Wednesday’s ad is also from 1955, and is for the Canadian beer, Molson Golden Ale. Their anthropomorphized mascot, — “Goldie” — a man with the head of a lion, says modestly that “Victory isn’t always to the strong.” Based on his expression, and the happy-looking woman next to him, I’d say he’s getting beat pretty bad at bowling.
When is a report not a report? When it’s created as propaganda by an organization with the sole purpose of advancing its anti-alcohol agenda. In fact, just calling such propaganda a “report” seems dishonest in and of itself. Witness today’s press release from the self-appointed sheriff of Alcohol Alley, the newly renamed Alcohol Justice (f.k.a. the Marin Institute) entitled “Drunk With Power: Industry Kills Alcohol Mitigation Fees in California in 2010.” Talk about a loaded title. To my mind, a “report” should at least pretend to be an impartial, unbiased examination of a set of data. But as the title suggests, those of us in the alcohol industry are all “drunks,” abusing power and indiscriminately “killing.” That’s how we’re portrayed, as pure evil. Yeah, that describes me and just about everybody I know in the beer world. I hate kids and dogs, and just love pulling the wings off of flies, just for the fun of it.
The press release explains that the “report” examines the political lobbying by alcohol companies and money spent by them. Now I’m not a big fan generally of the corporate influence of our current political system, but it’s not illegal. The reason Alcohol Justice (AJ) is able to compile the lobbying money spent is because it has to be disclosed at all levels. It is, in plainer terms, legal and transparent. Nobody’s done anything wrong. They claim it “details the ever-present dominance of the alcohol industry and its lobbyists on California policymakers in 2010.” But dominance over whom? Over what? It’s not as if alcohol companies are the only people or organizations spending money on lobbying. Every company and/or industry does so. Their corporate charters all but demand that they engage in lobbying. Like it or not, it’s a part of doing business in California and the United States.
The majority of the AJ “report” includes a long list of money received by California politicians from alcohol lobbyists or as political contributions. And they’re drawing the conclusion that they therefore must have been bought off. But their “report” proves no direct correlation between receiving money and how a politician votes on legislation having to do with alcohol regulation. In fact, some of their data seems to contradict that idea.
Just looking at money received from one sector ignores any money they may also have received from any other, possibly even competing, industry or interest. And it doesn’t take into account what portion of the total money any politician received comes from alcohol and/or who else gave them contributions.
Maybe I’m jaded, but even the amounts themselves seem small, especially as a percentage of the total they received. Total lobbying expenditure by all alcohol companies is $1.3 million, according to AJ. One figure I found said that there was $552.6 million spent on lobbying in California in 2008. So that means the alcohol portion, even if they spent that much three years ago, is only 0.23% of all lobbying dollars spent. Hardly the “drunk with power” that AJ churlishly decries. That hardly demonstrates a “dominance of the alcohol industry and its lobbyists,” as they characterize it. More like a drop in the pint glass that is California politics.
The executive summary of the “report” claims that alcohol companies spent $5 million on both lobbying, campaign contributions and other political spending in 2010. Given how big our economy is, that also seems like a vanishingly small amount, especially when it is claimed that it bought so much. According to Follow the Money, California campaign contributions totaled $716,750,583 for 2010. AJ claims that of that $5 million figure, $1,572,939 was spent on candidate contributions. That means that a mere 0.22% of campaign contributions come from alcohol companies. Again, that hardly indicates the undue influences that AJ claims in their “report.”
To me, it’s just as likely that many, if not most, of the politicians don’t view the alcohol companies as pure evil, the way Alcohol Justice does. They probably see them as job creators, having a positive impact on a depressed economy and providing some enjoyment to their customers, quite necessary when so many people are out of work and their spirits so low. Not everybody who drinks abuses it, in fact most people don’t.
The politicians are most likely just people like you and me who like a drink once in a while. They’re part of the majority of people who drink moderately and responsibly, and therefore they can see the legislation for what it is: the work of fanatics who see compromise as a weakness, view all alcohol as bad, believe moderation is not the answer, and for whom only total prohibition is the only result that will satisfy them. And so they vote against it, like they should; like any reasonable person would. The majority of their constituents don’t agree with the radical ideas of neo-prohibitionists. Like most reasonable people, these politicians and the people they represent, don’t see alcohol as inherently bad; the only negative is the abuse of it by a small minority that is rarely addressed by legislation claiming to be for that purpose.
