Joey McDaniel created a cool infographic comparing the first Great American Beer Festival in 1982 to this year’s festival. Joey was introduced to craft beer by his wife, Jen, and together they run the beer blog Wet Your Whistles, covering beer in the Bay Area, with an emphasis on the “watering holes along the San Francisco Bay Area Caltrain railway line.” It’s interesting to see how far we’ve come in the 30 years since the first GABF was held. Nice job, Joey.
Beer Nation’s Farm To Table Video
Beer Nation, a “web-based series exploring the craft beer revolution,” recently posted a great overview video of the Farm To Table side event that took place during the Great American Beer Festival for the second time this year. You can watch the video below or at the Beer Nation website.
GABF Media Panel
Saturday night at GABF, I was honored to be on a three-man panel talking about beer media, along with Daniel Bradford from All About Beer magazine, and Stan Hieronymus. We talked for about 40 minutes, although you can hear exactly how bad my voice was all week long, after losing it Wednesday night.
Daniel Bradford, Stan Hieronymus and me on stage at GABF. (Thanks to Julia Herz for taking the photo.)
We had about a half-full studio, more than I’d expected for a Saturday night session, and a high percentage of the audience was other media personalities. It was great fun, we could easily have talked all night.
If you can’t see the video embedded here, try viewing it on Justin.TV.
GABF Winners 2010
On Saturday, the winners of the Great American Beer Festival were announced for 2010. A total of 236 medals were awarded in 79 categories (gold, silver and bronze). California breweries took home the highest total of any state, with 52 of the 236 awards, or about 22% of the total. Colorado won 40 and Oregon 19, making them 2nd and 3rd, respectively. The top winners by state were:
- California — 52 (last year 39, 2nd)
- Colorado — 40 (last year 44, 1st)
- Oregon — 19 (last year 22, 3rd)
- Michigan — 10 (last year 9, 6th)
- Pennsylvania — 9 (last year 14, 4th)
- 5-Way TIE: Illinois, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin — 7
- 2-Way TIE: Missouri, Ohio — 6
Just for fun, this year I also ran the medal numbers weighted, using 3 for gold, 2 for silver, and 1 for bronze. Here’s how things shake out that way:
- California — 110
- Colorado — 85
- Oregon — 30
- Michigan — 22
- Pennsylvania — 19
- 3-Way TIE: Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin — 15
- 2-Way TIE: Missouri, Utah — 14
Twelve states were shut out and another eleven won a single award. That means the remaining 27 won two or more. Only four states were in double digits, winning 10 or more.
California also won the most gold medals (19), followed by Colorado (14) and a 3-way tie between Michigan, Virginia and Wisconsin, with 4 each. Twenty-five states, half of the total, won at least one gold medal.
The Great American Beer Festival by the numbers:
- 455 breweries in the festival hall
- 2,200+ beers served at the festival
- 49,000 attendees (includes brewers, volunteers and ticket holders)
- 3,400 volunteers
- 516 breweries in the competition
- 3,523 beers judged in the competition
- 79 categories judged + Pro-Am category
- 151 judges from ten countries
- Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 44
- Category with highest number of entries: 142, American Style India Pale Ale
Three new categories were judged this year:
- American Style India Black Ales (53 entries)
- Imperial Porter (9 entries)
- Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout (34 entries)
The top five entered categories were:
- American-Style India Pale Ale – 142 entries
- American-Style Pale Ale – 109 entries
- Imperial India Pale Ale – 97 entries
- Herb and Spice or Chocolate Beer – 91 entries
- American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 84 entries
And the winners are:
Category: 1 American-Style Wheat Beer – 23 Entries
Gold: Sandy Bottom, Blue Mountain Brewery, Afton, VA
Silver: Shredders Wheat, Barley Brown’s Brew Pub, Baker City, OR
Bronze: County Seat Wheat, Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant, Topeka, KS
Category: 2 American-Style Wheat Beer With Yeast – 43 Entries
Gold: Point Horizon Wheat, Stevens Point Brewery, Stevens Point, WI
Silver: American Hefeweizen, Flat Branch Pub and Brewery, Columbia, MO
Bronze: Hefeweizen, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Category: 3 Fruit Beer – 75 Entries
