The 27th annual Great American Beer Festival was held last week. On Saturday, after three intensive days of judging, the Brewers Association awarded 222 medals for beers entered in 75 different style categories.

In addition, awards were given out for the small, medium and large breweries and small and large brewpubs of the year.

Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year:
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
Doug Muhleman

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year:
Pyramid Breweries Inc.
Simon Pesch

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year:
AleSmith Brewing Co.
The AleSmith Brewing Team

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year:
Rock Bottom Brewing
Rock Bottom Brewing Team

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year:
Redwood Brewing Co.
Bill Wamby

And here are the main awards:

Category: 1 American-Style Cream Ale or Lager – 25 Entries
Gold: Lone Star, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Silver: Hamm’s, MillerCoors, Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Henry Weinhard’s Blue Boar Pale Ale, MillerCoors, Milwaukee, WI

Category: 2 American-Style Wheat Beer – 21 Entries
Gold: Pyramid Crystal Wheat Ale, Pyramid Breweries Inc., Seattle, WA
Silver: Spanish Peak Crystal Weiss, Spanish Peaks Brewing Co., Stamford, CT
Bronze: American Wheat, Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing Co., Hays, KS

Category: 3 American-Style Hefeweizen – 52 Entries
Gold: Henry Weinhard’s Hefeweizen, MillerCoors, Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Hefeweizen, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Bronze: Whitetail Wheat, Montana Brewing Co., Billings, MT

Category: 4 Fruit or Vegetable Beer – 87 Entries
Gold: Pyramid Apricot Ale, Pyramid Breweries Inc., Seattle, WA
Silver: Alaskan Raspberry Wheat Beer, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
Bronze: Sangre de Frambuesa, Santa Fe Brewing Co., Santa Fe, NM

Category: 5 Herb and Spice or Chocolate Beer – 72 Entries
Gold: Russian Roulette, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN
Silver: Pangaea, Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE
Bronze: State Beach Blonde, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category: 6 Coffee Flavored Beer – 28 Entries
Gold: Java the Hut, CB & Potts Restaurant & Brewery (Flatirons – Westminster), Broomfield, CO
Silver: Big Shot Espresso Stout, Twisted Pine Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Bronze: Double Espresso Stout, Barley Brothers Brewery and Grill, Lake Havasu City, AZ

Category: 7 Specialty Beer – 21 Entries
Gold: Red & White, Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE
Silver: Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Rogue Ales, Portland, OR
Bronze: Palo Santo Marron, Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, DE

Category: 8 Rye Beer – 24 Entries
Gold: Roggenbier, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – Media, Wilmington, DE
Silver: Right On Rye, Rock Bottom Brewery – Bethesda, Bethesda, MD
Bronze: Ryeteous Red, Amherst Brewing Co., Amherst, MA

Category: 9 Specialty Honey Beer – 33 Entries
Gold: Honey Lager, Capitol City Brewing Co. – Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
Silver: Eye of the Storm, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN
Bronze: Honey Moon Summer Ale, Blue Moon Brewing Co., Golden, CO

Category: 10 Session Beer – 33 Entries
Gold: 3.2 Unfiltered Wheat Beer, Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, MO
Silver: USS Minnow Mild Ale, Dry Dock Brewing, Aurora, CO
Bronze: Blonde Bombshell, Cascade Lakes Brewing Co., Redmond, OR

Category: 11 Other Strong Beer – 32 Entries
Gold: Derail Ale, Durango Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Silver: Imperial Oatmeal Stout, Boundary Bay Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Bronze: FiftyFifty Imperial Stout, FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Truckee, CA

Category: 12 Experimental Beer – 82 Entries
Gold: Arquebus, Cambridge Brewing Co., Cambridge, MA
Silver: Fifteen Avery Anniversary Ale, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Bronze: Le Pelican Brun, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR

Category: 13 Gluten-Free Beer – 10 Entries
Gold: Redbridge, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Silver: New Grist, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Chinquapin Butte Golden Ale, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR

Category: 14 American-Belgo Style Ale – 36 Entries
Gold: Xtra Gold, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co., Pleasantville, NY
Silver: Brush Fire Ale, Pump House Restaurant & Brewery, Longmont, CO
Bronze: Big Wednesday, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Solana Beach, CA

Category: 15 American-Style or German-Style Sour Ale – 34 Entries
Gold: The Dissident, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Silver: Brute, Ithaca Beer Co., Ithaca, NY
Bronze: Fifth Element, Squatters Pub Brewery, Salt Lake City, UT

Category: 16 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer – 25 Entries
Gold: Old Jack, Ram Restaurant & Brewery (Indianapolis), Indianapolis, IN
Silver: Buffalo Bock, Ram Restaurant & Brewery (Indianapolis), Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Beastie Barrel Stout, Barley Island Brewing Co., Fishers, IN

Category: 17 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – 79 Entries
Gold: Bourbon Barrel Barleywine, Central Waters Brewing Co., Amherst, WI
Silver: The Legend of the Liquid Brain Imperial Stout, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver, CO
Bronze: Golden Delicious, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co., Pleasantville, NY

Category: 18 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 27 Entries
Gold: Beekeeper, Bullfrog Brewery, Williamsport, PA
Silver: Cherry Dubbel, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – Newark, Wilmington, DE
Bronze: Cascade Kriek Ale, Cascade Brewing Co., Portland, OR

Category: 19 Aged Beer – 38 Entries
Gold: Alaskan Smoked Porter 2006, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
Silver: Vintage Speedway Stout, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Bronze: Samuel Adams Utopias 2003, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA

Category: 20 Kellerbier/Zwickelbier – 23 Entries
Gold: Helles Keller, Fredericksburg Brewing Co., Fredericksburg, TX
Silver: Hell In Keller, Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que, Austin, TX
Bronze: Zwickel, Chama River Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM

Category: 21 Smoke-Flavored Beer – 31 Entries
Gold: Rauch Bier, Sly Fox Brewing Co., Royersford, PA
Silver: Alaskan Smoked Porter 2007, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
Bronze: Second Hand Smoke, The SandLot, Denver, CO

Category: 22 International-Style Pilsener – 22 Entries
Gold: Session Premium Lager, Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River, OR
Silver: Yep, Still Boneheads, The SandLot, Denver, CO
Bronze: OE 800, MillerCoors, Milwaukee, WI

Category: 23 German-Style Pilsener – 44 Entries
Gold: Kaiser Pilsner, Pennsylvania Brewing Co., Pittsburgh, PA
Silver: Party Pants Pilsener, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Prima Pils, Victory Brewing Co., Downingtown, PA

Category: 24 Bohemian-Style Pilsener – 34 Entries
Gold: Pleasantville Pils, Durango Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Silver: Pallavicini Pilsner, Pug Ryans Brewery, Dillon, CO
Bronze: Double Aught, Bear Republic Brewing Co., Healdsburg, CA

Category: 25 Munich-Style Helles – 30 Entries
Gold: Himmelbrau Helles, Laurelwood Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Silver: Saint Arnold Summer Pils, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX
Bronze: BS Helles, The SandLot, Denver, CO

Category: 26 Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest – 16 Entries
Gold: Rolling Thunder Dortmunder, Snake River Brewing Jackson, Jackson, WY
Silver: Westy Export, CB & Potts Restaurant & Brewery (Flatirons-Westminster), Broomfield, CO
Bronze: Penn Oktoberfest, Pennsylvania Brewing Co., Pittsburgh, PA

Category: 27 America-Style Light Lager – 25 Entries
Gold: Coors Light, MillerCoors, Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Old Milwaukee Light, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Bronze: Keystone Light, MillerCoors, Milwaukee, WI

Category: 28 American-Style Lager or Premium Lager – 29 Entries
Gold: Olympia, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Silver: Blatz, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Bronze: Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve, MillerCoors, Milwaukee, WI

Category: 29 American-Style Specialty Lager – 24 Entries
Gold: Hurricane High Gravity, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Silver: Natural Ice, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., St. Louis, MO
Bronze: Busch Ice
, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., St. Louis, MO

Category: 30 Vienna-Style Lager – 28 Entries
Gold: Vienna Red Lager, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – West Chester, Wilmington, DE
Silver: Oaktoberfest, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Clipper City MarzHon, Clipper City Brewing Co., Baltimore, MD

Category: 31 German-Style Märzen – 48 Entries
Gold: Dogtoberfest, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Silver: Saratoga Lager, Olde Saratoga Brewing Co., Saratoga Springs, NY
Bronze: Munsterfest, Three Floyds Brewing Co., Munster, IN

Category: 32 American-Style Amber Lager – 43 Entries
Gold: BJ’s Oktoberfest, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery – Chandler, Huntington Beach, CA
Silver: Old Scratch Amber Lager, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Bronze: El Oso, Bear Republic Brewing Co., Healdsburg, CA

Category: 33 European-Style Dunkel – 18 Entries
Gold: Munich Dark, Redwood Brewing Co., Flint, MI
Silver: Bastone Münchner Dunkel, Bastone Brewery, Royal Oak, MI
Bronze: Michelob AmberBock, Michelob Brewing Co., St. Louis, MO

Category: 34 American-Style Dark Lager – 12 Entries
Silver: Leinenkugel’s Creamy Dark, Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, WI
Bronze: Henry Weinhard’s Classic Dark, MillerCoors, Milwaukee, WI

Category: 35 German-Style Schwarzbier – 23 Entries
Gold: B3K, Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: Cherny Bock, Bohemian Brewery, Midvale, UT
Bronze: Black Noddy Lager, Buckbean Brewing Co., Reno, NV

Category: 36 Bock – 39 Entries
Gold: Goat Rancher, The SandLot, Denver, CO
Silver: Bock Lager, Elk Grove Brewery and Restaurant, Elk Grove, CA
Bronze: Butt Head Bock, Tommyknocker Brewery, Idaho Springs, CO

Category: 37 German-Style Strong Bock – 19 Entries
Gold: Capital Autumnal Fire, Capital Brewery Co., Inc., Middleton, WI
Silver: Deep Water Dopplebock, Thomas Creek Brewery, Greenville, SC
Bronze: Red Cock Doppel Bock, Maui Brewing Co., Lahaina, HI

Category: 38 Baltic-Style Porter – 18 Entries
Gold: Kick in the Baltic Porter, Bluegrass Brewing Co., Louisville, KY
Silver: Killer Kowalski, Flossmoor Station Brewing Co., Flossmoor, IL
Bronze: SMP, Sixpoint Craft Ales, Brooklyn, NY

Category: 39 Golden or Blonde Ale – 40 Entries
Gold: Steelhead Extra Pale Ale, Mad River Brewing Co., Blue Lake, CA
Silver: Alaskan Summer Ale, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
Bronze: All Nighter, Chicago Brewing Co., Las Vegas, NV

Category: 40 German-Style Kölsch – 42 Entries
Gold: Wind Blown Blonde, Stewart’s Brewing Co., Bear, DE
Silver: Sierra Nevada Kolsch Style Ale, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
Bronze: Guido’s Kolner Brau, Snake River Brewing Jackson, Jackson, WY

Category: 41 English-Style Summer Ale – 34 Entries
Gold: Surfer’s Summer Ale, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR
Silver: Montgomery Blonde, Montgomery Brewing Co., Montgomery, AL
Bronze: 312 ‘Urban Wheat Ale’, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL

Category: 42 Classic English-Style Pale Ale – 48 Entries
Gold: Full Sail Pale Ale, Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River, OR
Silver: Clipper City Pale Ale, Clipper City Brewing Co., Baltimore, MD
Bronze: Summit Extra Pale Ale, Summit Brewing Co., Saint Paul, MN

Category: 43 English-Style India Pale Ale – 28 Entries
Bronze: Hop Daddy IPA, Main Street Brewery, Corona, CA

