Yours for Good Fermentables ™: Great American Beer Festival

Showing posts with label Great American Beer Festival. Show all posts

Sunday, October 04, 2015

He's visited every brewery in Virginia; and shows you how to.

I caught up with the peripatetic Rayner (Ray) Johnson, Friday afternoon, at Port City Brewing, a production-brewery located in a light-industry-zoned area in a neighborhood at the southwestern corner of the city of Alexandria, Virginia.

We were both there, along with many others, to congratulate owner Bill Butcher, head brewer Jonathan Reeves, and the entire brewery staff of Port City. The brewery had just won Small Brewery of the Year, the previous Saturday, at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), in Denver, Colorado.^*

Bill Butcher sat down with us for a few minutes. He was soaking in the good feelings. He told his brewery staff to do the same, even though they, of course, needed no prompting. "But temper this," he said he had admonished them, "with the memory of the feelings we had last year when we won nothing" (after having won four medals in 2013, and one in 2012, the year the brewery opened).

The [U.S.] Brewers Association has determined that there are now four thousand breweries in the U.S., with nearly two opening every day. The competition will only become fiercer, Butcher added, making national victories —especially for smaller breweries like his — much more difficult to attain in the future.

As the Port City taproom began to fill with well-wishers, Ray Johnson was up and schmoozing, busy passing out complimentary copies of the November/December issue of Virginia Craft Beer magazine, for which he is the Distribution Manager for Northern Virginia. I know this because he gave me his business card.

In 2014, Johnson visited every brewery in Virginia, and had a beer at each. There were eighty-two breweries in the Commonwealth last year, give or take. This year, there are one-hundred twenty-five.

Johnson —who is better known as the long-time organizer of the annual Blue & Gray Breweriana Show, in Fredericksburg, Virginia— maintains a database of each brewery visit, and a spreadsheet of those he has yet to visit. He has a watch-list of one-hundred fifty breweries currently in planning, and, of those, forty that are scheduled to open by early 2016. It's as up-to-date as he can keep it, he told me. The rapid growth of brewery openings makes the task, well, a labor of love.

Writing in the current issue of Virginia Craft Beer Magazine (October/November 2015), Johnson put some order into it all, creating six 'brewery trails': highway-arranged brewery-jaunts in the state.

I-95 Trail (Alexandria to Petersburg)

I-64 East Trail (Toano to Smithfield)

I-64 West Trail (Richmond to Danville)

I-66 Trail (Arlington to Sperryville)

Route 7 Trail (Capital Beltway to Bluemont)

I-81 Trail (Winchester to Bristol: the longest of the 'trails', running over 314 miles, north to south.)

In his article, Johnson listed the breweries and brewpubs of his I-95 and Route 7 trails. He'll do the same for the remaining four in upcoming issues.

Ray Johnson of Virginia Craft Beer Magazine

There are four, more formal, brewery trails in Virginia, independent of Johnson's research, each with its own website:

Blue Ridge Beerway
Eight breweries in and around Roanoke, near I-81.

Brew Ridge Trail
Six breweries in Nelson and Albemarle Counties, Virginia. (The original such 'trail' in Virginia.)

LoCo Ale Trail
Fifteen breweries in Loudoun County, Virginia (some of which also produce lagers).

Richmond Breweries United
Thirteen breweries in the greater Richmond area.

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Sunday, September 27, 2015

How the mid-Atlantic fared at the GABF.

Presented by the [U.S.] Brewers Association, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is the largest commercial beer competition in the world and a symbol of brewing excellence. In its 29th year, the 2015 competition surpassed all previous participation records, exceeding last year’s record-setting competition.

The mid-Atlantic triad of Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (home to this blog) did well at the GABF this year, grabbing ten medals. Five of those were gold, the region's highest gold medal tally ever. In the three jurisdictions, Virginia breweries won the greatest share by far: nine medals (of which four were gold), placing Virginia eighth best among all states in the nation. Maryland won one medal, a gold; breweries in Washington, D.C., did not win this year, even though they have in the past.

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The DMV winners at GABF 2015

Maryland
1 medal; 1 gold

Virginia
9 medals; 4 gold

And, oh yes. One more thing!

