At the 2026 Korea Wine & Spirits Awards, four products by institutional sector were selected for Best of 2026, given to the year's top beers.
In the general lager institutional sector, Budweiser from Oriental Brewery; in the imported ale institutional sector, Guinness Draught from Diageo Korea; in craft ale, Cheongdam Beer from Kevin Jang Distillery; and in the nonalcoholic institutional sector, Daily Brewing's Zero Sugar Craft Nonalcoholic Saenghwal Pale Ale won Best of 2026. A total of 43 beer products received the grand prize that day.
Budweiser is an American-style premium lager launched in 1986. Guinness Draught is an authentic Irish premium stout that ranks No. 1 in global stout sales. Cheongdam Beer aims for a high-end lifestyle beer based on the symbolic identity of the Cheongdam-dong area. Zero Sugar Craft Nonalcoholic Saenghwal Pale Ale is a nonalcoholic product with less than 1% alcohol by volume that faithfully recreates the flavor and aroma of craft beer.
In the grand prize's general lager institutional sector, eight products were selected, including Budweiser; Oriental Brewery's Cass Fresh, Cass Light, and Hanmac; Hitejinro's Terra and Kelly; and Lotte Chilsung Beverage's Kloud and Crush. In the craft hybrid institutional sector, The Table Brewing Company's Bourbon Bong Bong won the grand prize.
In craft lager, nine products received the grand prize: Oriental Brewery's Goose Sweet, Bitter, and Sour Life; Goose Pilsner Premium; and Hand and Malt Your Pilsner; Beer Port Broi's Cheoyong India Pale Lager; Dongducheon Brewery's Dongducheon Helles Lager; Magic Tree Brewery's Baegok Miin; Beber Brewery's Beber Pilsner; Trevier's Dunkel; and Arirang Brewery's Golden Craft Lager.
In craft ale, 14 products won the grand prize, including Cheongdam Beer; Beber Brewery's Beber Saison, Yeongdong Gose, and Seolleung Pale Ale; The Table Brewing Company's White Night; Daily Brewing's Saenghwal Wheat Beer; Trevier's T-Weizen; Dongducheon Brewery's Coconut Porter; Eight People Brewery's Take Off; Beer Port Broi's Imperial Stout; Arirang Brewery's Yoon Weizen; Krameri's Kiss and Basil Shower; and Nongupbeobin Barrack's Hamel Village Brown Ale.
In the imported lager institutional sector, three products were selected as grand prize winners: Oriental Brewery's Corona Extra and Michelob Ultra, and Hitejinro's Kirin Ichiban. In imported ale, Diageo Korea's Guinness Draught won the grand prize.
In the nonalcoholic institutional sector, six products won the grand prize, including Zero Sugar Craft Nonalcoholic Saenghwal Pale Ale; Diageo Korea's Guinness 0.0; Bujokan Nyeoseokdeul's Every Day IPA; and Oriental Brewery's Cass 0.0, Budweiser Zero, and Cass All Zero. In the other institutional sector, Hitejinro's Filite Fresh won the grand prize.
The 2026 Korea Wine & Spirits Awards is Korea's leading alcoholic beverage competition, now in its 13th year. With the goal of "discovering good domestic drinks and promoting them widely, and supporting the formation of a sound drinking culture," ChosunBiz has held it annually since 2014.
This year's event drew entries of 1,118 brands from 260 companies. It is the largest among domestic competitions that cover general alcoholic beverages. Of these, 449 brands received the grand prize.