Gold: Chardonnay Blonde, Blue Moon Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: Apricot Ale, Pyramid Breweries, Seattle, WA
Bronze: Raspberry Tart, New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, WI
Category: 4 Field Beer – 28 Entries
Gold: Frog’s Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale, Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Co., Akron, OH
Silver: Dark o’ the Moon, Elysian Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Bronze: Imperial Pumpkin Ale, Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton, PA
Category: 5 Herb and Spice or Chocolate Beer – 91 Entries
Gold: Rosemary Swamp Fox, Moon River Brewing Co., Savannah, GA
Silver: Stone Smoked Porter with Chipotle, Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, CA
Bronze: Super Chili Pepper Madness, Mad River Brewing Co., Blue Lake, CA
Category: 6 Coffee Flavored Beer – 52 Entries
Gold: Baltic Coffee, Devils Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Silver: Coffee Monster, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Big Shot Espresso Stout, Twisted Pine Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Category: 7 Specialty Beer – 23 Entries
Gold: Belipago, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Dexter, MI
Silver: Coconut Porter, Pagosa Brewing Co., Pagosa Springs, CO
Bronze: Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
Category: 8 Rye Beer – 32 Entries
Gold: BMB Rye IPA, Black Market Brewing Co., Temecula, CA
Silver: Portsmouth Brewery Rye Not, Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth, NH
Bronze: Roggenbier, Bear Republic Brewing Co., Healdsburg, CA
Category: 9 Specialty Honey Beer – 24 Entries
Gold: Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat Ale, Blue Moon Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale, Back Forty Beer Co., Gadsden, AL
Bronze: Samuel Adams Honey Porter, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA
Category: 10 Session Beer – 30 Entries
Gold: Squatters Wit, Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City, UT
Silver: Endurance IPA Jr., Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, MI
Bronze: King’s Peak Porter, Uinta Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Category: 11 Other Strong Beer – 48 Entries
Gold: Sierra 30 Jack and Ken’s Ale, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
Silver: Panzer Pilsner, Port Brewing Co., San Marcos, CA
Bronze: Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Boundary Bay Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Category: 12 Experimental Beer – 43 Entries
Gold: Key Lime Pie, Short’s Brewing Co., Bellaire, MI
Silver: Estate Homegrown Ale, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
Bronze: Wild Lemon Wheat, Great Basin Brewing Co., Sparks, NV
Category: 13 Out of Category – Traditionally Brewed Beer – 66 Entries
Gold: Fathom IPL, Ballast Point Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: Mötley Brüe RyePA, Four Peaks Brewing Co., Tempe, AZ
Bronze: Hot Rocks Lager, Port Brewing Co., San Marcos, CA
Category: 14 Gluten Free Beer – 13 Entries
Gold: Celia Pale Ale, The Alchemist, Waterbury, VT
Silver: Gluten Free, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Bronze: 3R Raspberry Ale, New Planet Beer Co., Boulder, CO
Category: 15 American-Belgo-Style Ale – 47 Entries
Gold: Ryevalry, Bear Republic Factory Five, Cloverdale, CA
Silver: Simcoe Silly, Kuhnhenn Brewing Co., Warren, MI
Bronze: Pete’s Support Belgian IPA, FireHouse Grill & Brewery, Sunnyvale, CA
Category: 16 American-Style Sour Ale – 39 Entries
Gold: Brute, Ithaca Beer Co., Ithaca, NY
Silver: Eric’s Ale, New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO
Bronze: Red Poppy, The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Category: 17 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer – 32 Entries
Gold: Velvet Merkin (100% Barrel Aged), Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Humidor India Pale Ale, Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, FL
Bronze: Bluegrass Brown, Thunder Canyon Brewery, Tucson, AZ
Category: 18 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – 77 Entries
Gold: Barrel Aged Big Island, Island Brewing Co., Carpinteria, CA
Silver: HE’BREW RIPA on RYE, Shmaltz Brewing Co., San Francisco, CA
Bronze: Melange a Trois, Nebraska Brewing Co., Papillion, NE
Category: 19 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout – 34 Entries
