Oregon Breweries Win 15 Medals at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival

The awards ceremony has come to a close at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado and the Pacific Northwest has brought home 33 medals from Saturday’s ceremony. The state of Oregon led the way with 15 medals, which includes a Collaboration medal, and is followed by the state of Washington with 14 medals, and Idaho with 4 medals. Plus, Silver City Brewery from Bremerton, Washington took home the Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year award.

The 38th annual Great American Beer Festival (GABF) held its 33rd year of beer judging. Held in conjunction with the Brewers Association, this year’s judging event saw 318 medals awarded to 283 different breweries in 107 different beer categories. A record number of 9,497 beers were entered from 2,295 breweries representing all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, along with 113 Pro-Am Competition and 70 Collaboration Competition entries. However, the number of breweries that paid to enter this year’s competition was down from last year’s 2,404 breweries.

Prior to awards ceremony on Saturday morning at the Bellco Theater inside the Colorado Convention Center, 322 judges from 18 countries evaluated these 9,497 entries earlier in the week. On stage even after retiring from the BA earlier this year, Charlie Papazian returned to hand out medals and give fist bumps to the winning breweries.

From this judging there were 318 total medals awarded plus three each for Pro-Am and Collaboration. The average number of competition beers entered in each category was 88. There was a total of 283 medal-winning breweries (including Pro-Am and Collaboration). The category with the highest number of entries was the newly established Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale that saw a record 348 entries, down from 391 entries in 2018. There were 401 first-time GABF entrants and 37 first-time GABF winners in 2019.

The Great American Beer Festival awards gold, silver and bronze medals for excellence in 107 beer-style categories but does not necessarily award medals to the top three finishers in a particular category. In 2019, Gold medals were not given in Category 1, American-Style Wheat Beer, or Category 21, Historical Beer, and a bronze medal was not awarded in Category 65, Emerging India Pale Ale.

Breweries from the state of Oregon were awarded 4 Gold Medals, 1 Silver Medal and 10 Bronze Medals while breweries in the state of Washington were awarded 3 Gold Medals, 6 Silver Medals and 5 Bronze Medals. Rounding out the PNW winners, Idaho brewers received 3 Gold medals and 1 Silver medal.

“This year’s GABF competition was the largest and most competitive to date,” said Chris Swersey, competition manager, Great American Beer Festival, in a statement. “The beers and talent were as impressive as ever, and we congratulate this year’s winners for their achievements in brewing.”

Below are a list of 2019 Great American Beer Festival winners from Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

Oregon 2019 GABF Winners:
Category 3: Fruit Wheat Beer – 109 Entries
Bronze: 10 Barrel Brewing Co., Bend, OR

Category 22: Gluten-Free Beer – 59 Entries
Bronze: Grandpa’s Nap, Evasion Brewing – Production Facility, McMinnville, OR

Category 30: Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout – 172 Entries
Bronze: Señor Rhino, Alesong Brewing & Blending – Tasting Room, Eugene, OR

Category 45: Munich-Style Helles – 138 Entries
Bronze: Wayfinder Hell, Wayfinder Beer, Portland, OR

Category 56: English-Style Summer Ale – 39 Entries
Bronze: Breakside Wentworth by the Sea, Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR

Category 57: English-Style or International-Style Pale Ale – 104 Entries
Gold: Ferment Pale Ale, Ferment Brewing Co., Hood River, OR

Category 59: American-Style Pale Ale – 169 Entries
Bronze: Breakside Woodlawn Pale Ale, Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR

Category 60: Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale – 114 Entries
Bronze: Mo-Haze-Ic, Migration Brewing Co. – Wilkes, Portland, OR

Category 62: Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale – 106 Entries
Gold: Breakside What Rough Beast, Breakside Brewery – NW Slabtown, Portland, OR

Category 68: American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 127 Entries
Gold: Diablo Rojo, Boneyard Beer, Bend, OR

Category 69: Double Hoppy Red Ale – 49 Entries
Bronze: Cannon Ball, Migration Brewing Co. – Glisan, Portland, OR