The “mitigation fees” they claim were killed by lobbying are not even a true metric. The idea that the companies that make and sell alcohol should have to pay for the damage caused by its abuse by a minority of individuals is not exactly a time worn idea. NRA lobbyists are not working to insure that gun makers don’t have to pay to mitigate the “harm” done by people shooting one another with their guns. Likewise, the red meat industry isn’t working to insure that cattle ranchers and meat packing plant owners don’t have to pay to mitigate the “harm” done by people who eat too much steak and hamburgers. Those are, quite properly, matters of personal responsibility. But according to the AJ, there is no personal responsibility for the actions of people who abuse alcohol. In that case, it’s always the fault of the people who make and sell it.
The “report” also claims that “only $10,000 was reported being spent by the industry in San Francisco to defeat Supervisor John Avalos’ Charge for Harm fee” (emphasis added), which made me laugh. Avalos may have introduced it, but it was really a Marin Institute (now AJ) initiative from start to finish. But they mention that because they think more money was spent, and wasn’t disclosed. Talk about being a sore loser.
The report also singles out a couple of politicians for their association with the alcohol industry. For example, they detail how former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom is, in their words, “firmly entrenched in the alcohol industry.” And that is offered as the only proof that he is somehow beholden to the interests of alcohol companies. It’s incredibly insulting to suggest that someone in politics is incapable of being impartial if they also derive some of their income from the alcohol trade. It could simply be, as Newsom himself suggested, that he saw through the “charge for harm” fiasco and viewed it for what is was — a bad idea that unfairly punished the majority of law-abiding responsible citizens — as so many others did.
The “report” begins, and ends, with the conclusion that “[t]he alcohol industry continued its ever-present dominance at all levels of California politics in 2010.” But the numbers they cite in their self-fulfilling “report” are meaningless in the vacuum of their reasoning without placing them in the larger context of the much more complicated state of politics in California. $5 million sounds like a lot of money until you actually think about how little that is compared to everything else that the state is facing. The alcohol industry in California isn’t drunk with power in California. Hell, it isn’t even tipsy.
In the same year that the alcohol industry spent $3,683,148 (the AJ’s $5 million figure minus lobbying), California agriculture spent $9,658,149, the computer industry spent $30,749,507, the energy industry spent $72,667,630, finance, insurance and real estate interests spent $64,002,966, the health care industry spent $18,759,752 and labor unions spent $76,563,954. Those industries spent 2.6, 8, 20, 17, 5 and 21 times the alcohol industry, respectively. Geez, just general business interests (not part of a specific industry) spent $29,912,733, over 8 times what the alcohol industry spent. Maybe it’s not the alcohol industry after all that’s drunk with power.
Tuesday’s ad is from 1955, years before the Blue Man Group. It’s for Schlitz, and shows a blue skinned server holding a tray containing two full pilsner glasses of beer and a half-empty bottle of Schlitz. Is it just me, or does that math not quite work? The tagline is the “World’s Most Famous Taste In Beer.”
This is pretty cool, an R. Lewis created a Google Map of all the GABF gold medal winners from this year.
Our 56th Session is a nod of the head, acknowledging the positive aspects of the big, multinational brewers that we so often admonish and criticize. Our host, Reuben Gray at Tale of the Ale, calls his topic Thanks to the Big Boys, which he describes as follows:
What I’m looking for is this. Most of us that write about beer do so with the small independent brewery in mind. Often it is along the lines of Micro brew = Good and Macro brew, anything brewed by the large multinationals is evil and should be destroyed. Well I don’t agree with that, though there may be some that are a little evil….
Anyway I want people to pick a large brewery or corporation that owns a lot of breweries. There are many to chose from. Give thanks to them for something they have done. Maybe they produce a beer you do actually like. Maybe they do great things for the cause of beer in general even if their beer is bland and tasteless but enjoyed by millions every day.
I can think of two right away that I would like to thank (don’t feel the need to limit yourself to one). If you can’t think of any well then here is one quick one. Diageo and Arthur’s Day. At the very least, this is a worldwide celebration of beer. It may be Guinness* orientated but anything that gets people drinking beer and not alcopops is a good thing in my book. If you honestly have nothing good to say about a large brewer, then make something up. Some satire might be nice, It will be a Friday after all.