Gold: Bourbon Barrel Aged Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout, Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, NC
Silver: Remy, TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Brea, CA
Bronze: Bourbon County Brand Stout, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Category: 20 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 54 Entries
Gold: Le Serpent Cerise, Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY
Silver: Temptation, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA
Bronze: The Jaspers, Bullfrog Brewery, Williamsport, PA
Category: 21 Aged Beer – 30 Entries
Gold: John Barleycorn Barleywine ‘06, Mad River Brewing Co., Blue Lake, CA
Silver: Cherry Baltic, Bend Brewing Co., Bend, OR
Bronze: Bell’s Expedition Stout, 1995, Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Galesburg, MI
Category: 22 Kellerbier/Zwickelbier – 24 Entries
Gold: Kolsch, Hale’s Ales, Seattle, WA
Silver: Kellerbier, Triumph Brewing Co. of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Bronze: Summer Teeth, Columbus Brewing Co., Columbus, OH
Category: 23 Smoked Beer – 38 Entries
Gold: Alaskan Smoked Porter 2009, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
Silver: Yazoo SUE, Yazoo Brewing Co., Nashville, TN
Bronze: Gordon Biersch Rauchbier, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, Chattanooga, TN
Category: 24 American-Style or International-Style Pilsener – 27 Entries
Gold: Gold Leaf Lager, Devils Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Silver: Random Luck, The Sandlot, Denver, CO
Bronze: Gold Country Pilsner, Auburn Alehouse, Auburn, CA
Category: 25 German-Style Pilsener – 48 Entries
Gold: Trumer Pils, Trumer Brauerei Berkeley, CA
Silver: German Pilsner, AC Golden, Golden, CO
Bronze: Chuckanut Pilsner, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Category: 26 Bohemian-Style Pilsener – 42 Entries
Gold: Boathouse Pilsner, Titletown Brewing Co., Green Bay, WI
Silver: Golden Pilsner, Morgan Street Brewery, St. Louis, MO
Bronze: Bridge Creek Pilsner, Silver Moon Brewing, Bend, OR
Category: 27 Munich-Style Helles – 42 Entries
Gold: What in the Helles?, Steamworks Brewing Co, Durango, CO
Silver: Longboard Island Lager, Kona Brewing Co., Kailua-Kona, HI
Bronze: Cowboy Lager, The Covey Restaurant & Brewery, Fort Worth, TX
Category: 28 Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest – 21 Entries
Gold: Summerbrau, Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City, UT
Silver: Noble Stuff Export, Dry Dock Brewing Co., Aurora, CO
Bronze: Rolling Thunder Dortmunder, Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY
Category: 29 American-Style Lager or Light Lager – 53 Entries
Gold: Miller Lite, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Old Milwaukee, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Bronze: Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Category: 30 American-Style Specialty Lager or Cream Ale – 42 Entries
Gold: Hamm’s, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Rainier, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Bronze: Old Style, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Category: 31 Vienna-Style Lager – 35 Entries
Gold: Chuckanut Vienna Lager, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Clueless Beer Writer, The Sandlot, Denver, CO
Bronze: Heavy Seas Marzen, Clipper City Brewing Co., Baltimore, MD
Category: 32 German-Style Märzen – 41 Entries
Gold: Flor Hosen, The Sandlot, Denver, CO
Silver: Oh! Fest!, Schooner’s Grille & Brewery, Antioch, CA
Bronze: Munsterfest, Three Floyds Brewing Co, LLC, Munster, IN
Category: 33 American-Style Amber Lager – 39 Entries
Gold: Manana, Del Norte Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: Schell’s Oktoberfest, August Schell Brewing Co., New Ulm, MN
Bronze: Foothills Oktoberfest, Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, NC
Category: 34 European-Style Dunkel – 19 Entries
Gold: Dunkel, AC Golden, Golden, CO
Silver: Dunkel Lager, Triumph Brewing Co. of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Bronze: Dark Side Lager, C.B. Potts Restaurant & Brewery (Fort Collins), Fort Collins, CO
Category: 35 American-Style Dark Lager – 20 Entries
Gold: Michelob AmberBock, Michelob Brewing Co., St. Louis, MO
Bronze: Schwarzbier, AC Golden, Golden, CO
Category: 36 German-Style Schwarzbier – 31 Entries
