After a long, pandemic-driven hiatus, the Great American Beer Festival returned to celebrate beer making in the U.S. and the 40th anniversary of the nation’s largest professional beer competition — with 40,000 beer loving fans at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
When all was said, sipped and done, 20 Bay Area breweries brought home awards from the Oct. 8 awards ceremony. And West Oakland’s Ghost Town Brewing not only scored three major medals, it took home one of the biggest prizes of the day. Ghost Town was named Brewery and Brewer of the Year among breweries that annually produce between 5,001 and 15,000 barrels.
More on those medals in a minute, but first a word about the judging: The big public festival may have been nixed in 2020 and 2021, but GABF’s enormous panels of beer judges still gathered, using some COVID protocols that proved so beneficial to judges and breweries alike, we’re still using them. Not the challenging ones — judging thousands of beers while wearing a shield, for example — the good ones.
Pre-pandemic, judging was crammed into the three days just before the festival. But for the last two years, the judging process was spread over three weeks, with most people — myself included — rotating in for just a few of those days. The hosting Brewers Association discovered that stretching out the judging and doing it at a more leisurely pace not only made it go more efficiently, it allowed for more entries to be considered.
Over a span of nine days this fall, 235 judges from seven countries judged 9,939 beers — nearly 500 more than pre-pandemic — from breweries in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The judging covered 179 beer categories, including a Pro-Am competition and a collaboration division, as well.
The category with the most entries was, of course, American-style IPA, followed closely by juicy or hazy IPA. No surprises there. But the next three were a little more unexpected: German-style Pilsener, German wheat ale and German-style Maerzen.
Out of the 300 medals awarded, 76 went to California breweries, more than three times the tally of the nearest state, Colorado. Ghost Town’s three medals included golds for Mordant, an American-style strong pale ale, and Nose Goblin, in the very competitive Double IPA category. They also won a silver medal for Cave Dweller, in the India pale lager category.
Two more Oakland breweries won gold medals, too, including Original Pattern Brewing for The Next Chapter, a session IPA, and Buck Wild Brewing for it’s Alpenglow Hazy IPA in the gluten-free beer category. Oakland United Beerworks took home a silver for its East Bay Nights Black Lager.
Alameda’s Faction Brewing also won two medals, a gold for 1970s Lager, in the cream ale bracket, and a bronze for Pale 586, an international-style pale ale. Its neighbor, Almanac Beer Co., won a gold medal for its Farmer’s Reserve Plum, in the mixed-culture Brett beer category.
Other East Bay wins include two bronze medals for Tracy’s Morgan Territory Brewing, which entered Big Bock Energy and Metalmark Marzen. Richmond’s Armistice Brewing in Richmond brought home a bronze for Green New Zeal in the juicy or hazy strong pale ale category. And Danville Brewing won a silver medal for Granny’s Tipple in the Old Ale/Strong Ale/ Barley Wine division.
In San Francisco, Bartlett Hall took the gold for Powell Street Porter, while Laughing Monk Brewing won bronze for Holy Ghost, in the international-style pilsener group. Santa Rosa’s Moonlight Brewing won gold for its Wee Nibble saison, as did Third Street Aleworks for Blarney Sisters Dry Irish Stout. And Russian River Brewing earned a silver for Intinction – Sauvignon Blanc, in the fruited wood- and barrel-aged sour beer category.
Saint Helena’s Mad Fritz won a bronze medal for its rye beer, The Old Man and Death. And to the south, Monterey’s Alvarado Street Brewery won a silver for Local Shred Red, a strong red ale.
If you missed this year’s festivities, here’s a happy thought: Plans are already underway for the 2023 GABF, set for Sept. 21-23 in Denver. Read all about it at www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com.
Contact Jay R. Brooks at BrooksOnBeer@gmail.com.
Source: www.mercurynews.com