Colorado brews bested the competition over the weekend at the Great American Beer Festival, landing more medals than any other state.
Local breweries and brewpubs won a total of 45 gold, silver or bronze medals. California was second with 39 medals.
In addition, Colorado-based breweries took two of the festival’s top three honors for brewer-of-the-year awards. Coors Brewing Co. of Golden won in the large-brewer category; Aurora-based Dry Dock Brewing Co. was tops among small brewers. Flying Dog Brewery, based in Denver until it relocated to Frederick, Md., last year, won for midsize brewers.
“We went bananas when we heard,” said Bill Eye, brewmaster at Dry Dock. “It’s a very prestigious competition.”
Medals were awarded in 78 beer categories by a panel of 132 judges from 10 countries.
Colorado-based gold-medal winners included Avery, Coors, Dry Dock, Durango, Glenwood Canyon, Left Hand, Sandlot and Trinity.
“Colorado is the Napa Valley of beer,” Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said during the festival last week. “And ultimately, beer is part of Denver’s DNA.”
The festival, one of the largest in the world, attracted an estimated 49,000 attendees.
Steve Raabe: 303-954-1948 or sraabe@denverpost.com
