Great American Beer Festival

This week’s blog is dedicated to the Great American Beer Festival, or, GABF in the vernacular.  This festival is -as the name implies- a unifying celebration of American craft beer. 

The GABF was founded by Charlie Papazian, and the first festival was held in conjunction with the American Homebrewers Association's annual conference in Boulder, Colorado, in June of 1982.  Forty-seven beers from 24 breweries were on hand to taste, with an estimated 800 people in attendance.

A few years later, the GABF moved to more spacious digs down the road in Denver, and that’s where it eventually took up residency; first in the Merchandise Mart, then Currigan Hall, and then in the Colorado Convention Center, where it currently welcomes fest-goers from across the country and around the world.  This year’s event is the 42nd anniversary of that seminal beer fest. 

Hosting as many as 50,000 people over four sessions in the three-day event, the GABF became THE place to be for craft beer lovers every Fall (the festival dates are typically in late September or early October).

A big part of the GABF from the industry’s perspective, is the competition that was added to the event a few years after the first event; it is currently the second largest commercial beer competition in the world.  This year’s competition is the 38th edition, and, as always, it racked up some impressive statistics.

·         8,836 beers were judged

·         1,869 breweries and cideries were in the competition from all 50 states and Puerto Rico

·         It took 285 judges from a dozen countries three days to evaluate all the beers

·         There were more than 250 volunteers between the competition and the festival

·         Average number of beers entered in each category: 85

·         The category with the highest number of entries was Juicy/Hazy IPA with 349 entries

·         326 total medals awarded

·         273 medal-winning breweries

·         280 first-time GABF competition entrants

·         25 first-time GABF competition winners

·         Five new cider categories

What set this GABF event from previous editions was the addition of the cider categories in competition, as well as ciders being sampled on the festival floor; the GABF had been a beer-only festival since its inception.  Expect more changes and innovations in future fests as the industry continues to evolve.