Washington breweries claimed 16 of the 272 medals at 2020 Great American Beer Festival, that count tied for 4th most of any state in the country behind California, Colorado and Oregon. Arguably the most prestigious and competitive beer competition in the country if not the world, this years GABF was broadcast virtually via a streaming ceremony on Friday, October 16th.

Washington breweries came out with some huge and important wins, including a dominant performance in some of the big IPA categories. Gold medals in Imperial Hazy IPA, American-style IPA and Strong Pale Ale, and additional silvers and bronzes in similar. For the first time since 2016 when Georgetown Brewing Bodhizhafa won gold, a Washington brewer claimed top honors again in the American-style IPA category. That helped Seattle tie with Bellingham for the most medals in the state, with The Good Society also claiming the award for Best Small Brewpub and Small Brewer of 2020 giving Washington’s largest city the slight edge.

Bellingham, Washington brewers proved what many of us already knew, it’s one of the top brewing cities on the west coast. Long lead by Chuckanut Brewing’s substantial history of wins, Bellingham has became a top craft lager destination with 4 of the regions 6 GABF medals going to lagers. Chuckanut added 3 more medals to their haul this year.

Washington GABF Highlights:

• Gold in the second most competitive category American-style IPA for Perry Street Brewing

• Gold and Silver in the 5th most competitive category Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale

• Gold and Silver medals in the Light Lager category both go to Bellingham, Washington breweries.

• Chuckanut Brewing leads the state with 3 medals, the second highest total of any brewer this year at GABF.

• Best Small Brewpub and Small Brewer award goes to The Good Society of Seattle.

WASHINGTON MEDALS:

Medal | Brewery | Beer Name | Style Category

Gold - Twin Sisters Brewing: Strawberry Zwickelbier (American-Style Fruit Beer) Bellingham, WA

Gold - Perry Street Brewing: IPA (American-Style India Pale Ale) Spokane, WA

Gold - Grains of Wrath: Built For Speed (American-Style Strong Pale Ale) Camas, WA

Gold - The Good Society Brewing: First To Fall (Belgian-Style Ale or French-Style Ale) Seattle, WA

Gold - Chuckanut Brewery: Chuckanut Maibock (Bock) Bellingham, WA

Bronze - Lowercase Brewing: Brown Ale (English-Style Brown Ale) Seattle, WA

Bronze - Reuben’s Brews: Fresh Hop Hazealicious (Fresh Hop Beer) Seattle, WA

Gold - Burke-Gilman Brewing: The Hopsplainer (Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale) Seattle, WA

Silver - Cloudburst Brewing: Not A Scientist (Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale) Seattle, WA

Silver - Bale Breaker Brewing: Hazy L IPA (Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale) Yakima, WA

Silver - Reuben's Brews: Reuben’s Crush (Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale) Seattle, WA

Gold - Wander Brewing: Wander Litely (Light Lager) Bellingham, WA

Silver - Chuckanut Brewery: Chuck Lite (Light Lager) Bellingham, WA

Bronze - Kulshan Brewing Co.: Helles (Munich-Style Helles) Bellingham, WA

Bronze - Bron Yr Aur Brewing: Thriller Pillar Porter (Robust Porter) Naches, WA

Bronze - Chuckanut Brewery: Chuckanut Rye (Rye Beer) Bellingham, WA

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