Oregon Wins 38 Medals at the Great American Beer Festival, and Brewery & Cidermaker of the Year Awards
Oregon Breweries & Cideries won 38 Medals at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival (GABF). Squashing the competition and silencing naysayers doubting Oregon's status as the craft beer capital of the world. The incredible haul this year include additional brewer and brewery of the year awards for Alesong Brewing & Blending, Grand Fir Brewing, and Sunriver Brewing, as well as the first ever cidermaker of the year awarded to 2 Towns Ciderhouse, for a grand total of 42 awards.
The 40th annual Great American Beer Festival has wrapped their 2024 competition awarding the finest beers in the United States, and recognizing world-class cidermaker next to craft brewers for the first time ever. The 2024 GABF was controversial for the revamp of both the festival component into themed play areas, as well as for the first time fully admitting cideries and folding in the national homebrew conference, and adding non-alcoholic beverage stations, and canned cocktails into the mix.
The Great American Beer Festival is known to the public as the premiere beer festival in the U.S., but alongside the fanfare and fun of the brewfest there is a highly competitive and prestigious beer competition going on behind-the-scenes. In partnership with the American Cider Association, the prestigious competition bestowed awards in five new cider categories. With more than 1,200 cider producers in the U.S., the GABF competition keeps consumer drinking preferences and trends at the forefront of the event. The Professional Judge Panel awards gold, silver or bronze medals that are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence. These awards are among the most coveted in the industry and heralded by the winning brewers in their national advertising.
This year, 273 breweries and cideries earned 326* medals. The Great American Beer Festival judge panel evaluated noteworthy brews and ciders across 102 beer categories (including 170 subcategories), five new cider categories, and the Pro-Am and Collaboration competitions.
OREGON BREWERY MEDAL WINNERS:
Gold in American Sour Ale
Little Beast Brewing - Bes
Gold in American Wheat Beer
Sunriver Brewing Co. - Fuzztail
Silver in American-Belgo-Style Ale
Monkless Belgian Ales - Capitulation
Gold in American-Style Strong Pale Ale
Sunriver Brewing Co. - Something Dank This Way Comes
Gold in Belgian Fruit Beer
Oregon City Brewing Co. - My Cerise Amour
Silver in Belgian-Style Witbier
Breakside Brewery & Taproom - White
Bronze in Brett Beer
Alesong Brewing & Blending - Touch of Brett
Fort George Brewery
Gold in Chocolate Beer
Fort George Brewery - Fudge Sickles
Silver in Classic Saison
Worthy Brewing Co. - Farm Out
Silver in Coffee Beer
Terranaut Beer - Bucky
Bronze in English Ale
Bend Brewing - Oregon Summer Ale
Bronze in Experimental Beer
10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Agrio Morado
Bronze in Extra Special Bitter
Hopworks Urban Brewery - Velvet Organic ESB
Bronze in Fresh Hop Beer
Deschutes Brewery & Public House - Fresh Hop King Crispy
the Deschutes Brewery teams of Bend and Portland, OR
Gold in Fruited or Botanical Cider
McMenamins Breweries - Blackberry Cider
Gold in German Sour Ale
10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Baywindow
Gold in German-Style Altbier
10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Rhine Divide
Gold in Honey Beer
Deschutes Brewery & Public House - Hachimitsu Mai
Silver in Honey Beer
10 Barrel Brewing Co. - BeeLoved
Silver in Imperial India Pale Ale
Grand Fir Brewing - Gastropod
Bronze in Imperial Stout
10 Barrel Brewing Co. - ReVive
Silver in International-Style Pale Ale
Grand Fir Brewing - Ponga
Bronze in International-Style Pale Ale
Breakside Brewery - Hello My Alien
Silver in Italian-Style Pilsener
Sunriver Brewing Co.S - Che Figata
Bronze in Mixed-Culture Brett Beer
ColdFire Brewing Co - Elisabeth
Gold in Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barley Wine
Ecliptic Brewing - Orange Giant
Gold in Scottish-Style Ale
Oregon City Brewing Co. - Doc McLoughlin Scottish Ale
Gold in Session Beer or Belgian-Style Table Beer
ColdFire Brewing Co. - Saison Lily
Bronze in Specialty Berliner-Style Weisse
10 Barrel Brewing Co. - Gindulgence
Gold in Specialty Non-Alcohol Beer
Deschutes Brewery - Patagonia Provisions Non-Alcoholic Kernza Golden Brew
Silver in Stout
Block 15 Brewery - Nebula Stout
Silver in Strong Red Ale
Grand Fir Brewing - Rolling Rust
Gold in Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour
Alesong Brewing & Blending - French 75
Bronze in Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout
Breakside Brewery - La Maison du Bang!
