Over the past weekend, Denver hosted a bustling celebration of hops, barley, and community spirit at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), where Colorado's craft brewing scene shined with a collection of 41 medals. According to 9News, the accolades were scooped up by 35 local breweries and cidermakers from across the state, as the nation’s largest beer festival attracted thousands to downtown Denver's Colorado Convention Center.
Among the numerous recognitions, as Westword reports, Cannonball Creek Brewing Company continued its impressive run with a twelfth consecutive year of awards, taking home a gold for "More than New Zealand" and a silver for "Featherweight Pale." Westbound & Down Brewing Company had a particularly successful outing as well, netting four medals, including two golds for their "Western Justice" barrel-aged stout and "Infinity Pils" hoppy lager, their "Don't Hassle the Hef" Hefeweizen and Aspen Brewing's "Independence Pass Ale," now under Westbound's flag, brought in silver and bronze respectively, following Westbound's acquisition of Aspen Brewing in the previous year.
The festival presented a dazzling array of beer and ciders with 326 medals awarded to top brewers and cidermakers by the Brewers Association in conjunction with the American Cider Association, as corroborated by Denver Business Journal, highlighting entries that spanned across every U.S. state and Washington, D.C. Notably, River North Brewery bagged both gold and silver medals for its "Squirrels Just Want to Have Fun" coffee beer and "Pumpkin Spice J. Marie" pumpkin beer, augmenting the local talent on the GABF's illustrious winners' list.
Newcomers were not left out from the recognition with Burns Family Artisan Ales capturing its first GABF medal, a bronze for "Artemesia," an old ale, an accolade all the more special for co-owner and head brewer Wayne Burns who bears a history rich with brewing awards, dating back to a gold medal snagged in 1999. In the realm of cider, Western Colorado's Snow Capped Cider showcased their mastery of orchard craft by securing both gold and silver in the competitive no- or low-tannin cider category, reminding us that while beer might be the protagonist at the festival, the narrative of quality American craft beverage is rich with diverse chapters ranging from the crispness of hops to the depth of ciders.
