been growing in Anderson Valley since 1876.
Here's what happened.
The 2026 Gowan's Medals
The World Beer Cup awards exactly one Gold per style — worldwide, each year.
These aren't participation medals. They're world titles.
• WORLD #1 — Classic Dry Cider — Gold, Tannic Cider class
• WORLD #1 — Gravenstein Cider — Gold, No/Low Tannin class
• WORLD #1 — Spiced Apple Cider — Gold, Botanical or Spiced class
• WORLD #2 — 1876 Heirloom Cider — Silver, Tannic Cider class
The most telling wins came in the two pure-apple classes — Tannic and No/Low Tannin — where the fruit alone is on trial. No spices, no botanicals, no oak aging. Just the apple. Just the terroir. Just the orchard.
Gowan's took Gold in both. And in the Tannic class, our Classic Dry took Gold while our own 1876 Heirloom took Silver — making Gowan's the #1 and #2 tannic ciders in the world.
What a World Beer Cup Gold Actually Means
If you follow wine competitions, you know Gold medals are awarded generously — to any wine that clears a quality threshold, often hundreds per show. The World Beer Cup is different. One Gold per style. One winner. Worldwide. For the year.
So when we say "world title," we mean it literally.
This follows our 2025 Great American Beer Festival sweep — Cidery of the Year and Cidermaker of the Year — making the last 12 months the strongest competitive record in cider anywhere on the planet. All in the farm's 150th harvest year.
The Apple Trees Did This
More than 120 heirloom apple varieties. Certified organic orchards. The same Anderson Valley soils and Pacific breezes that make the region's Pinot Noir celebrated worldwide. Seven generations of the same family, curating trees and listening to this land for 150 consecutive harvests.
That's what's in your glass.
Four generations of the family are alive on the farm today, from 100-year-old Josephine Gowan — who pruned orchards as a young bride — to young Don Gowan, the seventh generation, already playing under the apple trees. Don, Sharon, and Jacob Gowan — two generations of founding cidermakers — are all credited on this year's World Beer Cup medals.
Come Celebrate Under the Trees
These ciders were born in Anderson Valley. Come taste them where they were grown — under the same trees that made them, poured by the family that grew them.