When Port City Brewing first opened for business in Alexandria, Virginia, in February, 2012, it became the first production brewery in that city (located just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.) since 1916.

At this year's GABF, Port City was one of only four breweries nationwide to win three medals (none won more). It was one of 518 breweries, among those producing between 1,000 and 15,000 barrels of beer in a year, competing in the Small Brewery category, the largest number in any of the GABF's seven brewery categories. And, Port City won, recognized by the GABF as the nation's Small Brewery of the Year. It joins Devils Backbone, of Roseland, Virginia, as one of only two breweries in the tri-jurisdiction area so honored.

Congratulations to owner Bill Butcher, lead brewer Jonathan Reeves, and the entire Port City organization.

Port City Brew wins "Small Brewery of the Year," at 2015 GABF.

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How the DMV has fared over the past 5 years

Let's look at how the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia have fared at the GABF over the last five years. There's an interesting trend.

11 medals; 4 gold.

15 medals; 4 gold.

13 medals; 3 gold.

Breweries in Virginia have clearly been dominant. And that supremacy continued this year, as the state captured nine of the area's ten medals, including four of the five gold medals.

10 medals; 5 gold.

Virginia does have more breweries than the other two: at the time of the GABF (24-26 September 2015), there were one-hundred twenty-seven breweries in Virginia, to fifty-four in Maryland and ten in Washington, D.C. But the state's success at the GABF over the past five years might also be attributed, to a large extent, to one particular Virginia-based brewery group.

In its first year of operation, 2009, brewpub Devils Backbone garnered two golds and a silver at the GABF. In 2010, two golds and a bronze. In 2011, the brewpub, now known as the "Basecamp," won one medal. But, then, at the 2012 GABF, it took eight medals, more than half the total of all the breweries in the three area jurisdictions, winning national Small Brewpub of the Year.

In 2013, Devils Backbone won again, as national Small Brewery of the Year, taking six of the region's fifteen medals. Last year, the brewery's production-only facility —which the company calls the 'Outpost'— won Mid-Size Brewery of the Year. Combined, the group won four medals out of the thirteen total for the region.

Devils Backbone won only one medal this year —albeit a gold medal— but, all in all, the brewery has had a magnificent seven-year run: twenty-six GABF medals. Any decrease this year is not a sign of diminishing quality, but rather a matter of numbers, a sign of the changing underlying national structure of the competition.

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Gauging the increasing difficulty of winning at the GABF

At the festival, the (U.S.) Brewers Association, the host organization, announced that 'craft' beer had reached a milestone in its fifty-year history. There are now four-thousand breweries in the United States, of which the overwhelming majority are considered 'craft' breweries.

Four thousand breweries in the United States.

Not all participated in the festival and competition, but the sheer numbers that did —and will do so in the competitions to come— ensures a difficult road to victory or dominance for any one brewery, let alone repeat medaling. To name but a few, there were no medals for such heavyweights as Sierra Nevada, Dogfish Head, Lagunitas (no stranger to controversy), New Belgium, and Boston Beer. According to the Association, there were 6,647 entries this year(twenty percent more than in 2014), from 1,552 breweries representing all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

Moving forward, it may be harder for mid-tier population states such as Virginia and Maryland, and small jurisdictions, such as Washington, D.C. to consistently win, show, or place well, or even at all. In 2011, according to the BA, there were 2,033 breweries in the U.S. In 2012: 2,456. In 2013: 2,917 breweries. In 2014: 3464, with 1.5 breweries opening every day.

Likewise for the future of multi-medal winning breweries. The most medals won by any one brewery was only three this year, achieved by only four breweries, nationwide. Compare that to 2012, when Devils Backbone won eight medals (and there are many examples of multi-medal runs by many other breweries in years past).

With a far greater numbers of breweries, and the population to support them, the big three of California, Colorado, and Oregon, will probably remain dominant for the near future, even though Texas is coming up fast, which is why Virginia's showing of ten medals including five golds, as the eighth highest medaling state this year —and its similar showing in the previous four years— is a strong feat. But, to put it in perspective: California garnered sixty-seven awards, almost twice the number of medals as second-place Colorado, and twenty-two gold medals, almost three times the next highest total, of Texas, at nine.

