290 medals awarded to 265 breweries in world’s largest commercial beer competition
PRESS RELEASE
The Brewers Association awarded 290 medals to 265 breweries across the country during the 2021 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) awards ceremony in the largest competition to date.
The best beers in 97 beer categories covering 175 different beer styles (including all subcategories) were awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals during the 35th edition of the celebrated competition.
Judging took place in 34 sessions over 17 days with strict health and safety measures in place. A total of 170 judges evaluated 9,680 entries from 2,192 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The awards ceremony was held at the Bellco Theatre in Denver on Friday evening, 10 September, during the Craft Brewers Conference® and was live-streamed on The Brewing Network.
To allow for the fall hop harvest and beer production, and to include Fresh Hop beers in this prestigious competition, 78 Fresh Hop Beer category entries will compete in early October, with winners announced Friday, October 15.
“Despite being forced to cancel the festival portion of GABF, our brewing community rallied together to make this year’s GABF competition one for the books—our largest competition judged to date,” said Chris Swersey, competition director, Great American Beer Festival. “Judges continue to be impressed with the quality and innovation of all entries they evaluated. The Brewers Association is proud to honor this year’s deserving winners. We look forward to celebrating in person together next year.”
The Great American Beer Festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary October 6-8, 2022, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
Click Here To See The 2021 Great American Beer Festival Winners
The 2021 Champion Breweries are:
| 0–250 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year | |
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Radiant Beer Co. Anaheim, CA Andrew Bell & Radiant Beer Co Team |
| 251–500 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year | |
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Main & Six Brewing Co. Jacksonville, FL Dennis Espinosa & Alex Leuthold |
| 501–1,000 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year | |
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Moontown Brewing Co. Whitestown, IN Cody Peczkowski |
| 1,001–2,000 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year | |
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Cloudburst Brewing Seattle, WA Steve Luke & Zach Kornfeld |
| 2,001–5,000 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year | |
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Short Fuse Brewing Co. Schiller Park, IL Brian Lagro & Craig Kofod |
| 5,001–15,000 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year | |
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Sudwerk Brewing Co. Davis, CA Team Sudwerk |
| 15,001–100,000 Barrels Brewery and Brewer of the Year | |
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Allagash Brewing Co. Portland, ME Team Allagash |
| Brewery Group Brewery and Brewer of the Year | |
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Metazoa Brewing Co. Indianapolis, IN Metazoa Production Team |
The Great American Beer Festival is presented by the Brewers Association.