Gold: Redrock Black Bier, Redrock Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Silver: Annie Schwarz, Haverhill Brewery, Haverhill, MA
Bronze: TAPS Schwarzbier, TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Brea, CA
Category: 37 Bock – 36 Entries
Gold: Hellats Good Beer, Pug Ryans Brewery, Dillon, CO
Silver: Troegenator, Troegs Brewery, Harrisburg, PA
Bronze: Maibock, Ram Restaurant & Brewery – Salem, Salem, OR
Category: 38 German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock – 25 Entries
Gold: Carbonator, Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co., Glenwood Springs, CO
Silver: Gordon Biersch Eisbock, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, Chattanooga, TN
Bronze: Dominator Dopplebock, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Category: 39 Baltic-Style Porter – 21 Entries
Gold: 3 Dog Night, Chama River Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Silver: Collaborative Evil – Triple Rock, Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse, Berkeley, CA
Bronze: Reverend Potter’s Baltic Porter, The Prodigal Brewery, Effingham, NH
Category: 40 Golden or Blonde Ale – 55 Entries
Gold: Kiwanda Cream Ale, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
Silver: Steelhead Extra Pale Ale, Mad River Brewing Co., Blue Lake, CA
Bronze: Heavy Seas Gold Ale, Clipper City Brewing Co., Baltimore, MD
Category: 41 German-Style Kölsch – 46 Entries
Gold: Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower Beer, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Silver: Colorado Kolsch, Steamworks Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Bronze: Kolsch 151, Blue Mountain Brewery, Afton, VA
Category: 42 English-Style Summer Ale – 35 Entries
Gold: 312 Urban Wheat Ale, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Silver: Pacific Daylight, Dale Bros. Brewery, Upland, CA
Bronze: Sandbagger Gold, Montana Brewing Co., Billings, MT
Category: 43 Classic English-Style Pale Ale – 29 Entries
Gold: Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Silver: Summit Extra Pale Ale, Summit Brewing Co., Saint Paul, MN
Bronze: Ska Special, Ska Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Category: 44 English-Style India Pale Ale – 32 Entries
Gold: Beech Street Bitter, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Illusion Dweller, Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery, Boulder, CO
Bronze: Samuel Adams Latitude 48, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA
Category: 45 American-Style Pale Ale – 109 Entries
Gold: Mission Street Pale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Pale 31, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Puddle Jumper Pale Ale, Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA
Category: 46 American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 84 Entries
Gold: Himalayan IPA, Yak and Yeti Brewpub, Arvada, CO
Silver: IPA Nectar, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: 7 – Fity, Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse, Berkeley, CA
Category: 47 American-Style India Pale Ale – 142 Entries
Gold: “Pseudo” IPA, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA
Silver: Head Hunter IPA, Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, OH
Bronze: Lumberyard Extra IPA, Lumberyard Brewing Co., Flagstaff, AZ
Category: 48 Imperial India Pale Ale – 97 Entries
Gold: Doheny Double IPA, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA
Silver: Hop Crisis!, 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Bronze: Decadence Imperial IPA, Trinity Brewhouse, Providence, RI
Category: 49 American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 83 Entries
Gold: Red Nectar, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Hop Back Amber Ale, Troegs Brewery, Harrisburg, PA
Bronze: Red Rock, Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse, Berkeley, CA
Category: 50 Imperial Red Ale – 43 Entries
Gold: Lumberyard Imperial Red, Lumberyard Brewing Co., Flagstaff, AZ
Silver: Red Eye PA, The Brew Kettle Production Works, Strongsville, OH
Bronze: Deranger, Laurelwood Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Category: 51 English-Style Mild Ale – 27 Entries
Gold: Business Time Mild, Boulder Beer Co., Boulder, CO
Silver: Skidmark Brown, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Bronze: Ale of Fergus, Devils Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Category: 52 Ordinary or Special Bitter – 47 Entries