So put away your poison pen, at least for the day, and wax poetic about a big brewer. Let’s hear your positive vibes for the next Session on Friday, October 7. And yes, that’s this Friday, just three days away.
Monday’s ad is for Pabst, possibly from the later 1940s or 50s, and is a busy, colorful cartoon. It’s set in a fishing boat by a pier, where we learn that Pabst blends their beer, from 33 different beers no less, to make it “like finest champagne.” And it’s not just blended, but specially blended.
Out at GABF last week, I heard about a few beer weeks that were new to me. As I’ve been tracking them for some time now, that surprised me. When I first put together a list a couple of years ago, there were a couple dozen. By the time I wrote the entry for beer weeks in the Oxford Companion to Beer, there were around forty. Before I left for GABF, my list included around 55. After hearing about those new ones, I decided to do some more digging and my list now includes 78 beer weeks around the world. Of those, six seem to have been held once or aren’t continuing and three more are “unofficial,” but have all the elements of a beer week (CBC Week, OBF Week and GABF Week). That still leaves 69 ongoing beer weeks, plus I also found eight more that have been announced, have Twitter feeds or Facebook pages but have not set a precise date yet. So that takes the total back up to 77 beer weeks. Of those 77, 68 are in the U.S. and 9 are outside America; in Canada, Australia, Germany and the UK. Fold back in the 3 “unofficial” ones and we’re at 79, meaning it will take over one and a half years to go to every beer week. Now that’s a lot of beer weeks. If you want to see my list of beer weeks, click here.
This week’s work of art is a series of beer prints by Toronto, Canada, artist and illustrator Dave Murray. He’s completed seven beer prints so far, which he refers to as an “ongoing series based on beers I drink.” In addition, he’s done one more as a commission, entitled Stella Artois Légere. I’ve posted two of his prints below, and you can see the rest in the slideshow at the bottom. Click on the small square with the four arrows in the bottom right-hand corner to see them full screen.
PBR
Lowenbrau
Most of the works are available to purchase as a print. You can see all of his prints from the series in the slideshow below.
The 30th Great American Beer Festival is now in the history books, with some pretty impressive statistics. A record 3,930 beers were judged in 83 categories by 167 judges from 9 nations. Some more factoids on the results and the festival:
The Breweries That Won the Most Medals:
The Most Gold Medals Won:
Medals Won by State:
Category: 1 American-Style Wheat Beer – 20 Entries
Gold: SchWheat, SweetWater Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA
Silver: Shredders Wheat, Barley Brown’s Brew Pub, Baker City, OR
Bronze: Wagon Box Wheat, Black Tooth Brewing Co., Sheridan, WY
Category: 2 American-Style Wheat Beer With Yeast – 38 Entries
Gold: Leavenworth Boulder Bend Dunkelweizen, Fish Brewing Co., Olympia, WA
Silver: Tumblewheat, Altitude Chophouse and Brewery, Laramie, WY
Bronze: Leavenworth Whistling Pig Hefeweizen, Fish Brewing Co., Olympia, WA
Category: 3 Fruit Beer – 56 Entries
Gold: Raspberry Tart, New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, WI
Silver: Brainless on Peaches, Epic Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Bronze: Derailed Black Cherry Ale, Erie Brewing Co., Erie, PA
Category: 4 Fruit Wheat Beer – 48 Entries
Gold: 5 Lizard, 5 Rabbit Cerveceria, Chicago, IL
Silver: Mr. Pineapple Wheat, SanTan Brewing Co., Chandler, AZ
Bronze: Vintage Blonde Ale, Blue Moon Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Category: 5 Field Beer or Pumpkin Beer – 37 Entries
Gold: Upslope Pumpkin Ale, Upslope Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Silver: Pumpkin Ale, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery – Chandler, Chandler, AZ
Bronze: Turnip the Beets, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver, CO
Category: 6 Herb and Spice Beer – 92 Entries
Gold: Mexican Chocolate Stout, Copper Kettle Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: LSD, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN
Bronze: CBC Heather Ale, Cambridge Brewing Co., Cambridge, MA
Category: 7 Chocolate Beer – 30 Entries
