SAN DIEGO -- When it comes to craft-beer making, the West Coast still rules, at least at the World Beer Cup.

Three California breweries and one Oregon brewery garnered four of the five top honors over the weekend at the Association of Brewers World Beer Cup awards, prevailing over nearly 400 other breweries worldwide to take awards for Champion Brewery and Brewmaster.

The World Beer Cup is the largest and most diverse competition among brewers worldwide, with more than 1,500 entries from 393 breweries in 40 countries. The blind judging used to determine the awards is conducted by elite brewers and other industry experts from all over the world. On this year's judge panel, more than half the judges came from outside the United States.

The competition presents Champion Brewery and Brewmaster awards, in five brewery categories differentiated by size and type. A brewpub sells the majority of its beer on-site at its own retail establishment while a brewing company sells the majority of its beer off-site through other retailers.

The title of Small Brewing Company was won by Oggi's Pizza and Brewing Co., of San Clemente, Calif., and brewmaster Tom Nickel. The award for Mid-Sized Brewing Company went to Firestone Walker Brewing Company of Paso Robles, Calif., and brewmaster Matthew Brynildson. Miller Brewing Co., of Milwaukee, Wis., and brewmaster David Ryder got top honors for Large Brewing Company and Brewmaster.

The award for Small Brewpub went to Laurelwood Pub & Brewery, of Portland, Ore., and brewmaster Christian Ettinger. Russian River Brewing Co., of Santa Rosa, Calif., and brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo received the award for Large Brewpub.

Gold, silver and bronze awards also were given in more than 80 categories of beer styles.

American brewers accounted for 69 percent of all entries in this year's World Beer Cup, but in many segments they won a far greater portion of the awards.

In the ale and specialty beer segments of this year's World Beer Cup, American brewers won more than three-quarters of all the medals awarded. It was no surprise that they dominated the American ale segment, winning 91 percent of the medals awarded, or the Specialty beers segment, where they won 83 percent of the total. But they also out-brewed foreign competition in the British-style ales winning 85 percent of the total and held their own against imports in the Belgian-style ales taking 69 percent of all medals.

German brewers dominated the German ale categories taking 9 of the 17 medals awarded. Fifteen different countries claimed the 59 medals awarded in the 21 lager categories.

Lagers are the best-known beer styles for most American beer drinkers, but they account for only about one-quarter of all beer styles and represent just one-third of the total entries in the World Beer Cup. The United States took 23 of the 59 medals awarded for lagers, while German brewers took 13 and Czechs another 3. Other lager medal winners included Canada (4), England (2), Nicaragua (2), Lithuania (2), Sweden (2), Korea (2), Singapore, Samoa, Myanmar, Australia, Cambodia and Belgium.

"Great brewers consistently make great beer," said John Keeling, head brewer of Fuller's Brewery in London and one of this year's World Beer Cup judges. "While these brewers have been recognized in the past for their brewing skill, these awards show that their skills stand up to the challenges of international competition."

The World Beer Cup was founded to create greater consumer awareness around the world about the quality and diversity displayed by the various beers of the world. A complete list of winners is available on Beertown.org.