Great American Beer Festival 2019 – Awards & Saturday Session Recap
Great American Beer Festival 2019 – Awards
The Great American Beer Festival 2019 Awards Ceremony brought brewers from across the country together to celebrate brewing excellence. This year, the Brewers Association awarded 318 medals to 283 breweries from across the US! Overall, 322 judges from 18 countries judged 107 beer style categories, and it was the largest number of categories judged to date!
The state of Ohio set a new record for the total number of medals awarded to their state with 15 medals! We’ve felt for years that Ohio has been underrated for the quality of beer they are producing & now, they have some new bling to show for it. Brink Brewing Co. out of Cincinnati even took home the title of Very Small Brewing Company and Very Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year for the second year in a row!
It was also great to see Charlie Papazian return to the stage to hand out the medals & give all the winners his signature ::fist bump::. It honestly wouldn’t have felt the same without him & when he first walked out on stage, he received a standing oviation.
Here are the winners from our three home bases!
#SDBEER Winners
Gold Medals
- Aged Beer: A Creator’s Calling by The Lost Abbey
- American-Style Cream Ale: Sea Señor! Mex Lager by SouthNorte Beer Co.
- Non-Alcohol Beer or Alcohol-Free Beer: Enough Said N/A by Two Roots Brewing Co.
- Old Ale or Strong Ale: Private Stock Ale by AleSmith Brewing Co.
- Ordinary or Special Bitter: Chronic Amber Ale by Pizza Port – Bressi Ranch
- Robust Porter: Tabula Rasa by Second Chance Beer Co.
- Rye Beer: Rye Dawn by Breakwater Brewing Co.
Silver Medals
- American-Style Black Ale: Bowie Knife by Thunderhawk Alements
- American-Style Stout: Stone Liberty Station Cimmerian Portal by Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station
- Barley Wine-Style Ale: Freebooter Barleywine by Coronado Brewing Co.
- Contemporary American-Style Pilsener: Citra Pils by Saint Archer Brewing Co.
- Specialty Beer: Agavemente by SouthNorte Beer Co.
Bronze Medals
- American-Style India Pale Ale: Weekend Vibes IPA by Coronado Brewing Co. – Production Facility
- Belgian- and French-Style Ale: Industrial Gris by Resident Brewing Co.
- Belgian-Style Dubbel: OB Bubble Dubbel by Kilowatt Brewing
- Imperial Stout: Rescue Buoy Imperial Stout by Rip Current Brewing
#COBEER Winners
Gold Medals
- American-Style India Pale Ale: More Dodge Less RAM by Comrade Brewing Co.
- American-Style Strong Pale Ale: Superpower IPA by Comrade Brewing Co.
- Belgian- and French-Style Ale: Junebug by Echo Brewing Co.
- Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale: Get The Funk Out by Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project
- Belgian-Style Pale Strong Ale: Fu Fighter by Good River Beer
- Belgian-Style Witbier: Way West Wit by Zuni Street Brewing Co.
- Gluten-Free Beer: Boombastic Hazy IPA by Holidaily Brewing Co.
- Golden or Blonde Ale: 1956 Golden Ale by Bootstrap Brewing
- Honey Beer: A&M Honey Bock by BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery – Boulder
- Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale: Extra Extra Juicy Bits by WeldWerks Brewing Co.
- Other Strong Beer: Northstar Imperial Porter by Twisted Pine Brewing Co.
- Scotch Ale: Knuckle Dragger by Dueces Wild Brewery
- Wood-and Barrel-Aged Beer: Amburana Dream by Denver Beer Co. – Olde Town Arvada
Silver Medals
- Aged Beer: Belgian Quad by Green Mountain Beer Co.
- Australian-Style Pale Ale: Mountain Standard IPA by Odell Brewing Co.
- Belgian-Style Dark Strong Ale or Belgian-Style Quadrupel: Séréneté Grand Cru by Bruz Beers
- Bock: Maibock by Dry Dock Brewing Co. – South Dock
- Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest: Lindauer Lager by Wit’s End Brewing Co.
- Emerging India Pale Ale: Vladimir Brutin by Cannonball Creek Brewing Co.
- English-Style Brown Ale: Eclipse Brown Ale by Equinox Brewing
- Experimental Beer: Shibbleshabble by Primitive Beer
- Fruited American-Style Sour Ale: Hoochie Mama by Storm Peak Brewing Co.