251–500 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year
Alesong Brewing & Blending
501–1,000 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year
Grand Fir Brewing
Sunriver Brewing Company claims their brewery and brewer of the year award
5,001–15,000 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year
Sunriver Brewing
OREGON CIDERY MEDAL WINNERS:
Silver in Experimental or Barrel-Aged Cider
2 Towns Ciderhouse - 2019 Pommeau
Bronze in Tannic Cider
2 Towns Ciderhouse - 2022 Cidre Bouché
Bronze in No/Low-Tannin Cider
2 Towns Ciderhouse - 10th Anniversary
Bronze in Fruited or Botanical Cider
2 Towns Ciderhouse - Pacific Pineapple
2 Towns Ciderhouse claims their Cidermaker of the Year awards
Cidermaker of the Year
2 Towns Ciderhouse
“The Great American Beer Festival continues its commitment to recognizing exceptional beverages from across the country in the 2024 competition,” said Chris Williams, competition director for the Brewers Association. “With the addition of five new cider categories, we’re pleased to recognize the best of the best in beer and beyond. Congratulations to this year’s winners!”
The awards ceremony, live streamed on The Brewing Network on Saturday, October 12, 2024, was held at the Bellco Theatre in Denver as part of the Great American Beer Festival.
GABF Competition Statistics
· 38th edition of the GABF competition
· 8,836 beers judged
· 1,869 breweries & cideries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico
· 285 judges
· 250+ volunteers
· Average number of beers entered in each category: 85
· Category with the highest number of entries: Category 102 - Juicy/Hazy IPA (349 entries)
· 326 total medals awarded
· 273 medal-winning breweries
· 280 first-time GABF competition entrants
· 25 first-time GABF competition winners
· Five new cider categories
TOP 5 MOST-ENTERED BEER STYLE CATEGORY WINNERS
Category 102 | Juicy/Hazy IPA (349 entries)
GOLD: Professional Human Being | Ambitious Ales | Long Beach, CA
SILVER: Groundswell | Single Hill Brewing Co. | Yakima, WA
BRONZE: Crash of Rhinos | Movement Brewing Co. | Rancho Cordova, CA
Category 100: West Coast IPA (292 entries)
GOLD: Codebreaker | Trademark Brewing | Long Beach, CA
SILVER: Pacific Portal | Alma Mader Brewing | Kansas City, MO
BRONZE: IPA for Aliens | Masthead Brewing Co. | Cleveland, OH
Category 101: American-Style IPA (217 entries)
GOLD: Competition | Highland Park Brewery - Chinatown | Los Angeles, CA
SILVER: One Way | Old Caz Beer | Rohnert Park, CA
BRONZE: Lexical Gap | Pollyanna Brewing Co. | Lemont, IL
Category 50: Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest (210 entries)
GOLD: Festbier | Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co. | Glenwood Springs, CO
SILVER: Festbier | Northwoods Brewing Co. | Northwood, NH
BRONZE: The Cushman | Morgan Territory Brewing | Tracy, CA
Category 52: German-Style Maerzen (195)
GOLD: Pleasantbräu Oktoberfest | Soul Brewing Co. | Pleasantville, NY
SILVER: Marchtoberfest | Galveston Island Brewing | Galveston, TX
BRONZE: Oktoberfest | Left Hand Brewing Co. | Longmont, CO
MOST-ENTERED Cider CATEGORY WINNERS
Category 203: Fruited & Botanical Cider (74 entries)
GOLD: Blackberry Cider | McMenamins Breweries | Portland, OR
SILVER: Ozark Strawberry Rhubarb Cider | Ozark Beer Co. | Rogers, AR
BRONZE: Pacific Pineapple | 2 Towns Ciderhouse | Corvallis, OR
MOST-Medaled BrewerIES
Apogee Brewing Company | Grover Beach, CA
Gold, Lucy Loves Rye, Category 76: Specialty Saison
Bronze, Aurora, Category 73: Belgian-Style Ale or French-Style Ale
Bronze, Monks on the Moon, Category 78: Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale
Bronze, Monks In Space, Category 79: Belgian-Style Abbey Ale
Highland Park Brewery - Chinatown | Los Angeles, CA
Gold, Competition, Category 101: American-Style India Pale Ale
Gold, Baseball, Category 40: Contemporary American-Style Lager
Gold, Timbo, Category 91: American-Style Pale Ale
Gold, DDH Pillow, Category 98: Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale
COLLABORATION COMPETITION (95 entries) See criteria here.
GOLD: Twenty-Fold Sword | New Zealand-Style IPA | No Boat Brewing Company and Obelisk Beer Co. | Snoqualmie, WA
SILVER: Stupid Sticky Fingers | Wood & Barrel Aged Imperial Stout | Werk Force Brewing Co. and Rocky Reef Brewing Co. | Plainfield, IL
BRONZE: Spudweiser | American Pilsner | Live Oak Brewing Company and Hold Out Brewing | Del Valle, TX
PRO-AM COMPETITION (52 entries) See criteria here. Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. & White Labs
GOLD: Piwo Grodziskie | Kansas City Bier Co. and Mike & Stephanie
Butler | Kansas City, MO
SILVER: Rising Sun | Crooked Lane Brewing Co. and Matt Hall | Auburn, CA
BRONZE: South of Helles | Starr Hill Beer Hall & Rooftop - Richmond and Joel Miller | Richmond, VA
*Out of 327 possible awards, 326 were conferred. Bronze was not awarded in Category 15 for Amber to Dark Non-Alcohol Beer.