I didn’t get a chance to go but next year you can bet that I will be there! This week BreweryDB is featuring two award winners.
Brewery
Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen – who won Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year!
Beer
Elevated IPA from La Cumbre Brewing Co. from Albuquerque New Mexico. This is an American Style IPA won the Gold out of 176 entries!
Now for some really cool facts about the festival
- 466 breweries in the festival hall
- 2,375 beers served at the festival
- 49,000 attendees
- Approximately 3,300 volunteers
- 526 breweries in the competition from 48 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico
- 3,930 beers judged (includes 86 Pro-Am competition entries)
- 83 style categories judged, plus the Pro-Am competition
- 167 judges from nine countries
- Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 48
- Category with highest number of entries: 176, American Style India Pale Ale
Among the highlights of the 2011 GABF competition results:
- Medals were won by 18 first-time entering breweries (seven gold medals, five silver medals, six bronze medals).
- Indiana had the most winning rate of medals compared to entries by state, with a 19.2 percent winning rate. Specifically, Indiana won 10 medals out of 52 total entries.
- Minnesota won three medals out of 21 entries for a winning rate of 14.3 percent.
- New Mexico won four medals out of 31 entries for a winning rates of 12.9 percent.
- Wyoming won five medals out of 39 entries for a winning rate of 12.8 percent.
- Alaska won two medals out of 16 entries for a winning rate of 12.5 percent.
- The top five entrants that won the most medals are:
- Sun King Brewing Co., 8 medals
- Firestone Walker Brewing Co., 6 medals
- Pizza Port Carlsbad, 6 medals
- Rock Bottom Brewery, 6 medals
- Boston Beer Co., 4 medals
- The most gold medals were won by :
- Sun King Brewing Co., 4 gold medals won
- Firestone Walker Brewing Co., 3 gold medals won
- Pizza Port Carlsbad, 3 gold medals won
- 21st Amendment Brewery, 2 gold medals won
- Boulevard Brewing Co., 2 gold medals won
The top five entered categories were:
- American-Style India Pale Ale – 176 entries
- Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer – 118 entries
- American-Style Pale Ale – 105 entries
- American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 103 entries
- Imperial India Pale Ale – 102 entries
All the statistical information taken the Brewers Association website – “2011 Great American Beer Festival Winners Announced” You can see all the winners on the Great American Beer Festival website.