Gold: Chocolate Beer, Barley Brothers Brewery and Grill, Lake Havasu City, AZ
Silver: Samuel Adams Chocolate Chili Bock, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA
Bronze: Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA
Category: 8 Coffee Beer – 60 Entries
Gold: Java Mac, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Silver: Coffee Monster, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Coffee Milk Stout, Dry Dock Brewing, Aurora, CO
Category: 9 Specialty Beer – 24 Entries
Gold: Hazelnut Brown Nectar, Rogue Ales, Newport, OR
Silver: Chateau Jiahu, Dogfi sh Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
Bronze: Denver Beer Co. Graham Cracker Porter, Denver Beer Co., Denver, CO
Category: 10 Rye Beer – 36 Entries
Gold: Three Flowers IPA, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA
Silver: Bock in Bock, Tequesta Brewing Co., Tequesta, FL
Bronze: Crank Tank, SweetWater Brewing Co., Atlanta, GA
Category: 11 Specialty Honey Beer – 32 Entries
Gold: Sixteen, Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton, PA
Silver: Eye of the Storm, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN
Bronze: Midas Touch, Dogfi sh Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE
Category: 12 Session Beer – 44 Entries
Gold: Provo Girl Pilsner, Utah Brewers Co-op, Salt Lake City, UT
Silver: Twerp, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Firestone Walker Extra Pale Ale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Category: 13 Other Strong Beer – 53 Entries
Gold: Wheat Wine Ale, Smuttynose Brewing Co., Portsmouth, NH
Silver: Saison du Summer, Backcountry Brewery, Frisco, CO
Bronze: Totality Imperial Stout, FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Truckee, CA
Category: 14 Experimental Beer – 83 Entries
Gold: Mangalitsa Pig Porter, Right Brain Brewery, Traverse City, MI
Silver: Petit Obscura, Telegraph Brewing Co., Santa Barbara, CA
Bronze: Belgorado, Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Category: 15 Indigenous Beer – 31 Entries
Gold: Hqt, 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Silver: Monticello Reserve Ale, Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet, VA
Bronze: Hot Rocks Lager, Port Brewing Co., San Marcos, CA
Category: 16 Gluten-Free Beer – 15 Entries
Gold: Gluten-Free Lemon Pale, Strange Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Silver: New Grist, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI
Bronze: Seeley Axe White, Kettlehouse Brewing Co., Missoula, MT
Category: 17 American-Belgo-Style Ale – 43 Entries
Gold: Angry Birds, Haymarket Pub & Brewery, Chicago, IL
Silver: Blue Reserve, Blue Mountain Brewery, Afton, VA
Bronze: Boulevard Collaboration #2, Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, MO
Category: 18 American-Style Sour Ale – 21 Entries
Gold: Le Terroir, New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Framboise de Amorosa, The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA
Bronze: Ching Ching, Bend Brewing Co., Bend, OR
Category: 19 American-Style Brett Ale – 31 Entries
Gold: Confl uence, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME
Silver: Super Friends IPA, Ithaca Beer Co., Ithaca, NY
Bronze: Grimalkin – Super Kitty Fantastico, Brugge Brasserie, Indianapolis, IN
Category: 20 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer – 40 Entries
Gold: Velvet Merkin, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Wee Pogue, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Pinot Jubel, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Category: 21 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – 118 Entries
Gold: Melange a Trois, Nebraska Brewing Co., Papillion, NE
Silver: BBJ (Bourbon Barrel Johan), Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Barrel Aged Naked Evil BBW, Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Co., Akron, OH
Category: 22 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout – 74 Entries
Gold: Bourbon Murder, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Silver: 2010 Bourbon Barrel Sexual Chocolate Imperial Stout, Foothills Brewing, Winston-Salem, NC
Bronze: Grand Inquisitor, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, DE
Category: 23 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 75 Entries
Gold: Friek, Odell Brewing Co., Fort Collins, CO
Silver: The Wanderer, The Bruery, Placentia, CA
