The winners of the Great American Beer Festival were just announced, and while Massachusetts only saw one medal winner, New England overall did fairly well (considering our six states make up only 4% of the nation’s population).
The festival was held in Denver over last weekend, where 303 medals were awarded to 263 breweries.
The beers spanned 99 beer categories across 175 beer styles (including all subcategories). There were also three GABF Collaboration medals for beers created by a team of two or more professional breweries, and three GABF Pro-Am medals for beers developed by teams of professional brewers and amateur homebrewers.
The competition was judged by 250 beer experts from 10 countries, including the U.S., who evaluated 9,298 commercial brewery entries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
Not surprisingly, the Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale category was the most entered with 365 entries, followed by the West Coast-Style India Pale Ale group with 301 entries. No other category reached 300 entries. The brewery that garnered the most medals was Third Eye Brewing Co. of Sharonville, Ohio, which received two golds and two silvers. That’s pretty impressive
As mentioned above, the Bay State grabbed only one medal, but at least it was a gold: True North Ale Co. of Ipswich won the medal for its Vincianne, a Belgian blonde ale that has won medals at various competitions five of the past six years. This is one I definitely have to try.
The rest of New England fared reasonably well with a mixed bag of results. Connecticut nabbed three medals, with Two Roads Brewing getting a silver for its nonalcoholic Juicy NA IPA, Counter Weight Brewing grabbing a bronze in the Munich-style Helles category with its Ein Helles, and NewSylum Brewing also receiving a bronze in the Smoke Beer bracket for its Schmoke ‘Em Up beer.
Maine’s renowned Allagash Brewing took home two medals: a gold for its Tripel in the Belgian-style Abbey Ale category and a bronze in the Belgian-style Witbier category for its Allagash White. New Hampshire’s only medal was a bronze from Hobbs Tavern & Brewing Co., which got the prize for its Sugar Moon in the Experimental Wood-aged Beer category.
Rhode Island was shut out, which isn’t surprising, given its tiny size but what was shocking was that Vermont, often seen as a bastion of craft brewing, also saw no hardware.
However, Allagash also won the Brewery Group Brewery and Brewer of the Year award (for breweries that produce more than 100,000 barrels each year).
Congratulations to all the winners.
