Monday, September 20, 2010

The GABF results are in!

One of these years I will travel to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. Any place that serves thousands of different kinds of beer is my idea of a good time.

Though I can't be there, I can follow what is going on. I always look forward to seeing the results from the competition. It is interesting to see if I have had any of the beers that are the considered to be the best in the country. If not, it tells me which beer to look for.

Here are the results for 2010.

A couple things jumped out at me. Blue Moon Brewery- yep, that Blue Moon- wins a bunch of awards including best large brewery. Local mega-brewers Miller didn't do that bad for what they make. Lite took the gold again in the American Style Lager/Light Lager category. Technically they swept the top 3 spots as they brew Pabst for them. Hamms- the beer refreshing!- took the top spot in American Style Specialty Lager/Lager/Cream Ale category. I knew it was a winner. Maybe they can bring the bear back.

New Glarus took home a medal for their Rasberry Lambic. Stevens Point Brewery took home a gold themselves for their Horizon Wheat. I will have to find that one next time I am out. I will also need to visit Titletown Brewery in Green Bay if I find myself up north.

The one thing that caught my eye was a brew pub in California. A place called the Pizza Port in Carlsbad won a ton of awards. They must be making some damn good beer out there. They did the same last year as well. Damn impressive.

One thing that should be pointed out. Not all the breweries enter their wares into the competition. So not seeing a brand on the winners list doesn't mean much. Whether they didn't feel like paying a fee, or going through the hassle of shipping their beer out to Denver, they may have something that is better than what is on the winner's list.

Time to go pop open a Flying Dog. All this beer talk made me thirsty.

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