Best in Show: The Year’s Best Beers Honored at 2018 Great American Beer Festival®

306 medals recognizing brewing excellence awarded to 280 breweries

DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#craftbeer–The Brewers
Association (BA) awarded 306 medals to 280 breweries across the
United States at the 2018 Great
American Beer Festival (GABF) competition. In a ceremony at the
Colorado Convention Center in Denver, award-winning breweries received
prestigious gold, silver and bronze medals in 102 beer categories
covering 167 different beer styles (including all subcategories),
establishing the best examples of each style in the country and earning
a symbol of brewing excellence.

View
the 2018 winners or download
a PDF list of the winners.

GABF COMPETITION STATISTICS

• 32^nd edition of the GABF competition
• 8,496 entries plus 101 Pro-Am and 49 Collaboration entries
• 2,404 breweries in the competition from 49 states plus Washington,
  D.C. (no Mississippi)
• 293 judges from 13 countries
• Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 83
• Category with the highest number of entries: Juicy or Hazy India Pale
  Ale (391 entries)
• 280 medal-winning breweries (including Pro-Am and Collaboration)
• 306 total medals awarded plus three (3) each for Pro-Am and
  Collaboration
• 537 first-time GABF entrants
• 31 first-time GABF winners

MOST-ENTERED STYLE CATEGORIES

In its GABF competition debut, the Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale style
category was the most-entered with 391 entries. Since 2002, the
most-entered category was American-Style India Pale Ale (IPA), which saw
311 entries in 2018.

The winners of the top five most-entered categories were:

Category 63: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (391 entries)
GOLD:
Alarmist Brewing – Le Jus, Chicago, IL
SILVER: Kros Strain Brewing
Co., Fairy Nectar London Double Dry Hopped – La Vista, NE
BRONZE:
Eris Brewery and Cider House, Foiken Haze – Chicago, IL

Category 62: American-Style India Pale Ale (311 entries)
GOLD:
Root Down Brewing Co. – Bine, Phoenixville, PA
SILVER: Appalachian
Mountain Brewery, Portsmouth, Not an IPA (P.S. it’s an IPA) –
Portsmouth, NH
BRONZE: Green Cheek Beer Co. – West Coast IPA is
Dead! – Orange, CA

Category 29: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout (177 entries)
GOLD:
Against the Grain Brewery, 70K Amburana – Louisville, KY
SILVER:
Kane Brewing, A Night to End All Dawns – Ocean, NJ
BRONZE:
FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Eclipse – Truckee, CA

Category 59: American-Style Pale Ale (170 entries)
GOLD:
Ocean Beach Brewery – B.Right On Pale Ale – San Diego, CA
SILVER:
Ventura Coast Brewing Co. – Neighborhood – Ventura, CA
BRONZE:
Maplewood Brewing Co. – Charlatan – Chicago, IL

Category: 28 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer (162 entries)
GOLD:
Drake’s Brewing Co. – Santa’s Brass – San Leandro, CA
SILVER: The
Wrecking Bar Brewpub, Willett Barrel-Aged Ye Old Sprinklerhead
Barleywine – Atlanta, GA
BRONZE: Revolution Brewing, Straight
Jacket – Chicago, IL

NEW COMPETITION CATEGORIES

In addition to Juicy or Hazy IPA, the following categories were also new
to the competition this year:

Category 60: Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale (132 entries)
GOLD: Tin
Roof Brewing Co., Voodoo – Baton Rouge, LA
SILVER: Kings Brewing
Co., Sippin on Dank – Rancho Cucamonga, CA
BRONZE: Fiction Beer
Co., Madame Psychosis – Denver, CO

Category 65: Juicy or Hazy Imperial or Double India Pale Ale (150
entries)
GOLD: Black Market Brewing Co., New England Style
Double IPA – Temecula, CA
SILVER: Corridor Brewery & Provisions,
DDH Double IPA – Chicago, IL
BRONZE: Alvarado Street Brewery,
Contains No Juice – Salinas, CA

Category 35: American-Style Pilsener: (91 entries)
GOLD: The
Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., Rocket 100 – Austin, TX
SILVER:
Wolverine State Brewing Co., NZ Pils – Ann Arbor, MI
BRONZE: The
Post Brewing Co., Howdy Beer – Lafayette, CO

Category 57: Australian-Style Pale Ale (46 entries)
GOLD:
Butcherknife Brewing Co., Sunshine Express – Steamboat Springs, CO
SILVER:
Worthy Brewing Co., Strata IPA – Bend, OR
BRONZE: Austin Beerworks,
Flavor Country – Austin, TX

MOST MEDALED BREWERIES

• Most medals won by a single brewery: 3
  • 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend, OR – 3 medals
    • GOLD – Baywindow, category 77: Berliner-Style Weisse
    • GOLD – Passionate Envy, category 4: Fruit Wheat Beer
    • SILVER – P2P, category 96: American-Style Stout
  • Alesong Brewing and Blending, Eugene, OR – 3 medals
    • SILVER – Terroir Pinot Noir, category 19: Experimental Beer
    • SILVER – Terroir Pinot Gris, category 25: Brett Beer
    • BRONZE – Touch of Brett Mandarina, category 25: Brett Beer
  • Lewis & Clark Brewing Co., Helena, MT – 3 medals
    • GOLD – Miner’s Gold, category 2 American-Style Wheat Beer with
      Yeast
    • SILVER – Pompey’s Pilsner, category 42 Bohemian-Style Pilsener
    • BRONZE – Prickly Pear, category 55 Classic English-Style Pale
      Ale