Category: 44 American-Style Pale Ale – 76 Entries
Gold: Mission Street Pale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Drake’s 1500 Pale, Drake’s Brewing Co., San Leandro, CA
Bronze: Firestone Pale 31, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category: 45 American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 71 Entries
Gold: Hop Bomb, Rock Bottom Brewing, Louisville, CO
Silver: Nectar Pale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Organic IPA, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland, OR

Category: 46 American-Style India Pale Ale – 104 Entries
Gold: Union Jack IPA, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Blind Pig IPA, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA
Bronze: Hop Head, Bend Brewing Co., Bend, OR

Category: 47 Imperial or Double India Pale Ale – 50 Entries
Gold: Hopnotic 2X IPA, San Diego Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: Hip Hop Double IPA, Hollister Brewing Co., Goleta, CA
Bronze: Hop 15, Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA

Category: 48 American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 65 Entries
Gold: Dry Hopped Red, Rogue Ales, Portland, OR
Silver: CascaZilla, Ithaca Beer Co., Ithaca, NY
Bronze: American Amber, Rogue Ales, Portland, OR

Category: 49 Imperial or Double Red Ale – 30 Entries
Gold: Rock Hopera Imperial IPA, Vino’s Pizza • Pub • Brewery, Little Rock, AR
Silver: Alpha Dog Double Red Ale, Big Dog’s Brewing Co., Las Vegas, NV
Bronze: Weekender Red Ale, Amicas, Salida, CO

Category: 50 Bitter or Pale Mild Ale – 42 Entries
Gold: Drop Top, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Silver: Hopsmith Pale Ale, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver, CO
Bronze: Sawtooth Ale, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO

Category: 51 Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter – 43 Entries
Gold: Bachelor ESB, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Silver: Sweetwater Motorboat ESB, Sweetwater Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA
Bronze: Standing Wave Pale Ale, Kannah Creek Brewing Co., Grand Junction, CO

Category: 52 Scottish-Style Ale – 24 Entries
Gold: Highland Courage, Rock Bottom Brewery – Bethesda, Bethesda, MD
Silver: Dells Chief Amber Ale, Dells Brewing Co., Wisconsin Dells, WI
Bronze: Railbender Ale, Erie Brewing Co., Erie, PA

Category: 53 Irish-Style Red Ale – 31 Entries
Gold: Red Rocks Red Ale, Rock Bottom Brewing, Louisville, CO
Silver: Ragtop Red, Rock Bottom Brewery – La Jolla, La Jolla, CA
Bronze: Eric The Red, Rock Bottom Brewery – Orland Park, Orland Park, IL

Category: 54 English-Style Dark Mild Ale or Brown Ale – 48 Entries
Gold: Sweet George’s Brown, Dillon DAM Brewery, Dillon, CO
Silver: Old Elk Brown Ale, Walnut Brewery, Boulder, CO
Bronze: OB-1, Snake River Brewing Jackson, Jackson, WY

Category: 55 American-Style Brown Ale – 47 Entries
Gold: Kick-Ass Brown, C.H. Evans Brewing at the Albany Pump Station, Albany, NY
Silver: Bitch Creek ESB, Grand Teton Brewing Co., Victor, ID
Bronze: Bad Dog Brown Ale, Elk Grove Brewery and Restaurant, Elk Grove, CA

Category: 56 German-Style Altbier – 27 Entries
Gold: The Detroit Dwarf, The Detroit Beer Co., Detroit, MI
Silver: Railyard Ale, Titletown Brewing Co., Green Bay, WI
Bronze: All The Way Alt, Desert Edge Brewery, Salt Lake City, UT

Category: 57 South German-Style Hefeweizen – 52 Entries
Gold: Wixa Weiss, Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: The Love, Starr Hill Brewing Co., Crozet, VA
Bronze: Mueller Hefeweizen, Springfield Brewing Co., Springfield, MO

Category: 58 German-Style Wheat Ale – 32 Entries
Gold: I’m Half the Beer I Used to Be, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery – Chandler, Huntington Beach, CA
Silver: Dark-n-Curvy Dunkelweizen, Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL
Bronze: Wasatch Hefeweizen, Wasatch Brew Pub, Park City, UT