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The GABF 2015, by the numbers.

This year’s GABF competition saw its biggest panel of judges ever, with 242 beer experts from 15 countries, including the U.S., and 155 competition volunteers. The panel also evaluated 91 Pro-Am entries.

Overall competition highlights included:

38 first-time entering breweries won awards.

Top three states by ratio of medals to entries by state:
Maine: 21% with 14 entries and three medals
Rhode Island: 10% with 10 entries and one medal
North Dakota: 8% with 12 entries and one medal

Most medals won, with three medals each:
Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, Calif. (three medals: two gold, one bronze)
Sun King Brewing Co., Indianapolis, Ind. (three medals: one gold, one silver, one bronze)
Port City Brewing Co.; Alexandria, Va. (three medals: two silver, one bronze)
Left Hand Brewing Co.; Longmont, Colo. (three medals: one gold, two bronze)

Award-winning brewers received prestigious gold, silver and bronze medals in 92 beer categories covering 145 different beer styles (including all subcategories).The 2015 competition saw three new style categories:
Category 8: Chili Pepper Beer
Category 16: Session India Pale Ale
Category 24B: Mixed Culture Brett Beer
No gold medal was awarded in Category 6: Pumpkin Beer.

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Final Thoughts

The category with the most entries was #56: American-Style India Pale Ale. No surprise there, with three-hundred thirty-six entries. Props to BNS Brewing & Distilling Company, of Santee, California for winning gold for its Revolver IPA.

Best name for a winning beer? How about Toaster Pastry, from the 21st Amendment Brewery, in San Leandro, California, with which it won silver in Category #59, Double Red Ale.

It was pleasing to see Founders Brewing of Michigan (gold medal), Firestone-Walker of California (5 medals, 2 gold), and 10-Barrel of Oregon (2 medals) —all recently excommunicated by the BA as non-'craft'— all win medals. In fact, Firestone-Walker took Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year.

No gold awarded for Pumpkin Beer? Yeah! Maybe, no more recognition, ever? How are beers chosen for medals? See the GABF awards philosophy, after the jump.

Thank you to The Brewing Network which provided live streaming of the award ceremony, for the rest of us, not in Denver. It was remarkable, and heartening, to see the large amount of female brewers on stage, receiving awards. Not so, this year, for non-white brewers. That's something 'craft' beer needs to work on if it wishes to sustain growth, let alone reflect American demographics.

The GABF historically has been scheduled in October. It's earlier start this year may have reduced the number of entries in the Fresh or Wet Hop Ale to only thirty-four. Hops hadn't been harvested in time for the festival.

What's up with that crazy inflation of beer 'styles'? One-hundred forty-five style categories (and no cask ale category or subcategory)? Really? Uh ... well, that's a lost battle topic for another day.

Why not publish the judges' scores for all beers? A brewery might not win a medal, but still have a score in the 90s. The GABF is there, in part, to promote 'craft' beer business. Why not give your brewery members their beer-scores as valuable sales tools?

But as today should not be an occasion to dwell on criticism, but to offer praise for good brewing and brewers: congratulations, all!

Read more about this year's Great American Beer Festival, at the (U.S.) Brewers Association.
See the entire list of winners: here.

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Sunday, October 05, 2014

The Great American Beers of 2014: across the U.S. (and in the DMV).

Judges have judged. Medals have been awarded. Champions declared. Thousands of beers drunk. The 2014 Great American Beer Festival —held at the Colorado Convention Center, in Denver, Colorado, Thursday through Saturday, 2-4 October, with 49,000 good beer fans in attendance— is now history.

The Great American Beer Festival is the premier U.S. beer festival and competition. Each year, GABF represents the largest collection of U.S. beer ever served, in the format of a public tasting event plus a private competition. GABF was founded in 1982, and has been growing and evolving along with the American craft brewing industry ever since.

