At the strangest in-person year yet, the 2021  Great American Beer Festival (GABF) awards ceremony was held last night in the Bellco Theater at the Colorado Convention Center. The GABF is the most prestigious beer competition in the U.S., which is normally held near the end of an actual beer festival in the mile high city. Because of COVID, this years festival was canceled but the awards still took place, only it was during the annual Craft Brewers Conference instead.

290 medals were handed out to 265 breweries across the country in this years competition, it was the largest competition to date with 97 beer categories covering 175 different beer styles and gold, silver, and bronze medals handed out in nearly every category. What made this years awards especially strange was a abbreviated but still fun event held in the evening rather than 8am like usual. The crowd inside the Bellco is usually hungover but still raucous, but because of restrictions this year was only about 1/3 full and the attendees notably more subdued.

Oregon breweries came home with 15 medals, as compared to 22 in 2020, that is a precipitous drop but also the exact same amount they won in 2019. Most of the brewers themselves were notably absent from the ceremony this year, which kept the hooting and hollering to a minimum and few people to actually go on-stage to accept their awards. It was also an unusual group of winners, while some of the mainstays of the competition like Breakside Brewery and Barley Browns notched some big wins, Oregon was behind in the medal count and many of the big players missing entirely.

Major Pacific Northwest Victories:

One biggest stories coming out of the pacific northwest this year was Cloudburst Brewing’s silver for Pilsner, and Gold for Kellerbier, which resulted in them winning Brewery of the Year in the smaller 1,001 - 2,000 barrel range. The final win is based on overall scores of your beers entered, and this year competition organization the Brewers Association added categories for many different sizes of breweries based on production. It’s also interesting when a brewery known for one thing actually proves how great they are at something completely different, in this case Cloudburst Brewing is known primarily for IPA’s and hoppy beers, but won in two German lager categories. Congratulations!

Von Ebert Brewing notched probably the biggest win for Oregon, a GOLD medal for Volatile Substance in the extremely competitive American IPA category. For years the American IPA was the hardest medal to win because it had the most competition, it has now only slightly been edged out by the Juicy/Hazy IPA category but is still arguably the most sought after medal of the entire GABF. For Von Ebert to win GOLD is a big, big deal and if we have anything to say about it should cement them as one of the top IPA brewers in Oregon if not the entire country. It’s also atleast the third time an Oregon brewer has won GOLD for American IPA'; Barley Browns Pallet Jack IPA and Breakside’s flagship IPA have also won it in past years.

Other interesting takeaways from this years Oregon winners:

• Ex Novo Brewing won medals for both their Oregon and New Mexico breweries.

• Breakside Brewery won their first medal for a lager, and the longtime fan favorite Passionfruit Sour nabbed a gold.

• The nearly completely unknown Crowing Hen Brewing just opened in 2020 and won a silver for their saison.

• Strangely absent from this years winners list were 10 Barrel Brewing, Pelican Brewing, Sunriver Brewing, GoodLife, Wayfinder and others….

  
  

FULL LIST OF OREGON’s 2021 GABF MEDAL WINNERS:

American-Style India Pale Ale
GOLD: Volatile Substance – Von Ebert Brewing – Pearl, Portland, OR

American-Style Strong Pale Ale
SILVER: IPA - pFriem Family Brewers - Hood River, OR

American Amber Lager
BRONZE: Breakside Disco Queen Lager - Breakside Brewery – NW Slabtown Portland, OR

American Amber/Red Ale
BRONZE: Paulie’s Not Irish - Old Town Brewing - Portland, OR

Australian Pale Ale
SILVER: Strata IPA - Worthy Brewing Co. Bend, OR

Belgian Fruit Beer
GOLD: Stonefruit Symphony - Alesong Brewing & Tasting Room - Eugene, OR

Extra Special Bitter
GOLD: Velvet ESB - Hopworks Urban Brewery - Portland, OR

German-Style Altbier
GOLD: Altbier - Block 15 Brewery & Tap Room - Corvallis, OR

International Pale Ale or New Zealand Pale Ale
SILVER: Intergalactic Pale Reality - Ex Novo Brewing Co. - Portland, OR

Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale
SILVER: Newport Daze Hazy Pale Ale - Rogue EastSide Pub & Pilot Brewery - Portland, OR

Other Strong Beer
SILVER: Dee Wright Imperial Brown - Deschutes Brewery – Bend Public House Bend, OR

Session Beer
GOLD: Stonefly Session Ale - Three Creeks Brewing Co. – Production Sisters, OR

Session India Pale Ale
GOLD: Moxee Water - Barley Brown’s Beer - Baker City, OR

Specialty Berliner-Style Weisse
GOLD: Breakside Passionfruit Sour - Breakside Brewery (SE Taproom) - Milwaukie, OR

Specialty Saison
SILVER: French Prairie - Crowing Hen Brewing - Carlton, OR

 

Judging took place in 34 sessions over 17 days with strict health and safety measures in place. A total of 170 judges evaluated 9,680 entries from 2,192 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The awards ceremony was held at the Bellco Theatre in Denver on Friday evening during the Craft Brewers Conference® and was livestreamed on The Brewing Network.

To allow for the fall hop harvest and beer production, and to include Fresh Hop beers in this prestigious competition, 78 Fresh Hop Beer category entries will compete in early October, with winners announced Friday, October 15.

GABF Competition Statistics:

• 35th edition of the GABF competition

• 9,680 beers judged

• 2,192 breweries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico

• 170 judges

• Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 99.6

• Category with the highest number of entries: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (427)

• 290 total medals awarded

• 265 medal-winning breweries

• 425 first-time GABF entrants

• 30 first-time entrant GABF medal winners

 

“Despite being forced to cancel the festival portion of GABF, our brewing community rallied together to make this year’s GABF competition one for the books—our largest competition judged to date,” said Chris Swersey, competition director, Great American Beer Festival. “Judges continue to be impressed with the quality and innovation of all entries they evaluated. The Brewers Association is proud to honor this year’s deserving winners. We look forward to celebrating in person together next year.”

 

As previously announced, the Great American Beer Festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary October 6-8, 2022, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. 

MOST-ENTERED STYLE CATEGORIES

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

 

Category 64: JUICY OR HAZY INDIA PALE ALE (427 entries) – Sponsored by Antigo Zeon

GOLD: DeadHead IPA Series: TourBus - DESTIHL Brewery, Normal, IL

SILVER: Art is Hard - North Park Beer Co., San Diego, CA

BRONZE: Blissed - Attitude Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

 

Category 63: AMERICAN-STYLE INDIA PALE ALE (404 entries) – Sponsored by Micro Matic

GOLD: Volatile Substance - Von Ebert Brewing – Pearl, Portland, OR

SILVER: JAF IPA - JAFB Wooster Brewery, Wooster, OH

BRONZE: Bullitt - All Season Brewing Co., Los Angeles, CA

 

Category 25: FRUITED AMERICAN SOUR ALE (249 entries) – Sponsored by Amoretti

GOLD: Sherbet Drip - Fall River Brewing Co., Redding, CA

SILVER: Tropical Hurt Locker - Short Fuse Brewing Co., Schiller Park, IL

BRONZE: Rasmine - Lynnwood Brewing Concern, Raleigh, NC

 

Category 80: GERMAN-STYLE WHEAT ALE (226 entries)

GOLD: Hefeweizen - JAFB Wooster Brewery, Wooster, OH

SILVER: Küsterer Original Weissbier - Cedar Springs Brewing Co., Cedar Springs, MI

BRONZE: Hazy Skies Hefeweizen - Pilot Brewing Co., Charlotte, NC

 

Category 43: GERMAN-STYLE PILSENER (210 entries) – Sponsored by John I Haas, Inc.

GOLD: Meanwhile Pilsner - Meanwhile Brewing Co., Austin, TX

SILVER: Rail Pass - Bingo Beer Co., Richmond, VA

BRONZE: Golem Czech Pils - Gemüt Biergarten, Columbus, OH

 

MOST MEDALED BREWERIES

The most medals won by an individual brewery:

 

Moontown Brewing Co. - Whitestown, IN – 3 Medals

SILVER: Moonlite – 40: American Cream Ale

BRONZE: 40th Parallel – 44: Bohemian-Style Pilsener

BRONZE: Skool House Bock – 51: Bock

 

Additionally, 15 breweries won two medals.

 

BREWERY OF THE YEAR AWARDS

(See criteria here)

 

0 – 250 Barrels

Radiant Beer Co., Anaheim, CA; Andrew Bell & Radiant Beer Co. Team

 

251 – 500 Barrels – Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group

Main & Six Brewing Co., Jacksonville, FL; Dennis Espinosa & Alex Leuthold

 

501 – 1,000 Barrels – Sponsored by Fermentis

Moontown Brewing Co., Whitestown, IN; Cody Peczkowski

 

1,001 – 2,000 Barrels – Sponsored by ABS Commercial

Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle, WA; Steve Luke & Zach Kornfeld

 

2,001 – 5,000 Barrels – Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group

Short Fuse Brewing Co., Schiller Park, IL; Brian Lagro & Craig Kofod

 

5,001 – 15,000 Barrels – Sponsored by MicroStar Logistics

Sudwerk Brewing Co., Davis, CA; Team Sudwerk

 

15,001 – 100,000 Barrels – Sponsored by Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.

Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, ME; Team Allagash

 

Brewery Group – Sponsored by Live Oak Bank

Over 100,000 barrels produced in 2020 or multi-location breweries wishing to compete as a group

Metazoa Brewing Co., Indianapolis, IN; Metazoa Brewing Team

 

 

Editor’s note: Photos for media use are available on the GABF website.

*Out of a possible 291 medals in 97 beer style categories, 290 were awarded. The gold medal was not awarded in category 96: Scotch Ale. The winners of the Fresh Hop Beer category will be awarded in mid-October.

The 2021 Great American Beer Festival competition was made possible in part by the generous support of its sponsors.

 

 

About the Brewers Association

The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The BA represents 5,400-plus U.S. breweries. The BA’s independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup®, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference® & BrewExpo America®, SAVOR™: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, Homebrew Con™, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week®. The BA publishes The New Brewer® magazine, and Brewers Publications® is the leading publisher of brewing literature in the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com® and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association® and the free Brew Guru® mobile app. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

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