Gold: Rio Blanco Pale Ale, Real Ale Brewing Co., Blanco, TX
Silver: DBA, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Drop Top, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Category: 53 Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter – 42 Entries
Gold: GAR Pale Ale, Great American Restaurants, Centreville, VA
Silver: Saint Arnold Elissa IPA, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Bronze: Bachelor ESB, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Category: 54 Scottish-Style Ale – 22 Entries
Gold: Highland Courage, Rock Bottom Breweries, Louisville, CO
Silver: Saint Arnold Oktoberfest, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Bronze: Laughing Lab Scottish Ale, Bristol Brewing Co., Colorado Springs, CO
Category: 55 Irish-Style Red Ale – 23 Entries
Gold: Red Trolley Ale, Karl Strauss Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: River Falls Red Ale, Thomas Creek Brewery, Greenville, SC
Bronze: Ragtop Red, Rock Bottom Breweries, Louisville, CO
Category: 56 English-Style Brown Ale – 46 Entries
Gold: Old Elk Brown Ale, Rock Bottom Breweries, Louisville, CO
Silver: Good Grief Brown, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Eclipse Brown Ale, Equinox Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO
Category: 57 American-Style Brown Ale – 47 Entries
Gold: Sweet Josie, LoneRider Brewing Co., Raleigh, NC
Silver: Redrock Nut Brown Ale, Redrock Brewing Co, Salt Lake City, UT
Bronze: American Brown Ale, Big Rock Chop House & Brewery, Birmingham, MI
Category: 58 American-Style India Black Ale – 53 Entries
Gold: Turmoil, Barley Brown’s Brew Pub, Baker City, OR
Silver: Go Figure, Big Rock Chop House & Brewery, Birmingham, MI
Bronze: Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale, Stone Brewing Co., Escondido, CA
Category: 59 German-Style Altbier – 37 Entries
Gold: GestAlt, Haverhill Brewery, Haverhill, MA
Silver: Bismarck Altbier, Dry Dock Brewing Co., Aurora, CO
Bronze: Sticke Alt, Rock Bottom Breweries, Louisville, CO
Category: 60 German-Style Sour Ale – 23 Entries
Gold: Berliner Weisse, Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY
Silver: Tiny Bubbles, Hollister Brewing Co., Goleta, CA
Bronze: Beer Gone Good, Terrapin Beer Co., Athens, GA
Category: 61 South German-Style Hefeweizen – 65 Entries
Gold: Stoudts Heifer In Wheat, Stoudt Brewing Co., Adamstown, PA
Silver: U-Boat Hefeweizen, Dry Dock Brewing Co., Aurora, CO
Bronze: Wintergreen Weiss, Devils Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Category: 62 German-Style Wheat Ale – 29 Entries
Gold: Hefelightzen, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery, Huntington Beach, CA
Silver: Wowzenbock, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Bronze: Capital Weizen Doppelbock, Capital Brewery Co., Inc., Middleton, WI
Category: 63 Belgian-Style Witbier – 45 Entries
Gold: TAPS Belgian White, TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Brea, CA
Silver: Whale Tail Wit, Dry Dock Brewing Co., Aurora, CO
Bronze: Allagash White, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Category: 64 French- and Belgian-Style Saison – 52 Entries
Gold: Saison Vautour, McKenzie Brew House, Malvern, PA
Silver: Colette, Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Bronze: Belgian Summer Ale, Great Adirondack Brewing Co., Lake Placid, NY
Category: 65 Belgian- and French-Style Ale – 46 Entries
Gold: Allagash Blonde, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Silver: Bastogne Blonde Ale, Rock Bottom Breweries, Louisville, CO
Bronze: Domaine DuPage, Two Brothers Brewing Co., Warrenville, IL
Category: 66 Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale – 33 Entries
Gold: Oude Tart, The Bruery, Placentia, CA
Silver: Coolship Resurgam, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Bronze: Le Serpent, Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY
Category: 67 Belgian-Style Abbey Ale – 76 Entries
Gold: Nectar Des Dieux, Bastone Brewery, Royal Oak, MI
Silver: Golden Slumber, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Three Philosophers, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
Category: 68 Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale – 54 Entries
Gold: Revelations, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Brother David’s Double, Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Boonville, CA
