This year’s Great American Beer Festival allowed beverages such as cider and ready-to-drink cocktails to be poured during the event, and cider also was permitted in its prestigious competition for the first time.
Colorado cideries made a showing by winning three medals before beer took centerstage, and local breweries once again proved why people from across the country come to drink here. In all, Colorado beverage makers collected an astonishing 41 awards, one-upping last year’s haul of 40 medals. Of those, 15 were gold.
Colorado breweries shined in a variety of categories, from traditional lagers and sour beers to barrel-aged and specialty styles.
“Colorado’s breweries continue to shine with their high-quality beers in a variety of styles. Especially noteworthy this year is that five different breweries won medals in five different German-style lager categories,” Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild, said in a statement.
The biggest local winner was Westbound & Down Brewing Co., which garnered three medals: gold for its Infinity Pils in the hoppy lager category, gold for its Western Justice in the wood- and barrel-aged strong stout category and silver for its Don’t Hassle the Hef in the South-German-style Hefeweizen category.
Things got spicy when local outfitsLiquid Mechanics Brewing Co. (Aurora) and Station 26 Brewing Co. collected gold and bronze in the chili beer category, respectively. Also of note, Denver’s Bull & Bush Brewery earned gold and silver in the same category – wood- and barrel-aged beer – for two recipes aged in rum barrels.
Breweries from the Front Range to the mountains won more than one medal, including Denver Beer Co., Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Glenwood Canyon Brewpub and River North Brewery.
Two Colorado cider makers earned accolades in the inaugural GABF competition. Aurora’s Haykin Family Cider nabbed gold in the single varietal category and Snow Capped Cider in Austin, on the Western Slope, collected gold and silver in the no/low-tannin cider category.
See the full list of award-winning local beers below. You can find all the competition results at greatamericanbeerfestival.com.
Gold
American-Belgo-style Ale – Silver Medal Worthy, Launch Pad Brewery, Aurora
Chili Beer – El Poblano Borracho, Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co., Lafayette
Coffee Beer – Squirrels Just Want To Have Fun, River North Brewery, Denver
Dortmunder or German-style Oktoberfest – Festbier, Glenwood Canyon Brewpub, Glenwood Springs
Field Beer – Fennel Rye Ale, Denver Beer Co., Denver
Gluten-Free Beer – Fat Randy, Holidaily Brewing Co., Golden
Hoppy Lager – Infinity Pils, Westbound & Down Brewing Co., Lafayette
Irish-style Red Ale – Coppermind, Denver Beer Co., Denver
New Zealand-style India Pale Ale – More Than A Zealand, Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden
No/Low-Tannin Cider – The Russets, Snow Capped Cider, Austin
Single Varietal Cider – Mountain Rose, Haykin Family Cider, Aurora
Smoke Beer – Smoke and Embers, New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins
Strong Red Ale – Wreak Havoc, Bootstrap Brewing, Longmont
Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer – Ghoul Fuel – Rum Diaries Edition, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver
Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout – Western Justice, Westbound & Down Brewing Co., Idaho Springs
Silver
American Amber Lager – Las Cruces, Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Co., Castle Rock
American-style Pale Ale – Featherweight Pale Ale, Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden
Fruit Wheat Beer – Enduro, Cheluna Brewing Co., Aurora
German Wheat Ale – Kristal Moon, Blue Moon Brewing Co., Denver
International Dark Lager – Czech-6, Eagle River Brewing Co., Gypsum
Munich-style Helles – Crystal River, Glenwood Canyon Brewpub, Glenwood Springs
No/Low-Tannin Cider – Graventein, Snow Capped Cider, Austin
Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barley Wine – Grow Old With You, Verboten Brewing, Loveland
Pumpkin Beer – Pumpkin Spice J. Marie, River North Brewery, Denver
Scottish-style Ale – Scottish Ale, Stodgy Brewing Co., Fort Collins
South German-style Hefeweizen – Don’t Hassle the Hef, Westbound & Down Brewing Co., Lafayette
Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer – Temporary Paradise – Rum Diaries Edition, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver
Bronze
American Sour Ale – Mirage, New Terrain Brewing Co., Golden
American-style Strong Ale – Independence Pass Ale IPA, Aspen Brewing Co., Aspen
Chili Beer – Palisade Peak, Station 26 Brewing Co., Denver
Fruited American Sour Ale – Cactus Justice, 12Degrees Brewing, Louisville
German-style Altbier – Altruism, Rock Cut Brewing Co., Estes Park
German-style Doppelbock or Eisbock – Execrator, Resolute Brewing Co., Centennial
German-style Maerzen – Oktoberfest, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont
Honey Beer – Animals Strike Curious Poses, The Empourium Brewing Co., Denver
Italian-style Pilsener – Wolf of the Woods, Second Dawn Brewing Co., Aurora
Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale – Windows Up, Alpine Beer Co., Fort Collins
Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barley Wine – Artemisia, Burns Family Artisan Ales, Denver
Scotch Ale – Old Chub, Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont
South German-style Hefeweizen – Polterweiss Hefeweizen, Green Mountain Beer Co., Lakewood
Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 5 On It, Long Table Brewhouse, Denver
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