[...] The 2014 Great American Beer Festival competition awarded 268 medals (in 90 categories), plus three GABF Pro-Am medals, [from 1,309 breweries, in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.] In its 28th year, the 2014 competition surpassed all previous participation records... with 222 beer experts from 10 countries evaluating 5,507 commercial entries, plus 89 Pro-Am entries, with assistance from some 150 competition volunteers.

Gold
A world-class beer that accurately exemplifies the specified style, displaying the proper balance of taste, aroma and appearance.

Silver
An excellent beer that may vary slightly from style parameters while maintaining close adherence to the style and displaying excellent taste, aroma and appearance.

Bronze
A fine example of the style that may vary slightly from style parameters and/or have minor deviations in taste, aroma or appearance.

If judges believe that no beer in the category meets the quality and style-accuracy criteria, they may elect not to award a medal. Judges may award a beer with a silver or bronze medal and yet not award a gold medal.

If all the substyles recognized at this year's GABF were added to the number of all the style categories, the total count of beer styles for the competition would reach 180. As evidence of this conspicuous inflation, the 2014 GABF competition featured three new categories: Belgian-Style Fruit Beer, with 41 entries; Historical Beer, with 12 entries; and Kuyt Beer, which had no entries. Saké, for example, was considered a sub-style of Experimental Beer (Category #16). Please don't tell the Japanese that saké is only "experimental." And, the International Style Pale Ale (Category #51a)? What exactly does 'international' taste like? And, what could the difference possibly be between an American India Pale Ale (Category #55) and an American Strong Pale Ale (Category #53)?

The business and soul of 'craft' beer might be better served if the GABF, rather than birthing or disinterring styles, were to award scores in addition to medals (as wine and spirits do, for better or worse). Thus, even if a brewery might not secure one of three medals in a style-category, it might still receive a high score, and use that number to promote its image, and thus all of 'craft' beer.

According to The Full Pint —which 'live' tweeted the results as they were announced on Saturday— the top five most-entered categories were:

American India Pale Ale (279 entries)

Herb and Spice Beer (150 entries)

American-Style Pale Ale (145 entries)

American-Style Amber/Red Ale (140 entries)

Imperial India Pale Ale (135 entries)

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The Overall Champions

So ... the winners of the 2014 Great American Beer Festival —those with the bragging rights of best-beer-in-America (until next year)— are these. I'm not certain of the exact algorithm used to determine the results, but it must (I assume) involve medal count and strength of finish.

Small Brewpub of the Year
Bastone Brewery: Royal Oak, Michigan.
brewer: Rockne Van Meter
[He's hands-down the choice of Yours For Good Fermentables as the winning brewer with the hippest name.]

Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year
Brasserie Saint James: Reno, Nevada.
brewers: Josh Watterson & Matt Watterson

Large Brewpub of the Year
Beachwood BBQ & Brewing: Long Beach, California.
brewers: Julian Shrago & Ian McCall

Very Small Brewing Company of the Year
Draught Works: Missoula, Montana.
brewer: Draught Works Brew Team

Small Brewing Company of the Year
Marble Brewery: Albuquerque, New Mexico.
brewer: Team Marble

Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year
Devils Backbone Brewing Co.—Outpost: Lexington, Virginia.
brewer: DB Brewery Team

Large Brewing Company of the Year
AC Golden brewing Company: Golden, Colorado.
brewer: AC Golden Brewing Team
[AC Golden is a subsidiary of MillerCoors, itself a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company. It operates in the former pilot plant of Coors Brewing.]

Now, the state-medal math, thanks to Jeff Alworth of Beervana:

These are numbers somewhat in a vacuum, as the GABF does not reveal the number of breweries submitting from each state. But, still, the results are those expected at the top, and interesting beneath. It's worth reading Alworth's analysis.

You can see the list of all the winners in each category this year —and every year, dating back to 1983, when the GABF was first held— at the festival website: www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com.

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The DMV

Now, on to the winners in the DMV —that is, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia— the home territory for Yours For Good Fermentables.

Last year, in 2013, no beers from the District medalled at the GABF (although they have before). So, this year, hearty congratulations go to DC Brau for its silver medal, for The Citizen, in the Belgian-and French-style Ale division (Category #73).

