2021 Great American Beer Festival Fresh Hop Winners

The awards ceremony for the 2021 Fresh Hop Beer winners at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival just ended. The announcement was made this morning via livestream and three breweries are now medal winners in this category. Two breweries from Washington took home medals with Single Hill Brewing being awarded a Gold Medal and Burke-Gilman Brewing awarded a Bronze Medal!

This year’s judging of Fresh Hop Beers took place after the 2021 Great American Beer Festival Awards were announced on September 10th in Denver, Colorado. The Brewers Association chose to conduct Fresh Hop Beer judging separately in October rather than eliminating this popular category.

Judges from Colorado evaluated 83 entries submitted by 69 breweries from 14 states during three consecutive elimination rounds in a single day with health and safety measures in place. This year’s amount of entries, 83, was a record amount for the Fresh Hop Beer category.

“The Fresh Hop Beer category continues to grow each year along with drinker and brewer interest,” said Chris Swersey, GABF competition director, in a statement. “These seasonal beers celebrate fall harvest, and the flavor experience is truly special, showcasing aromas and flavors that hallmarks of different hop varieties, and which are only found in fresh-off-the-bine hops.”

Here’s the list of the 2021 Fresh Hop winners.

Category 98: Fresh Hop Beer – 83 Entries
Gold: Energy Cone, Single Hill Brewing Co., Yakima, WA
Silver: Fresh Hop Green Battles, Pinthouse Pizza North, Austin, TX
Bronze: Seem So Long Since We Walked in the Moonlight, Burke-Gilman Brewing Co., Seattle, WA

The 2021 GABF competition was the largest judged to date with 9,762 beers judged, including the 83 Fresh Hop Beer category entries. In total, 2,191 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico entered the competition. For a recap of the 2021 Great American Beer Festival winners, click here.