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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.