2014 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Oregon Winners Recap

Another year of the prestigious Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is now in the books, and The New School was in Denver to witness all 22 of the medals won by Oregon brewers. Here is the breakdown of some of the 2014 GABF surprises and highlights, along with all the winners from Oregon.

There were 268 medals awarded this year from 5,507 entries from 1,309 breweries, and arguably the biggest award went to Portland and Milwaukie, Oregon's Breakside Brewery for its flagship IPA that won Gold in the most competitive category of all. The American-style IPA had a record of 279 entries this year, and Breakside Brewery beat them all to become the top IPA in the country. This makes two years running for an Oregon brewery to hold that honor; last year Barley Brown's won the Gold for its Pallet Jack IPA. If two years holding the top IPA spot is not enough to convince the world that Oregon makes IPAs at least as good as—if not better than—San Diego or Colorado, how about a Gold medal for Fresh Hop Beer, Silver medals in both English-style and International-style Pale Ales, and Bronze in Strong Pale Ale and a Bronze in American-style Black Ale (aka Cascadian Dark Ale) just this year. Oregon truly dominated the main hoppy categories in 2014.

Of course, it's not just all about Breakside (which also won a Bronze in the American-style Strong Pale Ale category for Wanderlust IPA), with the previously mentioned Barley Brown's taking home the most of Oregon brewers with a total of 4 medals, followed by 10 Barrel Brewing with 3.

Some of the notable standouts included a brand new beer from perennial winner Bend Brewing Co., a new Salmonberry Sour created using 40lbs of hand picked berries by Brewmaster Ian Larkin. A Gold medal win for Keller or Zwickelbier for Gold Beach Lager went to Arch Rock Brewing, a brewery that neither I nor any of the other brewers had even heard of located on the southern Oregon coast in Gold Beach. A Silver medal for Weizenbock went to previously disrespected 13 Virtues Brewing (aka Philadelphia's Steaks & Hoagies), and a Silver for Dunkel to less than a year old Buoy Beer from Astoria.

All of the Oregon Winners and their Respective Categories:

Category: 1 American-Style Wheat Beer – 31 Entries
Gold: Red Dawn, Carson's Brewery, Evansville, IN
Silver: Yellow Armadillo, Thirsty Planet Brewing, Austin, TX
Bronze: Amber Waves, 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend, OR

Category: 2 American-Style Wheat Beer With Yeast – 44 Entries
Gold: Whitetail Wheat, Montana Brewing Co., Billings, MT
Silver: Hefeweizen, Widmer Brothers Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Bronze: Wheatfish Wheat Lager, Great Northern Brewing Co., Whitefish, MT

Category: 4 Fruit Wheat Beer – 65 Entries
Gold: Apricot Ale, Pyramid Breweries, Seattle, WA
Silver: Peachy Peach, Pagosa Brewing & Grill, Pagosa Springs, CO
Bronze: Wasatch Apricot Hefeweizen, Wasatch Brewery, Park City, UT

Category: 5 Belgian-Style Fruit Beer – 41 Entries
Gold: Raspberry Provincial, Funkwerks, Fort Collins, CO
Silver: Saison en Regalia, Roadhouse Brewing Co., Jackson, WY
Bronze: Poire du Pélican, Pelican Pub & Brewery, Pacific City, OR

Category: 7 Field Beer – 46 Entries
Gold: Cucumber Crush, 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend, OR
Silver: 3 Pepper Ale, Rock Bottom Breweries, Broomfield, CO
Bronze: Elektrick Cukumbahh, Trinity Brewing Co., Colorado Springs, CO

Category: 17 Fresh or Wet Hop Ale – 34 Entries
Gold: Fresh Hop Pallet Jack IPA, Barley Brown's Brew Pub, Baker City, OR
Silver: Fresh Hop Superpower IPA, Comrade Brewing Co., Denver, CO
Bronze: Acequia IPA, Bosque Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM

Category: 18 Indigenous/Regional Beer – 31 Entries
Gold: Salmonberry Sour, Bend Brewing Co., Bend, OR
Silver: Choc Lobster, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, Rehoboth Beach, DE
Bronze: Sage Fight IPA, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR

Category: 20 Gluten-Free Beer – 20 Entries
Gold: Dark Ale, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR
Silver: Glutart, Bonfire Brewing, Eagle, CO
Bronze: Liberation Gluten Free, Shine Brewing Co., Boulder, CO

Category: 22 American-Style Sour Ale – 56 Entries
Gold: Cosmic Dust, The Rare Barrel, Berkeley, CA
Silver: Myrtle, The Commons Brewery, Portland, OR
Bronze: Los Innovadores Kriek, Santa Fe Brewing Co., Santa Fe, NM

Category: 23 American-Style Brett Beer – 44 Entries
Gold: Beltane, Propolis Brewing, Port Townsend, WA
Silver: Peche 'n Brett, Logsdon Organic Farm Brewery, Hood River, OR
Bronze: Curiosity No. 2, Creature Comforts Brewing Co., Athens, GA

Category: 28 Kellerbier or Zwickelbier – 48 Entries
Gold: Gold Beach Lager, Arch Rock Brewing Co., Gold Beach, OR
Silver: Surfliner Lager, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co. – Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
Bronze: 18th Rebellion, Horse Thief Hollow, Chicago, IL

Category: 40 European-Style Dunkel – 23 Entries
Gold: Chuckanut Dunkel, Chuckanut Brewery, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Buoy Dunkel, Buoy Beer Co., Astoria, OR
Bronze: Dunkles, Gordon Biersch Brewing Co., San Jose, CA

Category: 47 German-Style Kölsch – 84 Entries
Gold: Laimas Kolsch, FATE Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Silver: I'd Like to Buy the World a Kolsch, Old Town Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Bronze: Canoe Paddler, Leinenkugel Brewing Co., Chippewa Falls, WI

Category: 49 Classic English-Style Pale Ale – 33 Entries
Gold: HopFish, Flying Fish Brewing Co., Somerdale, NJ
Silver: Caldera Ashland Amber, Caldera Brewing Co., Ashland, OR
Bronze: Extra Pale Ale, Summit Brewing Co., Saint Paul, MN

Category: 51 International-Style Pale Ale – 88 Entries
Gold: Hand Truck Pale Ale, Barley Brown's Beer, Baker City, OR
Silver: Summer Ale, Fremont Brewing Co., Seattle, WA
Bronze: The Pupil, Societe Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category: 53 American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 134 Entries
Gold: Scepter Head, Draught Works, Missoula, MT
Silver: Fire Eagle, Austin Beerworks, Austin, TX
Bronze: Breakside Wanderlust IPA, Breakside Brewery, Milwaukie, OR

Category: 54 American-Style India Pale Ale – 279 Entries
Gold: Breakside IPA, Breakside Brewery, Milwaukie, OR
Silver: Heyoka, Half Acre Beer Co., Chicago, IL
Bronze: Bodhi, Columbus Brewing Co., Columbus, OH

Category: 65 American-Style Black Ale – 72 Entries
Gold: Black IPA, Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Silver: Black Hops Tactical IPA, Überbrew, Billings, MT
Bronze: Turmoil, Barley Brown's Brew Pub, Baker City, OR

Category: 69 German-Style Wheat Ale – 29 Entries
Gold: AlpenGlow, Fat Head's Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, OH
Silver: Weizenbock, 13 Virtues Brewing Co., Portland, OR
Bronze: Saint Arnold Weedwacker, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., Houston, TX

Category: 83 American-Style Stout – 48 Entries
Gold: Defender, Haymarket Pub & Brewery, Chicago, IL
Silver: Disorder, Barley Brown's Brew Pub, Baker City, OR
Bronze: P2P, 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend, OR

View the entire list of 2014 winners or download a PDF list of the winners.

More Interesting Awards and Facts from outside of Oregon

 

2014 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards

Very Small Brewing Company and Very Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year

Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group (BSG)

Draught Works

Draught Works Brew Team

 

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by O-I

Marble Brewery

Team Marble

 

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Microstar Keg Management

Devils Backbone Brewing Co.—Outpost

DB Brewery Team

 

Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Beer Institute

AC Golden

AC Golden Brewing Team

 

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.