Category: 59 Belgian-Style Witbier – 53 Entries
Gold: Mothership Wit/Organic Wheat Beer, New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Belgian Wit, Redrock Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Bronze: Squatters Wit, Utah Brewers Co-op, Salt Lake City, UT

Category: 60 French- and Belgian-Style Saison – 37 Entries
Gold: Saison, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – West Chester, Wilmington, DE
Silver: Saison, Nodding Head Brewing Co., Philadelphia, PA
Bronze: Luciernaga, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Dexter, MI

Category: 61 Belgian- and French-Style Ale – 34 Entries
Gold: Redemption, Russian River Brewing Co., Santa Rosa, CA
Silver: Pride, Midnight Sun Brewing Co., Anchorage, AK
Bronze: Rare Vos, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY

Category: 62 Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale – 29 Entries
Gold: Lambic de Hill, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – Media, Wilmington, DE
Silver: Upstream Gueuze-Lambic, Upstream Brewing Co., Omaha, NE
Bronze: Cassis de Hill, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant – Newark, Wilmington, DE

Category: 63 Belgian-Style Abbey Ale – 53 Entries
Gold: Bishop’s Tipple Trippel, Main Street Brewery, Corona, CA
Silver: Abbey Dubbel, Flying Fish Brewing Co., Cherry Hill, NJ
Bronze: 6th Glass, Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, MO

Category: 64 Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale – 44 Entries
Gold: Darth Delirium, Moose’s Tooth Brewing Co., Anchorage, AK
Silver: Brother David’s Double, Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Boonville, CA
Bronze: Golden Armor, CB & Potts Restaurant & Brewery (Highlands
Ranch), Highlands Ranch, CO

Category: 65 Brown Porter – 30 Entries
Gold: BlackWatch Cream Porter, Pyramid Breweries Inc., Seattle, WA
Silver: FireHouse Porter, FireHouse Grill & Brewery, Sunnyvale, CA
Bronze: Prospector Porter, Tommyknocker Brewery, Idaho Springs, CO

Category: 66 Robust Porter – 47 Entries
Gold: Nolan’s Porter, Barrio Brewing Co., Tucson, AZ
Silver: Sweet Sanderine Porter, Il Vicino Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Bronze: Pacemaker Porter, Flyers Restaurant and Brewery, Oak Harbor, WA

Category: 67 Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout – 19 Entries
Gold: Blarney Sisters Dry Irish Stout, Third Street Aleworks, Santa Rosa, CA
Silver: Shaft House Stout, Dostal Alley Brewpub & Casino, Central City, CO
Bronze: Port Truck Stout, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category: 68 Foreign-Style Stout – 28 Entries
Gold: Whiteface Black Diamond Stout, Great Adirondack Brewing Co., Lake Placid, NY
Silver: Black Bear XX Stout, Alameda Brewhouse, Portland, OR
Bronze: Black Hole XXX Stout, Chelsea Brewing Co., New York, NY

Category: 69 American-Style Stout – 23 Entries
Gold: Terminal Stout, Rock Bottom Brewing, Louisville, CO
Silver: Black Mocha Stout, Highland Brewing Co., Asheville, NC
Bronze: Troegs Dead Reckoning, Troegs Brewery, Harrisburg, PA

Category: 70 Sweet Stout – 19 Entries
Gold: Cream Stout, Redwood Brewing Co., Flint, MI
Silver: Milk Stout, Left Hand Brewing Co., Longmont, CO
Bronze: Cow Stout, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category: 71 Oatmeal Stout – 32 Entries
Gold: Oatmeal Stout, Gella’s Diner and Lb. Brewing Co., Hays, KS
Silver: Velvet Merkin, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Oatmeal Stout, Schooner’s Grille & Brewery, Antioch, CA

Category: 72 Imperial Stout – 44 Entries
Gold: BORIS The Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout, Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Co., Akron, OH
Silver: Night Rider Imperial Stout, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Yeti Imperial Stout, Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver, CO