At last year's GABF, Maryland grabbed only one medal, a bronze for Flying Dog, in Frederick. This year, the 'Free State' garnered five medals, including one gold by the Gordon-Biersch Brewpub, in Annapolis, for its Rauchbier.

In 2013, Virginia took home fourteen medals, four of them gold (two of those from Devils Backbone, in both the Lexington and Roseland locations, and one each from Port City, in Alexandria, and Lost Rhino, in Ashburn), the 5th most medals accrued by any state.

But, in 2014, Virginia won only seven medals, slipping to 9th/10th (as shown in the graph above). That's still a respectable showing, and includes two gold medals: one to Devils Backbone, for its Schwarzbier, and one to Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, for its Raspberry Stout," the first medal of any sort that a Richmond brewery has brought home from the GABF" (according to Richmond beer columnist Lee Graves).

In terms of degree-of-difficulty, brewer Kristi Mathews Griner of Capitol City Brewing Company, in Arlington, Virginia, should get a special commendation. Her Amber Waves took a silver in the American-Style Amber/Red Ale division, competing against one-hundred-thirty-nine other beers, the most of any category won in the DMV, and the fourth toughest competition, nationally. [Read her response, below, in the comments.]

But top honors must go to Devils Backbone, in Virginia, which not only won four medals —the only local multiple-winner— but repeated as a national champion for the third time in as many years.

At the 2012 GABF, the Devils Backbone 'Basecamp,' in Roseland, won Small Brewpub of the Year; in 2013, again, but as Small Brewery of the Year. This year, the brewery's production-only facility —which the company calls the 'Outpost'— won Mid-Size Brewery of the Year. In addition, in 2010, Devils Backbone won, globally, as the World Beer Cup Champion Small Brewpub. In a few short years, Devils Backbone has become the elite brewery of the area, and in the top tier, nationwide.

So, here they are: thirteen awards altogether in the DMV, for ten different breweries, including three gold medals. Congratulations to all!

Washington, D.C.
1 medal

Maryland
5 medals; 1 gold

Virginia
7 medals; 2 gold

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Thursday, January 23, 2014

Birthday in Beer: Charlie Papazian turns 65.

Charlie Papazian celebrates his 65th birthday today. It's a milestone for Mr. Papazian, and, by extension, for the entire modern 'good beer' revival movement in the United States —homebrewing and 'craft' brewing alike.

Educated as a nuclear engineer, Mr. Papazian, a homebrewer by hobby, founded the American Homebrewers Association in 1978, when homebrewing in the U.S. was technically illegal. Today, the hobby is legal in all 50 states. Papazian's efforts were a crucial part of that evolution.

In 1979, Mr. Papazian founded the Association of Brewers, now the Brewers Association (of which he is president) —the primary advocacy group for small and independent breweries in the U.S.

In 1982, he organized the first ever Great American Beer Festival —since held annually, and considered the premier annual national competition for American breweries. In 1996, he organized the bi-annual World Beer Cup.

In 1984, Mr. Papazian published his seminal how-to, The Complete Joy of Home Brewing. This book would inspire and educate successive generations of homebrewers, some of whom would later convert their avocations into professions (including the author of this blog). The book is still in print, now on its 3rd edition.

Mr. Papazian's iconic admonition has long been: "Relax; don't worry; have a homebrew." Inscribed with that, here's my dog-eared ('photo-shopped') 1991 autographed edition of his book.

The late, great beer writer Michael Jackson wrote the book's forward. This is the final paragraph:

Wherever my travels take me in the United States, and whichever commercial beers I am asked to taste, whether by a magazine, a scientific institute, or a brewer, I always seem to finish up in someone's garden at the weekend, enjoying their own home-produced vintage. My hosts almost always turn out to be members of the American Homebrewers' Association. It happened again the other day, in Washington, D.C. My hosts were a physicist and his schoolteacher wife. They had friends present, an executive in a government agency and a couple of journalists from a famous newspaper. We enjoyed that same pleasure usually experienced in cooking together, except that we were brewing. While we went about it, we sampled the recently matured product of their last brew. "Let's drink a toast," suggested our hosts. "Lets drink to Charlie Papazian." We did, and so will you.

Have a happy birthday, today, Charlie!