Bastone Brewery

Rockne Van Meter

 

Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year

Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group (BSG)

Brasserie Saint James

Josh Watterson & Matt Watterson

 

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Sponsored by Country Malt Group

Beachwood BBQ & Brewing

Julian Shrago & Ian McCall

 

Overall Competition Highlights

Reflecting craft brewing's surging popularity and sustained excellence nationwide, overall competition highlights include:

• Fifty-two first-time entering breweries won awards.

• Four breweries tied for most medals won, with three medals each:

o   10 Barrel Brewing Co.

o   Barley Brown's Brew Pub

o   Devils Backbone Brewing Co.–Outpost

o   Left Hand Brewing Co.

• Top three states by ratio of medals to entries by state:

o   New Jersey: 19% with 16 entries and three medals

o   Alaska: 13% with 16 entries and two medals—tied with federal district Washington, D.C.: 13% with 8 entries and one medal

o   New Mexico: 10%  with 84 entries and eight medals

 

Style Categories

Since 2002, the most-entered category has been American-Style India Pale Ale (IPA), which saw 279 entries in 2014.

The top five entered categories were:

1. American-Style India Pale Ale (279 entries)
2. Herb and Spice Beer (150 entries)
3. American-Style Pale Ale (145 entries)
4. American-Style Amber/Red Ale (140 entries)
5. Imperial India Pale Ale (135 entries)

The winners in the most-entered (that is, the most competitive) categories were:

1. American-Style India Pale Ale (279 entries)

Gold: Breakside Brewery, Breakside IPA

Silver: Half Acre Beer Co., Heyoka

Bronze: Columbus Brewing Co., Bodhi

 

2. Herb and Spice Beer (150 entries)

Gold: Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant, Basil Beer

Silver: 5 Stones Artisan Brewery, Aloha Piña

Bronze: Coastal Empire Beer Co., Dawn Patrol Breakfast Stout

 

3. American-Style Pale Ale (145 entries)

Gold: Ballast Point Brewing  & Spirits–Scripps Ranch, Grunion

Silver: Peekskill Brewery, NYPA

Bronze: Tampa Bay Brewing Co., Reef Donkey APA

 

4. American-Style Amber/Red Ale (140 entries)

Gold: Canteen Brew House, Dougie Style Amber Ale

Silver: Capitol City Brewing Co., Amber Waves Ale

Bronze: Bootlegger's Brewery, Rocco Red Ale

 

5. Imperial India Pale Ale (135 entries)

Gold: Columbus Brewing Co., Creeper

Silver: Port Brewing Co., Hop 15

Bronze: Russian River Brewing Co., Pliny the Elder

 

The 2014 GABF competition featured three new categories: Belgian-Style Fruit Beer, with 41 entries; Historical Beer, with 12 entries; and Kuyt Beer, which had no entries.

 

There were two categories in which one of the three possible medals was not awarded:

• English-Style Brown Ale (67 entries): no silver medal
• Golden or Blonde Ale (90 entries): no gold medal

2014 Great American Beer Festival Pro-Am Competition

Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co., Country Malt Group, Hopunion and White Labs

 

Gold, silver and bronze medals were also awarded in the GABF Pro-Am competition, which pairs amateur brewers with professional brewers, who scale up the award-winning homebrew recipes. The medal winners, including the winning professional brewers and American Homebrewers Association (AHA) member homebrewers are:

Gold: Bonnie Prince Charlie's Scottish 80 Shilling, Bear Republic Brewing Co.

Brewmaster: Team Bear Republic / Richard Norgrove, and AHA Member Michael Kelly

 

Silver: Spencer Pale Ale, Kokopelli Beer Co.

Brewmaster: Kokopelli Brew Crew, and AHA Member Daniel Christensen

 

Bronze: I Wanna Rauch!, Springfield Brewing Co.

Brewmaster: Ashton Lewis & Bruce Johnson, and AHA member Keith Wallis

 

Summary: 2014 Great American Beer Festival Statistics

• 710 breweries in the festival hall
• More than 3,500 beers served at the festival
• 49,000 attendees
• More than 3,200 volunteers
• 1,309 breweries in the competition from 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
• 5,507 beers judged (not including 89 Pro-Am competition entries), a 16 percent increase over 2013
• 90 style categories judged, plus the Pro-Am competition
• 222 judges from 10 countries
• Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 61.2 (excludes Pro-Am beers)
• Category with highest number of entries: American-Style India Pale Ale: 279

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