GABF Wrap-Up
The 35th annual Great American Beer Fest was held this past weekend in Denver. The festival wrapped up Sunday, with brewers and brewery reps flying home, beer-soaked and probably more than a little hungover. With 1700 breweries pouring more than 7000 different beers, there was definitely a lot of beer to taste. We not only spent time at the festival on both Friday and Saturday, but also got to visit some breweries around the Denver area. Once again, San Diego breweries killed it at GABF, bringing home 18 medals as well as the prestigious title of Mid-Sized Brewing Company and Mid-Sized Brewer of the Year.
San Diego Brewery Medal Count
Gold Medals
Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – Queen of Tarts, American-Style Sour Ale (Category 24)
Bagby Beer Co. – Sweet Ride, Bohemian-Style Pilsner (Category 41)
Rip Current Brewing Co. – Breakline Bock, Bock (Category 48)
BNS Brewing & Distilling Co. – Prospector Red Ale, American-Style Amber/Red Ale (Category 61)
Culture Brewing Co. – Brown, American-Style Brown Ale (Category 70)
Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – Windandsea Wheat, South German-Style Hef (Category 74)
Second Chance Beer Co. – Tabula Rasa Toasted Porter, Robust Porter (Category 87)
Alesmith Brewing Co. – Old Numbskull, Barley Wine (Category 96)
Silver Medals
Duckfoot Brewing Co. – The Contender, Chili Beer (Category 8)
Benchmark Brewing Co. – Oatmeal Stout, Session Beer (Category 16)
BNS Brewing & Distilling Co.- Gatling Gun Imperial Stout, Imperial Stout (Cateogry 93)
Bronze Medals
New English Brewing Co. – Zumbar Chocolate Coffee Imperial Stout, Coffee Beer (Category 12)
Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – Liquid AC, English-Style Summer Ale
Karl Strauss Brewing Co. – Mosaic Session IPA, Session IPA (Category 17)
Alpine Beer Co. – HFS, American-Style Strong Pale Ale, (Category 58)
Mother Earth Brew Co. – Mother Earth ESB, Extra Special Bitter (Category 66)
Pure Project – Roes Red, Lambic or Sour Ale (Category 81)
Societe Brewing Co. – The Volcanist, American-Style Stout (Category 90)
For a complete list of winners, check out this link.
Because Karl Strauss Brewing Co. cleaned up with 4 medals, they also won Mid-Sized Brewing Company and Mid-Sized Company Brewer of the year. There was a some drama round this award, however. Apparently, Karl Strauss mistakenly entered themselves into the category of Mid-Sized Brewpub of the year. Festival organizers caught the slip up, but not before naming a different brewery Mid-Sized Brewing Company of the year. Cleveland brewery, Fat Head Brewery and Saloon, celebrated their win before learning that Karl Strauss beat them out after they were entered into the correct category.
Thorn Street At GABF
Thorn Street Brewery had an great weekend. Although we didn’t bring home any medals, we got to hang out with some of the coolest beer people around. The festivals is fun, but it’s also exhausting. 60,000 people all moving through the huge convention center, making their way to different tables. We got to talk to a lot of craft beer lovers as well as taste our way through some outstanding beers. But we didn’t spend all of our time at the festival itself. We want to give a shout out to some of the Denver breweries and bars that were kind enough to put up with our crew. Back Project, TRVE, Baere Brewing, Prost, Falling Rock, Ratio Brewing, Crooked Stave and Avery Brewing Co. were just a few that we visited, with a special apology for shenanigans going to the good people at Avery Brewing Co. 😉
Hanging at Baere Brewing
Avery Brewing Co. Pre-Shenanigans
Tony and Terry, our GABF contest winners had a great time too. They attended the festival on Friday night, tasting away. Tony said he really liked tasting all of the specialty beers that were offered at the festival. We are going to be making this GABF Giveaway a yearly tradition, so make sure you sign up for our email list here for a chance to win our next giveaway!
We are already look forward to GABF next year. We are awaiting the judging notes from the beers we entered and will be planning and getting ready for the beers we will be sending in 2017!
For more general info on GABF, check out our recent blog on the topic.