Category: 73 Strong Scotch Ale – 38 Entries
Gold: AleSmith Wee Heavy, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: Way Heavy, Pizza Port San Clemente, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Bag Pipe’s Scotch Ale, Allentown/Bethlehem Brew Works, Allentown, PA

Category: 74 Old Ale or Strong Ale – 40 Entries
Gold: AleSmith Decadence Old Ale, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Silver: Old Scrooge, Silver City Restaurant & Brewery, Silverdale, WA
Bronze: Old Scratch Barley Wine ‘99, Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co., Madison, WI

Category: 75 Barley Wine-Style Ale – 55 Entries
Gold: Treblehook, Redhook Ales Brewery, Portland, OR
Silver: AleSmith Old Numbskull, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Bronze: Scratch #4 “The Flying Mouflan”, Troegs Brewery, Harrisburg, PA

Last week, I arrived for the 27th annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado. After a full day of judging Wednesday, the rest of the brewers, beer people and civilians began arriving in town (except for those that weren’t locals, natch) and GABF week kicked into high gear.

GABF sold out again this year — that’s not new — but did so a record two weeks before the event took place. That’s frankly amazing, and the increased number of scalpers was a testament to just how popular the event has become. A beer festival like a Dead show? That’s also pretty remarkable. Can a Friday afternoon session be in the works for future years?

That’s the plus side. On the other side of the equation, the sell-out crowds also means that the festival is likewise more crowded even on Thursday, where in year’s past it was relatively easier to walk the hall and sample the beer. It used to start out with a more modest crowd Thursday and get increasingly more densely packed until Saturday when it became wall-to-wall. Now it’s roughly the same every night with only the Saturday afternoon session having more breathing room, though several hours of that session are always spent at the awards ceremony instead of out on the floor, tasting.

Without a change to the layout (wider aisles, different rooms, booths more spread out, etc.) it’s just going to get worse, I suspect. It seemed like there more merchandise and beer-related booths this year, and that’s a welcome trend. I think the “You Be the Judge” booth is a great idea and I liked the expanded bookstore, too. I’d like to see even more of those types of activities to give people something else to do instead of just drinking as fast as possible, which is what inevitably many still do, though I confess I was bit perplexed by the free haircut and goatee trimming booth.

In recent years, the festival seems to have lost a bit of the educational component to the festival, apart from some food events and hard-to-hear roundtable discussions. Admittedly, that’s hard to do in such a large setting. But some more hands-on education would, I think, be a welcome addition. Perhaps a homebrewing demonstration where people could see how it’s done or even a little BYO set-up where people could get a taste of the brewing process. I seem to recall that when the festival was still held in the outskirts of Denver back in the early 1990s (some one correct me if my memory is faulty) that the hall was either in separate, connected rooms or had much higher temporary ceilings so it felt that way. Being more separated created a feeling of more intimacy and it seemed less overwhelming as a result. In those days when someone dropped a glass, the resulting cries wafted through the hall and sounded more like a choir, whereas nowadays it’s just obnoxious sounding — and people do it on purpose just to get a rise. Of course, I could just be romanticizing the past, awash with nostalgia as my progression to old curmudgeon nears completion.

Anyway, enough quibbling, it was a great event again this year and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. As always, the festival is about two things: the beer, of course, but also the people I see year after year at GABF. If not for them, I don’t think the beer would taste as good. Because unshared beer never tastes quite as delicious as when it includes conversation, camaraderie and friendship. Click on the link below for many more pictures from the Thursday and Friday sessions.
 

The calm before the storm, just moments before GABF began.

As usual, the hall was filled with people in the beer world, so walking around was like old home week. Here, Bruce Paton, the Beer Chef, Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, and Dave Keene, from the Toronado, in the convention center.

For many more photos from this year’s Great American Beer Festival, visit the photo gallery.
 

Here’s a fun little food exercise. Andrew at Very Good Taste, an English food blog, posted a list of one hundred things every omnivore should eat or drink, asking bloggers across the world to post the list, annotating it with the items they’ve had and crossing out the ones they’d never, ever try. There’s an even an FAQ about the list, which answers some basic questions about how it came about. So without further ado, here’s the list:

The Very Good Taste Ominvore’s 100

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I did a lot better than I expected I would, with 63 already tried, not counting any that I’m not entirely sure what the are. Case in point, I originally left off epoisses. My friend and colleague, Stephen Beaumont, however, reminded me that he actually brought us some of that cheese when my wife Sarah was pregnant with Alice. You can read his own account of the list on his On the House blog.

How many have you tried?

After a little over twenty-four hours at home, I left early this morning for Denver, where I’m judging again at the Great American Beer Festival. Orientation was earlier this evening and we begin at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. I got a pretty good group of styles this year, and some real gems. It should be a fun time. Stay tuned for more as GABF week unfolds.

I heard from a colleague today that the long-rumored sale of Drake’s Brewing in San Leandro is a done deal. Apparently the Martin Brothers, who own Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley have acquired it. Since Rodger Davis, Drake’s former brewer, recently was hired by Triple Rock, this makes perfect sense and will also give Triple Rock a production facility. Perhaps we’ll soon see Monkey Head Arboreal Ale in a six-pack?

 
UPDATE: Bill Brand has the full story in today’s paper, entitled San Leandro craft brewery sold to Triple Rock.
 

On Friday afternoon I arrived in North Carolina from London for the World Beer Festival put on by All About Beer magazine. Daniel Bradford and Julie Johnson Bradford had invited me to their event back in April and I was keen to see what North Carolina looked like these days and what changes I’d recognize, having moved to California from Durham twenty-five years ago. I was also giving a presentation and tasting on IPAs during the second session, in the evening. There were a few other writers in town for the same reason, such as Lew Bryson and Rick Lyke. After a brewer’s reception, I retired early, as I had only an hour and half’s worth of sleep the night before and was only able to manage a few catnaps on the plane over the pond. I felt like crap and by all accounts looked even worse. Happily, I woke up the following morning feeling much better. After enjoying visits to two area barbecue places with Lew Bryson (yes, we ate two meals), we headed over to the new Durham Bulls ballpark, where this year’s World Beer Festival was being held.

The World Beer Festival at the new Durham Bulls ballpark.

For many more photos from this year’s World Beer Festival in Durham, visit the photo gallery.
 

After an overnight flight, we arrived at Heathrow Airport shortly before 8:00 a.m. None of us had slept on the plane very much, so we were dead tired, but knew the best way to acclimate was to stay awake. So we made our way to St. Pancras Station, where we would later be taking the train to Burton-on-Trent, dropped our bags, and had caffeine fed into our veins intravenously at little cafe in the station.

We needed to make our way to the Lamb in Lamb’s Conduit Road, where I had arranged to meet a colleague, Martyn Cornell, who writes online at the Zythophile. Having plenty of time we wandered about London, eventually finding our way to the Lamb. We spent a fun and satisfying three or so hours talking about our favorite subject while enjoying some great beer and the best fries … er, chips of the trip, visiting three pubs in the process. Martyn has a more lucid account of time together in a post entitled Why the man from Firestone was deservedly tired.
 

Me and fellow beer writer Martyn Cornell, sharing a pint at the Perseverance.

For more photos from our early arrival in London, visit the photo gallery.
 

This being our 20th monthly Session a.k.a. Beer Blogging Friday, it’s a wonder I can remember when we started. Ray Merkler and Melissa Ward can though, and they’re the hosts of this month’s Session. They run The Bathtub Brewery and have chosen this month’s topic, or at least that’s my memory. The way they put it is:

Is there a beer that reminds you of a specific memory?

If you’re thinking, “Huh?” then you might want to craft your response along the lines of “Whenever I drink [insert brew here] it reminds me of that day …” Or perhaps it’s the reverse. Oooooh.