BREWERY AND BREWER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
(See criteria here)

PACKAGING BREWERIES
Very
Small Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group
<1,000
barrels produced in 2017
Brink Brewing Co. – Cincinnati, OH;
Brewmaster: Kelly Montgomery

Small Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by ABS
Commercial
1,000 – 14,999 barrels produced in 2017
Lewis
& Clark Brewing Co. – Helena, MT; Brewmaster: Lewis & Clark Brewing and
Packaging Crew

Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by MicroStar
Logistics
15,000 – 6,000,000 barrels produced in 2017
pFriem
Family Brewers – Hood River, OR; Brewmaster: pFriem Family Brewers

BREWPUBS
Small Brewpub of
the Year – Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients
<750
barrels produced in 2017
Ocean Beach Brewery – San Diego, CA;
Brewmaster: Jim Millea & Scott Watkins

Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year – Sponsored by Brewers Supply
Group
750 – 1,500 barrels produced in 2017
Root
Down Brewing Co. – Phoenixville, PA; Brewmaster: Root Down Brew Team

Large Brewpub of the Year – Sponsored by The Country Malt
Group
Over 1,500 barrels produced in 2017
The
Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. – Austin, TX; Brewmaster: Amos Swifty Kim

LARGE BREWERIES OR MULTIPLE LOCATION BREWERIES
Brewery
Group of the Year – Sponsored by Live Oak Bank
Over
6,000,000 barrels produced in 2017 or multi-location breweries wishing
to compete as a group
FiftyFifty Brewing Co. – Truckee, CA;
Brewmaster: FiftyFifty BrewCrew

PRO-AM COMPETITION
Sponsored by Briess Malt &
Ingredients Co., The Country Malt Group and White Labs
Gold,
silver and bronze medals were also awarded in the GABF Pro-Am
competition, which pairs homebrewers with professional brewers, who
scale up their award-winning homebrew recipes. The medal winners,
including the winning professional brewers and American
Homebrewers Association (AHA) member homebrewers are:

GOLD:				Little Harpeth Brewing Co. – Nashville, TN
				Deer Crossing, Munich-Style Helles Lager
				Brewmaster: Jesse Brown and Mike Onofray
				Homebrewer: Chris Allen
SILVER:				Rock Bottom Brewery – Warrenville, IL
				Gone for a Burton, English-Style Brown Ale
				Brewmaster: Erik Pizer
				Homebrewer: Jim Todd
BRONZE:				Cheluna Brewing Co. – Aurora, CO
				La Bomba; Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale
				Brewmaster: Jennifer Perez
				Homebrewer: Chris Cardillo

COLLABORATION COMPETITION

Medals were also awarded in the first-ever GABF Collaboration
Competition, which recognizes the collaborative spirit of the
professional craft brewing community.

GOLD:				New Belgium Brewing Co. – Ft. Collins, CO
				TransAtlantique Kriek
				Collaboration Brewery: Oud Beersel – Beersel, Belgium
SILVER:				Firestone Walker Barrelworks – Buellton, CA
				Pixie Dusted
				Collaboration Brewery: Firestone Walker Brewing Co. – Paso Robles, CA
BRONZE:				Quarter Celtic Brewpub – Albuquerque, NM
				Mocha Hipster Bomb
				Collaboration Brewery: Palmer Brewery and Cider House – Albuquerque, NM

GABF STATISTICS

• 37^th anniversary of the festival
• Over 800 breweries in expanded festival hall
• 4,000+ beers served at the festival
• 62,000 attendees
• 4,086 volunteers (festival and competition combined)
• 584,000 square feet of festival hall

The 2018 Great American Beer Festival was made possible in part by the
generous support of its sponsors.

Editor’s note: Photos
for media use are available on the GABF
website.

About the Brewers Association

The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association
dedicated to small
and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of
brewing enthusiasts. The BA represents 4,800-plus U.S. breweries. The
BA’s independent
craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates
beers by small and independent craft brewers. The BA organizes events
including the World
Beer Cup^®, Great
American Beer Festival^®, Craft
Brewers Conference^® & BrewExpo America^®, SAVOR^TM:
An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, Homebrew
Con^TM, National
Homebrew Competition and American
Craft Beer Week^®. The BA publishes The
New Brewer^® magazine, and Brewers
Publications^TM is the leading publisher of brewing
literature in the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the
dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com^® and
about homebrewing via the BA’s American
Homebrewers Association^® and
the free Brew
Guru^® mobile app. Follow us on Facebook,
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and Instagram.

The Brewers Association is an equal opportunity employer and does not
discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender,
religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or
marital/familial status. The BA complies with provisions of Executive
Order 11246 and the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the
Secretary of Labor.

Contacts

on behalf of the Brewers Association
Abby Cohen, 646-695-7044
abby@rosengrouppr.com