Bronze: Le Serpent Cerise, Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY
Category: 24 Aged Beer – 36 Entries
Gold: Expedition Stout, Bell’s Brewery, Galesburg, MI
Silver: Release the Hounds, Bull & Bush Brewery, Denver, CO
Bronze: 2004 Triple Exultation, Eel River Brewing Co., Fortuna, CA
Category: 25 Kellerbier or Zwickelbier – 48 Entries
Gold: Kolsch Kellerbier, Mad Fox Brewing Co., Falls Church, VA
Silver: Bottle Rocket Lager, Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que – Lake Travis, Austin, TX
Bronze: B3K Schwarzbier, Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Category: 26 Smoke Beer – 43 Entries
Gold: Smoke Ale, Rogue Ales, Portland, OR
Silver: Smoke Out, Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet, VA
Bronze: Alaskan Smoked Porter 2010, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
Category: 27 American-Style or International-Style Pilsener – 31 Entries
Gold: BEER, La Cumbre Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Silver: Popcorn Pilsner, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Bronze: Legacy Lager, Silver Moon Brewing, Bend, OR
Category: 28 German-Style Pilsener – 42 Entries
Gold: Pavlov’s Pils, C.B. & Potts Restaurant & Brewery – Fort Collins, Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Sunshine Pils, Tröegs Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA
Bronze: Pilsner, Marble Brewery, Albuquerque, NM
Category: 29 Bohemian-Style Pilsener – 42 Entries
Silver: Mama’s Little Yella Pils, Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, CO
Bronze: Pilsner, McCoy’s Public House and Brewkitchen, Kansas City, MO
Category: 30 Munich-Style Helles – 38 Entries
Gold: Chuckanut Helles, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Where in the Helles Gunner?, Emmett’s Brewing Co., West Dundee, IL
Bronze: Órale, Del Norte Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Category: 31 Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest – 20 Entries
Gold: Move Back, The SandLot, Denver, CO
Silver: Tommy Two Fists, Devils Backbone Brewing Co., Roseland, VA
Bronze: Dog Days Lager, Two Brothers Brewing Co., Warrenville, IL
Category: 32 American-Style Lager, Light Lager or Premium Lager – 55 Entries
Gold: Old Milwaukee Light, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Silver: Busch Light, Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, MO
Bronze: Pabst Blue Ribbon Light, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Category: 33 American-Style Lager or Cream Ale or Lager – 31 Entries
Gold: Red Dog, Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
Silver: Rainier, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Bronze: Old Style, Pabst Brewing Co., Woodridge, IL
Category: 34 Vienna-Style Lager – 32 Entries
Gold: Jomo Lager, Starr Hill Brewery, Crozet, VA
Silver: Cityfest, Brewzzi, West Palm Beach, FL
Bronze: Vienna Red Lager, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, DE
Category: 35 German-Style Märzen – 58 Entries
Gold: Stein Knocker, Hoppers Grill & Brewing Co., Midvale, UT
Silver: Munster Fest, Three Floyds Brewing Co., Munster, IN
Bronze: Samuel Adams Octoberfest, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA
Category: 36 American-Style Amber Lager – 58 Entries
Gold: Uberbrau, Humperdink’s Restaurant and Brewery, Dallas, TX
Silver: Colorado Native, AC Golden Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Florida Beer Florida Lager, Florida Beer Co., Melbourne, FL
Category: 37 European-Style Dunkel – 23 Entries
Gold: Dunkel Lager, Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co., Glenwood Springs, CO
Silver: Chuckanut Dunkel, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Bronze: Penn Dark, Pennsylvania Brewing Co., Pittsburgh, PA
Category: 38 American-Style Dark Lager – 16 Entries
Gold: Durango Dark, Durango Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Silver: Session Black, Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River, OR
Bronze: Schwarzbier, AC Golden Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Category: 39 German-Style Schwarzbier – 26 Entries
Gold: TAPS Schwarzbier, TAPS Fish House & Brewery (Corona, CA), Brea, CA
Silver: Nevermore Lager, Rock Bottom Brewery (King of Prussia, PA), Louisville, CO
Bronze: Gordon Biersch Schwarzbier, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant (Seattle, WA), Chattanooga, TN
