Denver’s Great American Beer Festival made a slight return to normal this year when the event’s signature awards ceremony took place in person, while the festival portion was canceled for the second year in a row.
After a pandemic-induced hiatus in 2020, representatives of the Brewers Association returned to the Colorado Convention Center, along with a limited number of masked audience members, where they announced winners of the coveted medals from the nation’s most prestigious beer competition. The host state made a commendable showing.
Judges evaluated 9,680 beers from more than 2,000 breweries nationwide. Colorado beer-makers garnered 21 medals in a diverse range of categories, including historical beer and chili beer. Last year, Colorado won 26 medals during 2020’s virtual awards ceremony. Our Mutual Friend Brewing was the biggest Colorado winner with two medals, including one gold.
The Centennial State notably swept the American fruit beer category, which honored recipes from Lone Tree Brewing Co., Great Divide Brewing Co. and Crystal Springs Brewing Co. which took home bronze, silver and gold respectively.
“We continue to call ourselves the State of Craft Beer not only because of the outstanding beer our breweries make, but also for the number of beers and breweries that continue to be recognized at GABF awards,” said Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild. “Colorado showed up and proved that we are consistent and diverse.”
See the full list of winners at greatamericanbeerfestival.com. Here’s a list of the 2021 Colorado winners:
American Fruit Beer — Blood Orange Kolsch, Crystal Springs Brewing Co., Louisville
Chili Beer — Humo y Espejos with Fuego!, Cerebral Brewing – Florence St., Aurora
Experimental India Pale Ale — Vladimir Brutin, Cannonball Creek Brewing Company, Golden
Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer — BJ’s Barrel Aged Got Beer, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Boulder
Golden or Blonde Ale, Domestica, Ratio Beerworks, Denver
Australian Pale Ale — Inner Light, Our Mutual Friend Brewing, Denver
American-Style Pale Ale — Stick’s Pale Ale, Bootstrap Brewing, Longmont
American Fruit Beer — Wild Raspberry Ale, Great Divide Brewing Co., Denver
Fruit Wheat Beer — Blood Orange Wheat, Peak View Brewing Co., Greenwood Village
Chili Beer — Prescribed Burn, Steamworks Brewing Co., Durango
Historical Beer — Silverbrick Norwegian Farmhouse, Strange Craft Beer Company, Denver
Mixed Culture Brett Beer — Biere Ovale, Our Mutual Friend Brewing, Denver
American-Style Lager — Stampede, Avery Brewing Company, Boulder
English Ale — True Blonde Ale, Ska Brewing Company, Durango
Belgian-Style Sour Ale — Stay the Funk In, Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project, Denver
American Fruit Beer — Lone Tree Peach Ale, Lone Tree Brewing Co., Lone Tree
Experimental Beer — Skins, Amalgam Brewing, Denver
Historical Beer — Snowdrop, Grimm Brothers Brewing, Loveland
Gluten-Free Beer — Big Henry Hazy IPA, Holidaily Brewing Company, Golden
American-Style Brown Ale — Face Down Brown, Telluride Brewing Co., Telluride
Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale — Treachery, 12Degree Brewing, Louisville
This content was originally published here.