Category 74: English-Style India Pale Ale – 39 Entries
Silver: Shanghai’d IPA, Old Town Brewing, Portland, OR

Category 79: American-Style Black Ale – 35 Entries
Bronze: Turmoil, Barley Brown’s Beer, Baker City, OR

Category 89: Specialty Saison – 91 Entries
Gold: Obeisance, Von Ebert Brewing – Glendoveer, Portland, OR

Collaboration Competition – 70 Entries
Bronze: Willie Big Dog, Public Coast Brewing Co., Cannon Beach, OR Big Dog’s Brewing CO., Las Vegas, NV

Washington 2019 GABF Winners:
Category 4: Belgian-Style Fruit Beer – 52 Entries
Gold: Foxy Lady, Silver City Brewery, Bremerton, WA

Category 20: Fresh Hop Beer – 40 Entries
Bronze: Aqua Seafoam Shame, Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle, WA

Category 34: Kellerbier or Zwickelbier – 96 Entries
Silver: Loral Zwickelbier, Haas Innovations Brewing, Yakima, WA

Category 39: Light Lager – 90 Entries
Silver: Sif’s Light Lager, Odin Brewing Co., Tukwila, WA

Category 46: Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest – 96 Entries
Bronze: Chuckanut Fest Bier, Chuckanut Brewery – South Nut, Burlington, WA

Category 47: Vienna-Style Lager – 93 Entries
Silver: Vienna Lager, Grains of Wrath Brewing, Camas, WA

Category 57: English-Style or International-Style Pale Ale – 104 Entries
Bronze: Endless Summer Nights, Cloudburst Brewing, Seattle, WA

Category 59: American-Style Pale Ale – 169 Entries
Gold: Johnny Utah, Georgetown Brewing Co., Seattle, WA

Category 61: American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 131 Entries
Silver: NoPac IPA, Crossbuck Brewing, Walla Walla, WA

Category 89: Specialty Saison – 91 Entries
Bronze: Palisade #2, Fortside Brewing Co., Vancouver, WA

Category 100: Export Stout – 42 Entries
Gold: Correspondent, Wander Brewing, Bellingham, WA
Silver: Thor’s Shadow Imperial Stout, Odin Brewing Co., Tukwila, WA

Category 106: Old Ale or Strong Ale – 36 Entries
Silver: Old Scrooge, Silver City Brewery, Bremerton, WA

Category 107: Barley Wine-Style Ale – 59 Entries
Bronze: Three Ryes Men, Reuben’s Brews – The Taproom, Seattle, WA

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Silver City Brewery, Bremerton, WA Silver City Brew Team

Idaho 2019 GABF Winners:
Category 35: Smoke Beer – 60 Entries
Gold: Red-Fish Rauchbock, Sockeye Brewing, Boise, ID

Category 101: American-Style Stout – 55 Entries
Gold: Black Cliffs, Boise Brewing, Boise, ID

Category 104: Imperial Stout – 93 Entries
Silver: Black Cauldron Imperial Stout, Grand Teton Brewing, Victor, ID

Category 78: American-Style Brown Ale – 99 Entries
Gold: Naked Sunbather, Mad Swede Brewing Co., Boise, ID

Beyond the Pacific Northwest here is the list of the Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards that includes the previously mentioned winner of Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year that went to Silver City Brewery.

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Rowley Farmhouse Ales, Santa Fe, NM Rowley Farmhouse Ales

Mid-Size Brewpub and Mid-Size Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Westbound & Down Brewing Co., Idaho Springs, CO Westbound & Down Brewery Team

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Vintage Brewing Co. – Madison, Madison, WI Drinking Fresh Thinking

Very Small Brewing Company and Very Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Brink Brewing Co., Cincinnati, OH Brink Brew Crew

Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Comrade Brewing Co., Denver, CO Marks Lanham & David Lin

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Silver City Brewery, Bremerton, WA Silver City Brew Team

Brewery Group and Brewery Group Brewer of the Year
Kern River Brewing Co., Kernville, CA KRBC Brew Team

View all of the 2019 GABF winners here or download a PDF List of the winners.

The 39th annual Great American Beer Festival will return to Denver from September 24-26, 2020.