Category: 40 Bock – 34 Entries
Gold: Troegenator, Tröegs Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA
Silver: PrePro Bock, Coors Archive Brewery, Golden, CO
Bronze: Maibock, Stewart’s Brewing Co., Bear, DE
Category: 41 German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock – 22 Entries
Gold: Autumnal Fire, Capital Brewery Co., Middleton, WI
Silver: St. Nik Brewer’s Reserve, Pennsylvania Brewing Co., Pittsburgh, PA
Bronze: Eisphyre, Capital Brewery Co., Middleton, WI
Category: 42 Baltic-Style Porter – 19 Entries
Gold: Battle Axe Baltic Porter, Fat Head’s Brewery, North Olmsted, OH
Silver: White Eagle Baltic Porter, Montana Brewing Co., Billings, MT
Bronze: Puddy Porter, Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse, Berkeley, CA
Category: 43 Golden or Blonde Ale – 56 Entries
Gold: Blonde, Ram Restaurant & Brewery – Seattle, Seattle, WA
Silver: Alaskan Pale Ale, Alaskan Brewing Co., Juneau, AK
Bronze: Kent Lake Kolsch, Iron Springs Pub & Brewery, Fairfax, CA
Category: 44 German-Style Kölsch – 48 Entries
Gold: Chuckanut Kolsch, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Great Adirondack Kölsch, Great Adirondack Brewing Co., Lake Placid, NY
Bronze: Capital City Kolsch, Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant, Topeka, KS
Category: 45 English-Style Summer Ale – 33 Entries
Gold: Summer Lovin’, Blue Mountain Brewery, Afton, VA
Silver: Peacemaker, Austin Beerworks, Austin, TX
Bronze: Mad Fox Brewing Company English Summer Ale, Mad Fox Brewing Co., Falls Church, VA
Category: 46 Classic English-Style Pale Ale – 25 Entries
Gold: Clear Creek Pale Ale, Silver City Brewery, Bremerton, WA
Silver: MacTarnahan’s Amber Ale, MacTarnahan’s Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Bronze: Prime Time Pale Ale, Big Time Brewery, Seattle, WA
Category: 47 English-Style India Pale Ale – 46 Entries
Gold: Samuel Adams Latitude 48 Hallertau Mittelfrueh, Boston Beer Co., Boston, MA
Silver: Napa Smith Organic IPA, Napa Smith Brewery, Napa, CA
Bronze: Down ‘n’ Dirty IPA, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Category: 48 International-Style Pale Ale – 20 Entries
Gold: Boulevard Pale Ale, Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, MO
Silver: Intercontinental Pale Ale, Flossmoor Station Brewing Co., Flossmoor, IL
Bronze: Radiant, Ninkasi Brewing Co., Eugene, OR
Category: 49 American-Style Pale Ale – 105 Entries
Gold: Pale 31, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Mission St. Pale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Ute Trail Pale Ale, Amicas, Salida, CO
Category: 50 American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 103 Entries
Gold: Pako’s Eye P.A., Snake River Brewing, Jackson, WY
Silver: AleSmith IPA, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Bronze: Hop Knot, Four Peaks Brewing Co., Tempe, AZ
Category: 51 American-Style India Pale Ale – 176 Entries
Gold: Elevated IPA, La Cumbre Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Silver: Deviant Dale’s, Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, CO
Bronze: Head Hunter IPA, Fat Head’s Brewery, North Olmsted, OH
Category: 52 Imperial India Pale Ale – 102 Entries
Gold: Citra Double IPA, Kern River Brewing, Kernville, CA
Silver: Double Jack, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Bronze: Imperial IPA, Epic Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Category: 53 American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 82 Entries
Gold: Amber Waves, 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Silver: Jamaica Red Ale, Mad River Brewing Co., Blue Lake, CA
Bronze: Rocket Red, Big River Grille and Brewing (Chattanooga, TN), Chattanooga, TN
Category: 54 Imperial Red Ale – 57 Entries
Gold: 547 Haight – The Toronado San Francisco’s 20th Anniversary Imperial Red Ale, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Rhino Chaser Imperial Red Ale, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Bronze: Organic Deranger, Laurelwood Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Category: 55 English-Style Mild Ale – 25 Entries
Gold: Skidmark Brown Ale, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Silver: Dawn Patrol Dark, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Solana Beach, CA
Bronze: Bird and Baby Mild, The Public House Brewing Co., Rolla, MO