Bronze: Hells Keep, Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City, UT
Category: 69 Brown Porter – 33 Entries
Gold: Total Disorder Porter, Ram Production Brewery, Tacoma, WA
Silver: St. Charles Porter, Blackstone Brewing Co., Nashville, TN
Bronze: Pullman Brown, Flossmoor Station, Flossmoor, IL
Category: 70 Robust Porter – 53 Entries
Gold: Pig Iron Porter, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, DE
Silver: Moonlight Porter, Rock Bottom Breweries, Louisville, CO
Bronze: Blimp Hangar Porter, Tustin Brewing Co., Tustin, CA
Category: 71 Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout – 23 Entries
Gold: Hyde Park Stout, Augusta Brewing Co., Washington, MO
Silver: McLuhr’s Irish Stout, Dillon DAM Brewery, Dillon, CO
Bronze: Port Truck Stout, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Category: 72 Foreign-Style Stout – 33 Entries
Gold: Fade to Black, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO
Silver: Whiteface Stout, Great Adirondack Brewing Co., Lake Placid, NY
Bronze: Tsunami Stout, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
Category: 73 American-Style Stout – 27 Entries
Gold: Liberty Stout, Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing Co., Hays, KS
Silver: Disorder Stout, Barley Brown’s Brew Pub, Baker City, OR
Bronze: Shakespeare Oatmeal Stout, Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
Category: 74 Sweet Stout – 29 Entries
Gold: Kickstart Stout, Barley Brothers Brewery & Grill, Lake Havasu City, AZ
Silver: Oil Change Stout, Flat Branch Pub and Brewery, Columbia, MO
Bronze: Portsmouth Brewery Milk Stout, Portsmouth Brewery, Portsmouth, NH
Category: 75 Oatmeal Stout – 39 Entries
Gold: Backside Stout, Steamworks Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Silver: Naked Oatmeal Stout, Rock Bottom Breweries, Louisville, CO
Bronze: 825 State Stout, Epic Brewing Co., LLC, Salt Lake City, UT
Category: 76 Imperial Stout – 50 Entries
Gold: Russian Imperial Stout, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, DE
Silver: Night Rider Imperial Stout, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Anastasia Russian Imperial Stout, Weasel Boy Brewing Co., Zanesville, OH
Category: 77 Scotch Ale – 34 Entries
Gold: Reed’s Wee Heavy, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Wee Willy Scotch Ale, McCoy’s Public House & Brewkitchen, Kansas City, MO
Bronze: MacPelican’s Wee Heavy Ale, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
Category: 78 Old Ale or Strong Ale – 38 Entries
Gold: Fourth Dementia Olde Ale, Kuhnhenn Brewing Co., Warren, MI
Silver: Curmudgeon, Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, MI
Bronze: Outback X, Bend Brewing Co., Bend, OR
Category: 79 Barley Wine-Style Ale – 57 Entries
Gold: Flying Mouflan, Troegs Brewery, Harrisburg, PA
Silver: Old #23 Barley Wine, Bristol Brewing Co., Colorado Springs, CO
Bronze: Jack Hammer, The Brew Kettle Production Works, Strongsville, OH
2010 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards:
Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Blue Moon Brewing Company, Denver, CO; Dr. David Ryder
Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Utah Brewers Cooperative, Salt Lake City, UT; UBC Brewers
Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Mad River Brewing Company, Blue Lake, CA; Mad River Brewing Company
Brewpub Group and Brewpub Group Brewer of the Year
TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Brea, CA; Victor Novak
Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA; Pizza Port Brew Guys (Jeff Bagby)
Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA; Noah Regnery
2010 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition
Gold: Red Velvet, Eagle Rock Brewery, Los Angeles, CA
Brewmaster: Eagle Rock Brewery Brew Team, AHA Member: Donny Hummel
Silver: Ryed Hard & Put Away Wet, Rockyard Brewing Co., Castle Rock, CO
Brewmaster: Jim Stinson, AHA Member: Adam Glaser
Bronze: Robust Porter, Wormtown Brewing Co., Worcester, MA
Brewmaster: Ben Roesch, AHA Member: Keith Antul
Today Show Today: Good Beers, Bad Ideas
The Today Show today aired another segment on craft beer, which they still insist on calling microbrews, though I guess it’s better than boutique beers, which they used way too much in a previous segment. Overall the segment was comme ci, comme ça, with some good points made, some great beers, but also some of the same nonsense that always bothers me when mainstream media covers beer.
The guest was the Today Show’s Food Editor Phil Lempert, who also bills himself as the Supermarket Guru. While the beers he chose were all pretty good (all GABF winners, he said), the mix and the way he presented them showed he doesn’t know as much about beer as he thinks he does. The beers they tasted were, in this order:
- Firestone Walker Union Jack IPA
- Arcadia Cereal Killer Barley Wine
- Hopworks Urban Brewery Ace of Spades (Organic)
- New Glarus Totally Naked
- Lost Abbey Carnevale
- Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale
- Hopworks Urban Brewery IPA
All great beers, but it’s the order in which they tasted them that was awful: IPA, Barley Wine, Imperial IPA, pale lager, saison, brown ale and another IPA. Does that seem like the right order to anyone?
That, coupled with calling them microbrews, bothered me, though I know the rallying cry will be at least they’re covering craft beer. And while I agree that’s a good thing, I’d still be happier if they didn’t cover it quite so badly. This is especially true because Lempert characterizes himself as an “expert analyst on consumer behavior, marketing trends, new products and the changing retail landscape.” For someone whose job description is predicting trends and being on top of what’s going on, you’d think he’s realize that no one’s been calling them microbrews for at least a decade, probably longer. I know it’s a small point, but it’s indicative of a larger problem with food “experts” who read a few websites, maybe glance at a book or two, and think they’re beer experts, too. I just think there should be beer experts on TV, too, not just food and wine pretenders.
Then there’s the subtle snarkiness, the ubiquitous jokes about drinking in the morning that never seem to accompany wine tastings on morning shows. Why can’t they treat beer with the same seriousness? Why must is always accompany casual jokes and no respect. When Jillian Michaels, the trainer on “The Biggest Loser,” joined the tasting, she remarked about Dogfish Head’s brown ale by smacking her lips and saying “it’s very masculine,” whatever that means. She then admits, seemingly grudgingly, that beer has health benefits but frames it that “dark beer has some health benefits,” which Lempert agrees with by saying dark beers are healthier. WTF is that? All beer has health benefits. Since when are all the health benefits in roasted malt? And that’s what I mean about them being pretenders. Yes, it’s good to see beer on TV, but the price is misinformation almost every time.
Charting Beer With Infographics
My friend and colleague Rick Lyke has the good fortune to have a son-in-law who’s a graphic designer and really, really good at creating graphs or infographics, which is essentially a chart that tell a story. For the second year in a row, Rick has persuaded his son-in-law, Mike Wirth, to create an awesome infographic of various GABF medal statistics for his Lyke2Drink blog. Since he introduced this back in August, about a month before this year’s GABF, hopefully he won’t mind my sharing it. I’ve parsed some of the most interesting mini-charts within the infographic and displayed them below.
These charts show the number of breweries by state and the total number by type or size of brewery.
This is a chart of states with the most per capita breweries vs. the states that have won the most cumulative medals since they began awarding medals through 2008.
This is a chart of the breweries that have won the most cumulative medals since they began awarding medals through 2008.
This is a chart of the individual beers that have won the most cumulative medals since they began awarding medals through 2008.