For me, music tends to spark more vivid memories, though beer and music are often inextricably linked. If, for example, I hear Paul McCartney’s Listen What the Man Said, I can actually smell the pork sandwiches I ate every day the summer I was fourteen, which I spent working in my stepfather’s car repair shop. In fact, I was just telling this same story to Lew Bryson just a hour ago, and now I can’t get that damned song out of my head.

As for beer, it’s unfortunately a bit more cloudy. Genesee Cream Ale — Genny to everyone, since we were on an intimate basis with her — revives vague and general memories of high school parties, autumn leaves piled high on the street, football games and loose women. It was one of our beers of choice, when we could manage to get it, and the one more of the girls seemed to like — a fact we recognized as a plus.

I can, however, tell you the circumstances under which I tried a certain beer for the first time, but that’s not particularly revealing. There’s no romance to those memories, just the cold hard facts of where and when. It’s pure data, not the sensory impressions and reminisces that I think should properly inspire a good memory.

But if that data also includes the people I was drinking it with then that’s a whole different ballgame. This is where beer’s status as social lubricant really shines. Once that piece of the puzzle fits into place, then the dominoes (sorry to mix my metaphors and cliches) of those memories begin to fall. Because I think in the end, beer is — like most things in life — all about the people you share it with. The beer is merely the catalyst for the memory, who said or did what and to whom, what made you laugh, and how that experience grew friendships or relationships is why you want to remember that time at all.

Sure, there are memories best left forgotten, but as long as you learn from a bad experience, they’re still valuable. And it really is true that most things, while not funny in that moment, become hilarious with the passage of time. I have a friend who broke both her wrists falling off a curb. Tragic then, comedy fodder today. How she managed it is still something of a mystery.

But okay, put a gun to my head. I guess my favorite memory comes whenever I have a beer from the Tied House, with locations in San Jose and Mountain View, California. The San Jose location was a stone’s throw from where I was working downtown in the early 1990s. I’d met a woman working on the same floor as me, and asked to go for a drink after work. Thinking I would like to ask her out on a proper date, I first ordered her a taster in the brewpub’s back garden area and tried her on craft beer, something foreign to her at the time. Her reaction was very positive and she was receptive and open to the experience as I had hoped, and I asked her out on the spot. Two years later, we held our wedding reception on the very same spot, running up the largest bar tab I’ve ever paid. And twelve years later still, she still loves craft beer nearly as much as I do. Tasting any of the beers from the Tied House fills me at once with all of the wonder that the simple decision to know Sarah better has brought to my life, to say nothing of Porter and Alice, the two wonderful children we’ve had together. Now that’s a powerful memory for me and magic in a glass of beer.

Perhaps you already saw this over at Beer Therapy, but Firestone Walker Brewing’s award-winning brewmaster, Matt Brynildson, was recently invited to brew at Marston’s Brewery in the United Kingdom. Brewers selected from Japan, Australia and Denmark will join Brynildson to bring their talents and recipes to the U.K. for the JD Wetherspoon International Beer Festival.

What you probably didn’t know is that I’m joining Matt on his trip to Marston’s. We leave this afternoon and will arrive in London Monday morning way freaking early. Assuming I can find a WiFi signal, look for posts from across the pond later this week.

Matt at the Boonville Beer Festival with Shaun O’Sullivan from 21st Amendment.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association (a.k.a. the NBWA) held their annual convention in San Francisco from September 14-17. The NBWA is a trade organization for beer wholesalers and distributors. After Prohibition, the three-tier system was created and has been an integral part of the beer industry ever since. I don’t normally attend the convention, but since it was in my back yard, I decided I couldn’t miss it this year. I’m glad I went. There were a lot of people there I knew and there was a lot of buzz in the air over some big things happening in the industry.

Some NBWA luminaries at the NBWA welcome reception. From left, Jamie Jurado (with Gambrinus), Lucy Saunders (the Beer Cook), Charlie Papazian (President of the Brewers Association), Kim Jordan (from New Belgium Brewing) and Tom Dalldorf (from the Celebrator Beer News).

For more photos from the first day of this year’s NBWA Convention in San Francisco, visit the photo gallery.