Category: 56 Ordinary or Special Bitter – 28 Entries
Gold: DBA, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: New Speedway Bitter, Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Bronze: Bonnie Lee’s Best Bitter, Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Category: 57 Extra Special Bitter – 43 Entries
Gold: Minaret ESB, Cigar City Brewing, Tampa, FL
Silver: Colorado Kind, Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery, Boulder, CO
Bronze: Harvest Ale, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Category: 58 Scottish-Style Ale – 27 Entries
Gold: Hope and King Scotch Ale, Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN
Silver: Naughty Scot, Rock Bottom Brewery (College Park – Indianapolis, IN), Louisville, CO
Bronze: Brown Bear Brown, Rock Bottom Brewery (Bethesda, MD), Louisville, CO
Category: 59 Irish-Style Red Ale – 31 Entries
Gold: O’Rion Irish Red, Equinox Brewing, Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Copperhead Red, Ghost River Brewing, Memphis, TN
Bronze: Colorado Boy Irish Ale, Colorado Boy Brewing Co., Ridgway, CO
Category: 60 English-Style Brown Ale – 45 Entries
Gold: Good Grief Brown, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Rock Bottom Brown Ale, Rock Bottom Brewery (San Diego, CA), Louisville, CO
Bronze: Molly’s Titanic Brown, Rock Bottom Brewery (Westminster, CO), Louisville, CO
Category: 61 American-Style Brown Ale – 49 Entries
Gold: Great American Brown, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Redrock Nut Brown Ale, Redrock Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Bronze: Brave American, American Brewing Co., Edmonds, WA
Category: 62 American-Style Black Ale – 74 Entries
Gold: Blacktop IPA, New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, WI
Silver: Blackened CDA, Carter’s Brewing, Billings, MT
Bronze: Black Racer, Bear Republic Brewing Co., Healdsburg, CA
Category: 63 German-Style Altbier – 30 Entries
Gold: Little Red Cap, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, Loveland, CO
Silver: TAPS Alt, TAPS Fish House & Brewery (Brea, CA), Brea, CA
Bronze: Chuckanut Alt, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Category: 64 German-Style Sour Ale – 13 Entries
Gold: Berliner Weisse, Crabtree Brewing Co., Greeley, CO
Silver: Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, The Bruery, Placentia, CA
Bronze: Gordon Biersch Goze, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant (Rockville, MD), Chattanooga, TN
Category: 65 South German-Style Hefeweizen – 64 Entries
Gold: Hefeweizen, Dry Dock Brewing, Aurora, CO
Silver: Wild Pitch Hefe Weizen, The SandLot, Denver, CO
Bronze: EOS, Nebraska Brewing Co., Papillion, NE
Category: 66 German-Style Wheat Ale – 23 Entries
Gold: Boscos Hefeweizen, Boscos Brewing Co., Memphis, TN
Silver: Weizenbock, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA
Bronze: Dark-n-Curvy, Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL
Category: 67 Belgian-Style Witbier – 53 Entries
Gold: Witte, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY
Silver: La Perouse White, Maui Brewing Co. – Brewpub, Maui, HI
Bronze: ZON, Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, MO
Category: 68 French- and Belgian-Style Saison – 65 Entries
Gold: Saison-Brett, Boulevard Brewing Co., Kansas City, MO
Silver: Funkwerks Saison, Funkwerks, Fort Collins, CO
Bronze: Sofi e, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Category: 69 Belgian- and French-Style Ale – 56 Entries
Gold: California Ale, Telegraph Brewing Co., Santa Barbara, CA
Silver: TAPS Biere de Garde, TAPS Fish House & Brewery (Corona, CA), Brea, CA
Bronze: Pin-Up Blonde, Bastone Brewery, Royal Oak, MI
Category: 70 Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale – 51 Entries
Gold: Fifth Element 2008, Squatters Pub Brewery, Salt Lake City, UT
Silver: Blue Sunday, New Holland Brewing Co., Holland, MI
Bronze: Barton Kriek, North by Northwest, Austin, TX
Category: 71 Belgian-Style Abbey Ale – 76 Entries
Gold: Brother David’s Double, Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Boonville, CA
Silver: Wild-Westmalle Tripel, Chicago Brewing Co., Las Vegas, NV
Bronze: Two Tortugas, Karl Strauss Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Category: 72 Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale – 59 Entries