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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Triumph in Denver

"Thousands of unnecessary microbrews on display."

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog —of Conan O'Brien infamy— visited the Great American Beer Festival, 10-12 October 2013, in Denver, Colorado. One of his targets was Paul Gatza, executive director of the Brewers Association, organizer of the Fest.

Yeah, Triumph, yeah? Well, well ... you sniff doggy bum. So, there.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

At the GABF 2013: Who's in, in the DMV?

Tickets for the Great American Beer Festival (10-12 October in Denver, Colorado) went on sale today at 12 noon ET. Nineteen minutes later, they had been sold out.

Think only good-beer drinkers had it bad?

Earlier in July, during brewery registration for the GABF, many U.S. breweries experienced great difficulties in getting their beers into the Festival. And many didn't.

The Brewers Association has just released a list of those who will be making it to the big show. Unfortunately, there is a lengthy waiting list of those breweries who didn't make it. Here is a list of the eighteen breweries in the tri-state area of Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (YFGF's home turf), who will be participating.

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Washington, D.C.
- 3 Stars Brewing
Maryland
- Evolution Craft Brewing (Salisbury)
- Flying Dog (Frederick)
- Full Tilt (Baltimore)
- Heavy Seas (Halethorpe)
- Union Craft (Baltimore)
Virginia
- Blue Mountain (Afton)
- Bull & Bones (Blacksburg)
- Capitol City (Arlington)
- Corcoran Brewing (Leesburg)
- Devils Backbone (Roseland and Lexington)
- Great American Restaurants (Sweetwater Tavern)
- Lost Rhino (Ashburn)
- Mad Fox (Falls Church)
- Port City (Alexandria)
- Smartmouth (Norfolk)
- Starr Hill (Crozet)

And, if national chain brewpubs Gordon-Biersch and Rock Bottom are included, the area can count at least two more participants.

Congratulations to all, and good luck to all in the national competition.

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Saturday, October 01, 2011

Winners at the 2011 GABF

The awards at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival have been announced.

This was the 30th iteration of the GABF, organized annually in Denver, Colorado, by the Brewers Association —a trade association for small American breweries. Think of the competition as the Oscars of American beer, and the winners, as among the best in their profession.

Three medals —gold, silver, bronze— were awarded in 83 'styles.' In addition, overall recognition was given in the categories of Small Brewery, Medium Size Brewery, Large Brewery, Small Brewpub, Large Brewpub, and Brewpub Group. Awards were also given in a Pro-Am Competition.

From the festival press release:

The 2011 Great American Beer Festival® (GABF) competition drew an impressive field of competitors, with 2011 topping last year's entries by 11 percent. GABF remains the largest commercial beer competition in the world, with 3,930 beers vying for medals (compared to 3,523 entries in 2010). Competition entries were received from 526 breweries from 48 states plus Puerto Rico.

The DMV
YFGF —this blog— is mid-Atlantic-based. So, first, I'll offer felicitations to the seven DMV winning breweries at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival: that is, those in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area.

In Maryland, three medals were won by three breweries: one Gold, two Bronze. In Virginia, eight medals were won by four breweries: three Gold, four Silver, and one Bronze. D.C.? Next year! Local overall bragging rights go to Mark Thompson at Starr Hill, in Crozet, Virginia. Congratulations!

GOLD

Category #25: Kellerbier or Zwickelbier
Mad Fox Brewing Company (Falls Church, Virginia)
brewmaster: Bill Madden
Kolsch Kellerbier
Category #34: Vienna-Style Lager
Starr Hill Brewery (Crozet, Virginia)
brewmaster: Mark Thompson
Jomo Lager
Category #45: English Style Summer Ale
Blue Mountain Brewery (Afton, Virginia)
brewmaster: Taylor Smack
Summer Lovin'
Category #83: Barley Wine-Style Ale
Flying Dog Brewery (Frederick, Maryland)
brewmaster: Matt Brophy
Horn Dog Barleywine