Lastly, here is a detail of the west coast and the medals won by breweries in California, Oregon and Washington.
This is the entire infographic, show smaller of course, but click here to see it full size or see it at Mike Wirth’s website or with Rick Lyke’s original analysis.
GABF: A Week In 1 Minute
The Brewers Association, who put on the Great American Beer Festival, just posted a cool little video of GABF, showing three days of set up, four festival days and the final clean-up day all in time-lapse film that takes only a minute. See if you can spot anybody you know.
The Great American Beer Festival from Brewers Association on Vimeo.
Jeff “Lucky Pants” Babgy Wins Big
Jeff Bagby, the head brewer at Pizza Port in Carlsbad, won big this year at the Great American Beer Festival. He picked up a whopping seven medals; four gold, one silver and two bronze. In addition, Pizza Port Carlsbad was awarded the Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year.
Below is a photo of Jeff, with Yiga Miyashira, up on stage picking up just one of his eight awards last Saturday. Notice the eyesore inducing polyester plaid pants? If you’re a regular to the GABF Award Ceremony, you may already remember that Jeff always seems to have on a pair of plaid pants. At first, I thought it was the same pair every year. But looking back over the last few reveals that it’s actually been a different pair of polyester plaid pants each year.
Given that Jeff and Pizza Port Carlsbad have won 19 medals in the last four years, I’d say his plaid pants are pretty darn lucky. Of course, being a great brewer helps, and I don’t want to take anything away from his mad skills. But I’d put even money on the pants making even the most mediocre brewer better. Below is a retrospective of Jeff’s “Lucky Pants” for the past four years.
2009 Lucky Pants
2008 Lucky Pants
2007 Lucky Pants
2006 Lucky Pants
If you, too, want or need a little luck — and let’s face it, who doesn’t? — I took a close up of the pattern on Jeff’s lucky pants and created some downloadable wallpaper in three different sizes. So now in addition to the Bulletin logo wallpaper page, you can also get Mr. Bagby’s wallpaper, too.
Jeff Bagby’s Lucky Pants 2009 Wallpaper
The 21A Jinx Is Broken
There’s been a running gag at Shaun O’Sullivan’s expense that’s been going now for something like ten years. While Shaun has won medals at GABF with previous breweries he’s worked at and with the brewpub he co-owns, 21st Amendment, he’s never won a medal with 21A when he was attending GABF. Up until Saturday, every medal 21st Amendment has won happened when Shaun was not there to collect the award and bask in the glory of winning.
But this year, with Shaun in the audience, the jinx was finally broken when 21st Amendment won a bronze medal for their Diesel Imperial Smoked Porter in the Smoked Beer category.
Afterward, I caught up with Shaun and asked him about finally breaking the curse.
Later, with co-owner Nico Freccia, and 21A bartender Claudia Davis, I coaxed out a rendition of the Watermelon Wheat song, GABF edition.
If you noticed the girl with rabbit ears walk through the shot during the Watermelon Wheat song, I happened upon “bunny girl” later in the afternoon session and snapped a photo so we could all get a better look.
GABF 2009
This year’s Great American Beer Festival was another terrific event and the week flew by faster even than in previous years. Between judging, media events, the festival itself, beer dinners and other side events it was a very full week. I tasted an enormous amount of great beer, ate some terrific food with that beer. I saw many old friends and made plenty of new ones. What more could one ask for from a GABF week?
George Wendt, Nancy Johnson, and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper at the GABF Awards Ceremony.
Jeff Bearer, from Craft Beer Radio, Stan Hieronymus, Stephen Beaumont, me and Rick Lyke @ Great Divide’s annual Media Reception.
Vinnie & Natalie Cilurzo, from Russian River, with Ron & Laurie Jeffrie, from Jolly Pumpkin.
Nicole Erny & Matt Brynildson Toasting the End of GABF Week at The Falling Rock
Below is a slideshow of my time at GABF this year. After clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, you can also click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify who’s in the photos.
For pictures of the GABF awards ceremony, see the GABF Awards 2009 gallery.