Gold: Buffalo Slumber, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Silver: Revelations, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: The Twelve, Black Diamond Brewing Co., Concord, CA
Category: 73 Brown Porter – 32 Entries
Gold: Out of Order Porter, Wind River Brewing Co., Pinedale, WY
Silver: FireHouse Porter, FireHouse Grill & Brewery, Sunnyvale, CA
Bronze: Porter, Lexington Avenue Brewery, Asheville, NC
Category: 74 Robust Porter – 62 Entries
Gold: Moonlight Porter, Rock Bottom Brewery (La Jolla, CA), Louisville, CO
Silver: DeadEye Jack Porter, LoneRider Brewing Co., Raleigh, NC
Bronze: Pier Rat Porter, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA
Category: 75 Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout – 24 Entries
Gold: Ring of Dingle, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Silver: Breakside Dry Stout, Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR
Bronze: Shaft House Stout, Dostal Alley Brewpub & Casino, Central City, CO
Category: 76 Foreign-Style Stout – 23 Entries
Gold: Dark Side Stout, Silver Moon Brewing, Bend, OR
Silver: Malpais Stout, La Cumbre Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM
Bronze: Z-Man Stout, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Category: 77 American-Style Stout – 37 Entries
Gold: Jules Winnfi eld, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Solana Beach, CA
Silver: Achievement Beyond Life’s Experiences American Stout, Brit Antrim Benefi t Beer,
Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Bronze: Disorder Stout, Barley Brown’s Brew Pub, Baker City, OR
Category: 78 Sweet Stout – 19 Entries
Gold: Steel Toe Stout, Ska Brewing Co., Durango, CO
Silver: Cream Stout, Redwood Brewing Co., Flint, MI
Bronze: Outlaw Oatmeal Stout, Great Basin Brewing Co., Sparks, NV
Category: 79 Oatmeal Stout – 36 Entries
Gold: Back Road Stout, Millstream Brewing Co., Amana, IA
Silver: Oatmeal Stout, Crabtree Brewing Co., Greeley, CO
Bronze: Stagecoach Stout, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co., Buellton, CA
Category: 80 Imperial Stout – 56 Entries
Gold: BORIS The Crusher Oatmeal-Imperial Stout, Hoppin’ Frog Brewing Co., Akron, OH
Silver: Russian Imperial Stout, Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, Wilmington, DE
Bronze: IMOS, Max Lager’s Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery, Atlanta, GA
Category: 81 Scotch Ale – 39 Entries
Gold: Wee Muckle, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
Silver: Wee Heavy, Vintage Brewing Co., Madison, WI
Bronze: Old Chub Scotch Ale, Oskar Blues Brewery, Longmont, CO
Category: 82 Old Ale or Strong Ale – 35 Entries
Gold: Papier, The Bruery, Placentia, CA
Silver: AleSmith Decadence ‘10 Old Ale, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Bronze: Arctic Alchemy, Fegley’s Brew Works, Allentown, PA
Category: 83 Barley Wine-Style Ale – 42 Entries
Gold: Horn Dog Barleywine, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Silver: AleSmith Old Numbskull, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA
Bronze: Johan the Barleywine, Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN
2011 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition
Gold: Before Capone, C.B. & Potts Restaurant & Brewery, Westminster, CO
Brewmaster: Dennis O’Harrow, AHA Member: Tom Gardner
Silver: Schwarzherz, Uinta Brewing Co., Salt Lake City, UT
Brewmaster: Uinta Beer Team, AHA Member: Travis Grimm
Bronze: Kriek, Dry Dock Brewing, Aurora, CO
Brewmaster: Dry Dock Brewers, AHA Member: Ted Manahan
Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Brewer: Will Kemper
Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company
Brewer of the Year
Firestone Walker Brewing Co, Paso Robles, CA
Brewer: Matthew Brynildson
Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company
Brewer of the Year
Pabst Brewing Company, Woodridge, IL
Brewer: Bob Newman
Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Brewer: Yiga Miyashiro
Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Brewer: Pizza Port Brew Guys
Brewpub Group and Brewpub Group Brewer of the Year
TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Brea, CA
Brewer: Victor Novak
Our 87th Guinness is pretty simple, showing seven pints of smiling Guinness, with the slogan “A Guinness a day.” That’s one for each day of the week, with the final tagline “Guinness is good for you.”
