The Great American Beer Festival was held online this year instead of the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, but Oregon brewers didn’t let that keep them from celebrating big wins. The pandemic prevented an in-person festival but not the prestigious American beer competition which was judged as usual with extra precautions.

The Brewers Association (BA) awarded 272 medals* to 240 breweries across the country during the 2020 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition awards ceremony. The best beers in 91 beer categories covering 170 different beer styles (including all subcategories) were awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals during a virtual ceremony hosted on The Brewing Network. 

Judges for the 34th edition of the celebrated competition evaluated 8,806 entries from 1,720 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. Socially distanced judging took place in 35 sessions over 18 days with strict safety measures in place. The awards ceremony was held virtually on Friday evening, kicking off the two-day online programming portion of the Great American Beer Festival. 

“This year’s GABF competition may have looked a little different, but the beers entered into the competition were as impressive and innovative as ever,” said Chris Swersey, competition manager, Great American Beer Festival. “This has arguably been one of the most challenging years breweries have ever faced, so we hope these awards serve as a symbol not only of brewing excellence but also the resiliency of the craft brewing community as a whole.”

No one Oregon brewery dominated this year, but the state cleaned up 22 total medals plus a few other brewing group awards recognitions. Each of the following Oregon brewers came home with two medals apiece: Old Town Brewing, Three Creeks Brewing, Coldfire Brewing, pFriem Family Brewers, Alesong Brewing & Blending, and Von Ebert Brewing.

• Oregon brewers win 22 medals + 2 brewing group and brewpub awards.

• Oregon brewers won both bronze and silver in the highly competitive Ametican-style IPA category.

• Oregon brewers completely swept the Specialty Saison category!

• Monkless Belgian Ales of Bend, Oregon was named Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year.

• Three Creeks Brewing of Sisters, Oregon was named Brewery Group of the Year.

OREGON GABF 2020 MEDALS:

Medal | Beer Name | Brewery | City, State | Category | Year

Bronze | Pilsner | Old Town Brewing | Portland,OR | American Pilsener

Bronze | Paulie's Not Irish | Old Town Brewing | Portland, OR | American-Style Amber/Red Ale

Silver | Updrift India Pale Ale | Pelican Brewing Co. - Tillamook | Tillamook, OR | American-Style India Pale Ale

Bronze | Nothing Noble | Von Ebert Brewing - Pearl | Portland, OR | American-Style India Pale Ale

Gold | Whoopty Whoop Wheat | Wild Ride Brewing | Redmond, OR | American-Style Wheat Beer

Bronze | 10 Barrel TWheat | 10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Bend Pub | Bend, OR | American-Style Wheat Beer

Gold | Dubbel or Nothing | Monkless Belgian Ales | Bend, OR | Belgian-Style Abbey Ale

Silver | Peche | Block 15 Brewing Co. | Corvallis, OR | Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale

Gold | Perle Haggard | Ex Novo Brewing Co. | Portland, OR | Bohemian-Style Pilsener

Silver | Touch of Brett | Alesong Brewing & Blending | Eugene, OR | Brett Beer

Silver | Five Pine Porter | Three Creeks Brewing Co. | Sisters, OR | Brown Porter

Bronze | Old Normal | Bend Brewing Co. | Bend, OR | Brown Porter

Silver | Extra Special StormBreaker | StormBreaker Brewing | Portland, OR | Extra Special Bitter

Gold | Conelick'r | Three Creeks Brewing Co. | Sisters, OR | Fresh Hop Beer

Gold | Kolsch | pFriem Family Brewers | Hood River, OR | German-Style Koelsch

Gold | Breakside Gose | Breakside Brewery | Portland, OR | German-Style Sour Ale

Gold | Japanese Lager | pFriem Family Brewers | Hood River, OR | International Pilsener

Gold | Wild James | Coldfire Brewing | Eugene, OR | Mixed-Culture Brett Beer

Bronze | Pumpkin Patch Ale | Rogue Ales & Spirits | Newport, OR | Pumpkin Beer

Gold | Farmhouse Cuvée | Alesong Brewing & Tasting Room | Eugene, OR | Specialty Saison

Silver | Seeds of Infinity | Coldfire Brewing | Eugene, OR | Specialty Saison

Bronze | Obeisance | Von Ebert Brewing - Glendoveer | Portland, OR | Specialty Saison

GABF COMPETITION STATISTICS

• 34th edition of the GABF competition 

• 8,806 beers judged

• 1,720 breweries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.

