The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is one of the biggest events of the year for craft beer aficionados and brewers alike. Held every year in October, GABF has fun tasting sessions for members of the beer-drinking public and a competition for breweries.
And, at this year’s contest, Colorado’s breweries once again took home a heap of medals in a wide variety of categories. New this year: five new cider categories. (The competition is a collaboration between the Boulder-based Brewers Association and the American Cider Association.)
More than 250 volunteers converged to facilitate the 38th edition of the competition, which involved 285 judges. All said, the judges sipped, sniffed and evaluated 8,836 commercial beer entries, 233 commercial cider entries, 95 Collaboration entries and 52 Pro-Am entries from all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
“The Great American Beer Festival continues its commitment to recognizing exceptional beverages from across the country in the 2024 competition,” says Chris Williams, competition director for the Brewers Association. “With the addition of five new cider categories, we’re pleased to recognize the best of the best in beer and beyond. Congratulations to this year’s winners.”
They narrowed down the nearly 9,000 total submissions from more than 1,800 breweries and cideries to determine the gold, silver and bronze winners in 102 categories. In the end, 273 breweries and ciders earned 326 medals.
Within that total, 34 Colorado breweries took home 38 medals at the Bellco Theatre in Denver on Saturday.
“Colorado’s breweries continue to shine with their high-quality beers in a variety of styles,” says Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild. “Especially noteworthy this year is that five different breweries won medals in five different German-style lager categories.”
Here’s a rundown of all the Colorado medal winners from this year’s GABF competition:
Gold Medal Winners
- Denver Beer Co. Canworks – Fennel Rye Ale (Field Beer)
- Liquid Mechanics Brewing Company – El Poblano Borracho (Chili Beer)
- River North Brewery – Squirrels Just Want to Have Fun (Coffee Beer)
- Holidaily Brewing Company – Fat Randy (Gluten-Free Beer)
- Launch Pad Brewery – Silver Medal Worthy (American-Belgo-Style Ale)
- Bull & Bush Brewery – Ghoul Fuel – Rum Diaries Edition (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer)
- Westbound & Down Brewing Company – Western Justice (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout)
- Westbound & Down Brewing Co. Mill – Infinity Pils (Hoppy Lager)
- Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co. – Festbier (Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest, 4th most entered category)
- Denver Beer Co. (Lowry Field) – Coppermind (Irish-Style Red Ale)
- Cannonball Creek Brewing Co. – More Than a Zealand (New Zealand India Pale Ale)
- Bootstrap Brewing – Wreak Havoc (Strong Red Ale)
Silver Medal Winners
- Cheluna Brewing Company – Enduro (Fruit Wheat Beer)
- River North Brewery – Pumpkin Spice J. Marie (Pumpkin Beer)
- Bull & Bush Brewery – Temporary Paradise-Rum Diaries Edition (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer)
- Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Co. – Las Cruces (American Amber Lager)
- Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co. – Crystal River (Munich-Style Helles)
- Eagle River Brewing Co. – Czech-6 (International Dark Lager)
- Westbound & Down Brewing Co. – Don’t Hassle The Hef (South German-Style Hefeweizen)
- Stodgy Brewing Co. – Scottish Ale (Scottish-Style Ale)
- Verboten Brewing – Grow Old with You (Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barley Wine)
- Cannonball Creek – Featherweight Pale (American-Style Pale Ale)
Bronze Medal Winners
- Station 26 Brewing Company – Palisade Peak (Chili Beer)
- The Empourium Brewing Company – Animals Strike Curious Poses (Honey Beer)
- New Terrain Brewing Company – Mirage (American Sour Ale)
- 12Degree Brewing – Cactus Juice (Fruited American Sour Ale)
- Long Table Brewhouse – 50 On It (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer)
- Second Dawn Brewing Company – Wolf of the Woods (Italian-Style Pilsener, new category)
- Left Hand Brewing Co. – Oktoberfest (German-Style Maerzen)
- Resolute Brewing Co. – Execrator (German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock)
- Rock Cut Brewing Co. – Altruism – Rock Cut Brewing Co. (German-Style Altbier)
- Green Mountain Beer Company – Polterweiss Hefeweizen (South German-Style Hefeweizen)
- Oskar Blues Brewery – Old Chub (Scotch Ale)
- Burns Family Artisan Ales – Artemesia (Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barley Wine)
- Aspen Brewing Company – Independence Pass Ale IPA (American-Style Strong Pale Ale)
- Alpine Beer Co. – Windows Up (Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale)
“GABF continues to prove that we are the State of Craft Beer, with breweries old and new winning medals in such a diverse array of categories,” says Adelson.
In addition to all the craft breweries that took home some hardware, Colorado’s cideries also earned some well-deserved recognition at this year’s GABF.
Gold Medal Winners
- Snow Capped Cider – The Russets (No/Low-Tannin Cider)
- Haykin Family Cider – Mountain Rose (Single Varietal Cider)
Silver Medal Winners
- Snow Capped Cider – Graventein (No/Low-Tannin Cider)