SILVER

Category #15: Indigenous Beer
Starr Hill Brewing Company (Crozet, Virginia)
brewmaster: Mark Thompson
Monticello Reserve Ale
Category #17: American-Belgo-Style Ale
Blue Mountain Brewery (Afton, Virginia)
brewmaster: Taylor Smack
Blue Reserve
Category 26: Smoke Beer
Starr Hill Brewing Company (Crozet, Virginia)
brewmaster: Mark Thompson
Smoke Out
Category #31: Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest
Devils Backbone Brewing Company (Roseland, Virginia)
brewmaster: Jason Oliver
Tommy Two Fists

BRONZE

Category #45: English-style Summer Ale
Mad Fox Brewing Company (Falls Church, Virginia)
brewmaster: Bill Madden
English Summer Ale
Category #58: Scottish-Style Ale
Rock Bottom Brewery (Bethesda, Maryland)
brewer: Geoff Lively
Brown Bear Brown
Category #64: German-Style Sour Ale
Gordon-Biersch (Rockville, Maryland)
brewer: Kevin Blodger
Gose

National winners

Congratulations, of course, to all the winners! Breweries competed within 83 styles divided among Ales, Lagers, and so-called 'Hybrid' styles. The Ales were further divided into 41 subcategories, the Lagers into 18, and the 'Hybrids' into 26, Prius' excluded. That's a total of 168 style designations. The full list of styles can be viewed here, and as a downloadable pdf file here.

Three medals were awarded in each parent category only — Bronze, Silver, and Gold— thus for a total of 248 medals, plus 3 in a Pro-Am competition, in which a brewery and a homebrewer cooperate. (If the math doesn't quite add up, it's because there was no Gold awarded in Category #29, Bohemian-style Pilsener.)

Best-of show honors were awarded to six breweries based on some sort of algorithm combining brewery size, total medals won, number of competitors in those medals, and the strength of the medals (i.e, Gold being best):

Small Brewing Company / Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Chuckanut Brewery (Bellingham, Washington) / Will Kemper
Mid-Size Brewing Company / Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Firestone Walker Brewing Company (Paso Robles, California) / Matthew Brynildson
Large Brewing Company / Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Pabst Brewing Company (Woodridge, Illinois) / Bob Newman
Small Brewpub / Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port Ocean Beach (San Diego, California) / Yiga Miyashiro
Large Brewpub / Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port Carlsbad (Carlsbad, California) / Pizza Port Brew Guys
Brewpub Group / Brewpub Group Brewer of the Year
TAPS Fish House & Brewery (Brea, California) / Victor Novak

In Conclusion

One hundred and sixty-eight style designations? To borrow from another sport: "You can't be serious!" YFGF is not alone is dismissing this creeping style inflation (and consequent dilution). As only one datum: What exactly is an International-Style Pale Ale?

Since there are only 3 awards given in each category, without numerical scores determined, many deserving beers (and deserving breweries) are slighted. I see no reason not to publish scores. The point of the GABF is to celebrate and to promote American breweries. Ignoring all those non-top-three beers — many of which would be potentially high-scoring— is a disservice to those beers, and more importantly, to the industry, which the Brewers Association, the sponsoring association, ostensibly represents.

It's not merely quality of a beer or skill in brewing that's rewarded. It's cleverness in gaming the system —not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that. Though any one brewery might win, the odds favor those breweries that enter as many categories as possible, that brew beers to match judges' style expectations, and that enter beers in categories that are ill-defined or that have fewer participants.

Be that as it may be, an award at the Great American Beer Festival does indeed give a brewery bragging rights as tops in its field (at least for a year) and indicates a level of brewing acumen, acknowledged by the judgement of its peers. For all the rest: wait till next year!

Finally, congratulations must be offered to the Brewers Association, and all the volunteers involved. The logistics of running such a mammoth celebration and competition are staggering. And special recognition must be offered to Charlie Papazian, the founder of the Brewers Association, the American Homebrewers Association, and the Great American Beer Festival. Thirty years ago, he had a crazy dream, and made it real.

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An interactive list of all winners can be viewed at the GABF website: here.
A downloadable pdf file: here.
A simpler list, published by BeerNews.org: here.
Some additional metrics, complied by Jay Brooks: here
The 2012 GABF has been scheduled for 11-13 October, in Denver, Colorado, of course.