• 115 judges from 21 states

• Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 97

• Category with the highest number of entries: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (377)

• 272 total medals awarded 

• 240 medal-winning breweries 

• 337 first-time GABF entrants

• 19 first-time GABF winners

 

MOST-ENTERED STYLE CATEGORIES

The winners of the top five most-entered categories were:

Category 58: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (377 entries) – Sponsored by The Cincinnati Insurance Companies 

GOLD: Spellbinder, Wren House Brewing Co., Phoenix, AZ 

SILVER: Yojo, Moonraker Brewing Co., Auburn, CA 

BRONZE: Wicked Pawesome, Metazoa Brewing Co. - Stringtown Production Facility, Indianapolis, IN 

 

Category 57: American Style India Pale Ale (355 entries) – Sponsored by The Ardagh Group 

GOLD: IPA, Perry Street Brewing, Spokane, WA 

SILVER: Updrift India Pale Ale, Pelican Brewing Co. - Tillamook, Tillamook, OR 

BRONZE: Nothing Noble, Von Ebert Brewing - Pearl, Portland, OR 

 

Category 39: German Style Pilsener (200 entries) – Sponsored by Micro Matic 

GOLD: Sprockets, Gravely Brewing Co., Louisville, KY 

SILVER: Prost Pils, Prost Brewing Co., Denver, CO 

BRONZE: Pils, Kansas City Bier Co., Kansas City, MO 

 

Category 28: Wood & Barrel-Aged Strong Stout (199 entries) – Sponsored by BeerHole 

GOLD: A Night to End All Dawns, Kane Brewing Co., Ocean, NJ 

SILVER: Ruckus, Melvin Brewing - Thai Me Up, Jackson, WY 

BRONZE: Grasp of Oak, Moksa Brewing Co., Rocklin, CA 

 

Category 60: Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale (192 entries) – Sponsored by The Alison Group 

GOLD: The Hopsplainer, Burke-Gilman Brewing Co., Seattle, WA 

SILVER: Not A Scientist, Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle, WA 

BRONZE: Sugar on My Tongue, Highland Park Brewery, Los Angeles, CA 

 

MOST MEDALED BREWERIES

The most medals won by individual breweries included:

Sun King Brewery - Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN – 4 medals 

GOLD – Afternoon Delight, Category 26 - Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer 

BRONZE – Cherry Busey, Category 30 - Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer 

BRONZE – Pachanga, Category 34 - Light Lager 

BRONZE – Sunlight Cream Ale, Category 49 - Golden or Blonde Ale 

 

Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden, CO – 3 medals 

GOLD – Featherweight Pale Ale, Category 53 - American-Style Pale Ale 

BRONZE – Vladimir Brutin, Category 18 - Experimental India Pale Ale 

BRONZE – Let's Talk About Mex, Category 37 - American-Style Cream Ale 

 

Chuckanut Brewery - North Nut, Bellingham, WA – 3 medals 

GOLD – Chuckanut Maibock, Category 47 - Bock 

SILVER – Chuckanut Chuck Lite, Category 34 - Light Lager 

BRONZE – Chuckanut Rye, Category 12 - Rye Beer 

 

Riip Beer Co., Huntington Beach, CA – 3 medals 

GOLD – Tangible Passion, Category 82 - Belgian-Style Specialty Ale 

SILVER – The Riizzo, Category 10 - Coffee Stout or Porter 

SILVER – Black the Riipper, Category 69 - American-Style Black Ale or American-Style Stout 

 

23 individual breweries won 2 medals 

213 individual breweries won 1 medal

 

BREWERY AND BREWPUB OF THE YEAR AWARDS

(See criteria here)

PACKAGING BREWERIES:

Very Small Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group 

<1,000 barrels produced in 2019 

Five Branches Brewing, Tarpon Springs, FL; Jerry Brown 

 

Small Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by ABS Commercial 

1,000 – 14,999 barrels produced in 2019 

Big aLICe Brewing Co., Long Island City, NY; Big aLICe Production Team 

 

Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year – Sponsored by MicroStar Logistics 

15,000 – 6,000,000 barrels produced in 2019 

Lost Forty Brewing, Little Rock, AR; Lost Forty Brewing Team 

 

BREWPUBS:

Small Brewpub of the Year – Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. 

<750 barrels produced in 2019 

The Good Society, Seattle, WA; Phil Cammarano & Nick Berger 

 

Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year – Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group 

750 – 1,500 barrels produced in 2019 

Monkless Belgian Ales, Bend, OR; Todd Clement & Chris Dinsdale 

 

Large Brewpub of the Year – Sponsored by Ska Fabricating 

Over 1,500 barrels produced in 2019 

The Freehouse, Minneapolis, MN; The Freehouse Team 

 

LARGE BREWERIES AND MULTIPLE LOCATION BREWERIES:

Brewery Group of the Year – Sponsored by Live Oak Bank 

Over 6,000,000 barrels produced in 2019 or multi-location breweries wishing to compete as a group 

Three Creeks Brewing Co., Sisters, OR; Team Three Creeks 

*Out of a possible 273 medals in 91 beer style categories, 272 were awarded. The bronze medal was not given in Category 20, Gluten-Free Beer.

The 2020 Great American Beer Festival was made possible in part by the generous support of its sponsors. 

 

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