It was a big weekend for beer lovers out in Denver, Colorado the first weekend of October. It was the 30th edition of the Great American Beer Festival. Several Michigan Brewers represented our state and won medals!
There were 780 breweries at the festival and they served over 3,800 beers to the 60,000 people that attended. (I went to this back in 2013 and had a GREAT time!)
Every year there is a judged competition for the different style beers. This year 1,752 breweries from 50 states, plus Washington, DC, took part in the competition. The GABF awarded gold, silver, and bronze meals in 96 style categories to the 7,227 entries (up nearly 9% from last year).
So how did our Michigan brewers do in the competition? They brought home a total of 10 metals — 2 gold, 2 silver, and 6 bronze!
The Michigan brewers who brought home a medal included: Bell’s Brewery Inc., Brewery Vivant, Cedar Springs Brewing Co., Detroit Beer Co., Founders Brewing Co., Latitude 42, Railtown Brewing Co., River’s Edge Brewing Co., Roak Brewing Co., and Wolverine State Brewing Co. (Many other Michigan breweries were represented at the GABF including Atwater Brewing Co., Dark Horse Brewing Co., Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, The Livery, Mitten Brewing Co., New Holland Brewing Co., Odd Side Ales, Perrin Brewing Co., Saugatuck Brewing Co., and Short’s Brewing Co.)
Here is a list of our Michigan winners:
Category 30: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 64 Entries
Bronze: Angelina, Brewery Vivant, Grand Rapids, MI
Category 32: Aged Beer – 40 Entries
Silver: Expedition Stout, Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Comstock, MI
Category 34: Smoke Beer – 65 Entries
Gold: Raucher, Wolverine State Brewing Co., Ann Arbor, MI
Category 38: American-Style Cream Ale – 65 Entries
Bronze: Broadway Light, Detroit Beer Co., Detroit, MI
Category 55: English-Style India Pale Ale – 43 Entries
Bronze: Live Wire, Roak Brewing Co., Royal Oak, MI
Category 63: Imperial Red Ale – 62 Entries
Silver: reDANKulous – Backstage Series, Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, MI
Category 75: German-Style Wheat Ale – 33 Entries
Bronze: Küsterer Original Weissbier, Cedar Springs Brewing Co., Cedar Springs, MI
Category 88: Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout – 41 Entries
Bronze: Bangin The Mash, Latitude 42° Brewing Co., Portage, MI
Category 89: Export Stout – 43 Entries
Gold: Dirty Frank Stout, River’s Edge Brewing Co., Milford, MI
Category 91: Sweet Stout or Cream Stout – 71 Entries
Bronze: Good Mooed Milk Stout, Railtown Brewing Co., Dutton, MI
If you would like to see the complete list of all the winners, here is a link to the Great American Beer Festival webpage.
Congratulations to all of our brewers who brought home medals this year!
Now, let’s go grab a beer.
