Meanwhile, fellow first-time
GABF medalist ColdFire Brewing placed highest among the trio of Eugene winners, earning silver for its St.
303-296-9460) looms large in its legend, having won 17
GABF medals and five World Beer Cup awards, and in 2010 ranked seventh in Beer Advocate's All-Time Top Breweries on the Planet Earth.
In all, more than 2,000 beers will be sampled and more than 4,000 beers in 133 categories will be judged in the
GABF competition.
The
GABF has helped establish that, worldwide, there's no more diverse brewing culture than exists in the U.
Matching its largest field of entries to date, this year's
GABF competition saw its biggest panel of judges ever, with 185 beer experts from 11 countries participating, with assistance from 120 competition volunteers.
The
GABF remains the largest commercial beer competition in the world and sold out weeks in advance, despite a continued tough economy.
VP of Operations Chris Lennert noted that a flood came within inches of destroying the brewery last month, and said "this wasn't just another
GABF for us--we needed to cut loose collectively, celebrate 20 years of making great beer, thank all of our customers for their support during the flood and tell the world we're stronger than ever.
doesn't brew beer and isn't a participant at the 2002
GABF.
The
GABF Gold medal win follows Gold medal wins at the World Beer Cup, the Australian International Beer Awards and The European Beer Star.
Deceit, a Belgian-Style golden strong ale, was also awarded a gold medal at the
GABF in 2012.
Dehnen, President of the
GABF, and members of the American and German-American business communities, including a representative from the Greater Washington Initiative.
Medals were also awarded in the
GABF Pro-Am competition, which pairs amateur American Homebrewers Association (AHA) brewers with professional brewers, who scale up the award-winning homebrew recipes: