The 40th anniversary of the Great American Beer Festival wrapped up recently in Denver, and while the Western Slope breweries didn’t bring home any hardware, the state of Colorado had a very strong showing!
Left Hand Brewing of Longmont led the way, being named Brewery of the Year in the 15,001 - 100,000 barrel category, propped up by a Silver medal in the Oatmeal Stout category for their “Milk Stout”, and a Bronze medal for “St. Vrain” in the Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale category.
In total, Colorado brought home 27 medals including 5 of the Gold variety. Those Gold medals went to:
The Post Brewing Co’s (Lafayette) “El Corn” in the category of International Dark Lager
Crooked Stave’s (Denver) “Stay the Funk In” for Belgian Style Sour Ale
Our Mutual Friend Brewing CO’s (Denver) “Trystero” for Brett Beer
“Barrel Aged Soft Skills” by Jessup Farm Barrel House (Fort Collins) in the category of Wood and Barrel Aged Beer
And, in the most competitive category with 423 entries, Denver’s Comrade Brewing Co. was top dog, bringing home the Gold for their American Style IPA, “More Dodge, Less Ram”.
While the 27 medals earned by Colorado breweries put the Centennial State in 2nd place in terms of medal count, that paled in comparison to California, which secured the most hardware with 78 medals. The Golden State was led by North Park Beer CO. in San Diego with their 1 Gold, 1 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals, leading them to being named Brewery of the Year in the 2,001 - 5,000 barrel category.
More fun than tallying up the medals during the awards ceremony, however, was getting to hear some creative, amusing, and often hilarious beer names. Some of the stand-outs were:
Seductive Mullet Amber Ale
Hooked On Onyx
Polar Bear's Toenails
THE FULL LEMONTY
Dark Helmet
Fat Pug
Three Ryes Men
Crispy Boiz II Men
Full Malted Jacket
Anhyzer Kush
All-in-all, it was another impressive showing for Colorado beer and to celebrate, we're running a Buy 3, Get 1 Free promo on our Beers of Grand Junction Tour. Book your tour now through November 3rd (tour can be for any day in 2022) and with at least 3 paid guests, choose the Free Guest option! Gather up your friends and see what Grand Junction beer is all about!
Cheers everyone!
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