- German-Style Altbier: Howitzer Amber by Red Leg Brewing Co.
- German-Style Koelsch: Ice Cutter Kölsch by Joyride Brewing Co.
- Imperial India Pale Ale: Westbound Double IPA by Westbound & Down Brewing Co.
- International-Style Dark Lager: El Corn by The Post Brewing Co.
- International-Style Pilsener: Upslope Craft Lager by Upslope Brewing Co. – Flatiron Park
- Irish-Style Red Ale: Balefire Irish Red by Mirror Image Brewing Co.
- Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale: Itsy Bits by WeldWerks Brewing Co.
- Oatmeal Stout: Yonder Mountain Stout by Vine Street Pub & Brewery
- Ordinary or Special Bitter: Cousin Jack by Dostal Alley Brewpub & Casino
- Session India Pale Ale: Trump Hands by Cannonball Creek Brewing Co.
- Specialty Saison: Westfield by Cellar West Artisan Ales
- Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer: Double Barrel Louie by Westbound & Down Brewing Co.
Bronze Medals
- American-Style Amber Lager: Grist Maerzen by Grist Brewing Co.
- Australian-Style Pale Ale: Pete’s Stash by Vail Brewing Co. – Vail Village Pilot
- Herb and Spice Beer: Deck Daze by Vail Brewing Co. – Vail Village Pilot
- Light Lager: Lightner Creek Lager by Carver Brewing Co.
- Pro-Am Comp: Chess with Checkers by New Belgium Brewing Co.
- Session Beer: Peacekeeper by Launch Pad Brewery
Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year: Comrade Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Mid-Size Brewpub and Mid-Size Brewpub Brewer of the Year: Westbound & Down Brewing Co., Idaho Springs, CO
#GABEER Winners
Gold Medal
- English-Style India Pale Ale: Hop’lin IPA by Southbound Brewing Co.
Bronze Medal
- Old Ale or Strong Ale: Last Will and Testament by Monday Night Brewing – Garage
To see a list of all the winners, click HERE.
“This year’s GABF competition was the largest and most competitive to date,” said Chris Swersey, competition manager, Great American Beer Festival. “The beers and talent were as impressive as ever, and we congratulate this year’s winners for their achievements in brewing.”
Great American Beer Festival 2019 – Saturday Session Recap
Best Beers
- Dapper Apple by Armadillo Ale Works
- Mule Beer by Short’s Brewing Company
- Up Goes The Geyser Strawberry Rhubarb Sour Ale by Mountain Cowboy Brewing Company
- Key Lime Shandy by Big Storm Brewing Company
- Hawaii Five Ale by Destihl Brewery
- Joon by MadTree Brewing Company
Beers Worth Trying
- Brunch Money by Armadillo Ale Works
- Marg Monday by Rhinegeist Brewery
- Doodle Proof by Sun King Brewing
- Hot Shot Green Chili Blonde by Pikes Peak Brewing Co
- Biere De Garde by Banded Oak Brewing Co.
Best Breweries
- Armadillo Ale Works from Denton, TX
- Big Storm Brewing Company from Clearwater, FL
- Whalers Brewing Company from Wakefield, RI
- Wasatch Brewery from Park City, UT
- Destihl Brewery from Normal, IL
Event Highlights
We really enjoyed spending the Saturday afternoon session mingling with all the medal winners at their booths & making sure to try some of the winning beers.
To end the session we swung by the I Love This Booth Photo Booth for some quick team photos! We really loved this additional experience that was added to the festival this year to give fans a photo souvenir to take home with them.
For more photos from the Saturday session, please check out our FACEBOOK ALBUM.
From the Oskar Blues Silent Disco, to the fun scavenger hunt, to the passport around the different state guilds, to Paired, to the History of Beer exhibit, to checking out Sierra Nevada’s Original Brewhouse, to the Jameson Caskmates section, to the WinterWonderGrass live music sets…the 2019 Great American Beer Festival was definitely one to remember!
If you missed our recaps from the first two nights, be sure to check out our recaps from Thursday HERE and Friday HERE.
This was an incredible year filled with epic experiences and we can’t wait until next year! SAVE THE DATE: September 24th – 26th, 2020!
For more event updates, check out Great American Beer Festival’s WEBSITE and follow them on their social media channels: FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM
Be sure to follow us on our social media and join the conversation with great people around great beers as we cover the 2019 Great American Beer Festival LIVE October 3rd-5th. FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM
