Comrade Brewing Company Wins Gold Medal
by Mark Smiley
Gold Medal Winner: Comrade Brewing Company won a Gold medal at the 2022 GABF for More Dodge Less Ram in the American-Style India Pale Ale category.
The 40th anniversary of the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) returned to the Colorado Convention Center October 6-8, 2022. GABF has grown exponentially since 1982, where just 24 breweries and 47 beers were present; 40 years later, GABF featured more than 2,000 different beers from nearly 500 of the nation’s finest breweries.
The 2022 GABF competition awarded 300 medals to the best commercial breweries in the United States. Presented by the Brewers Association (BA), GABF is the nation’s largest professional beer competition.
Award-winning breweries received prestigious gold, silver, and bronze medals in 98 beer categories covering 177 different beer styles (including all subcategories), establishing the best examples of each style in the country. In addition, three GABF Collaboration medals pairing two professional breweries, and three GABF Pro-Am medals pairing homebrewers with professional brewers, were announced.
The competition took place in three phases over a period of nine days and was judged by 235 beer experts from seven countries, including the U.S. In addition to 9,904 commercial brewery entries, the judging panel also evaluated 35 Pro-Am entries and 94 Collaboration entries. The competition was made possible with the help of 310 volunteers.
Hometown Favorite: David Levesque, Owner / Founder / Brew Master of Launch Pad Brewery, left, and Casey Bloyer, Distribution manager of Launch Pad Brewery, celebrate winning a Silver medal for their Citronaut in the English Ale category.
Many of those winning breweries were from the state of Colorado. There were 23 independent Colorado breweries that were awarded 26 medals at the GABF competition on October 8, 2022, held in the Bellco Theater.
Denver favorite, Comrade Brewing Company, earned its second gold medal for More Dodge and Less Ram, taking home top honors in the most competitive category this year, American-Style India Pale Ale. “It was a huge surprise for us, since it was the last category announced, said David Lin, Owner of Comrade Brewing Company. “After we saw there were 423 entries, our hopes were dashed. We’ve been doing our own thing here at the brewery and we’re honored to see the judges think so as well.”
Left Hand Brewing Company continued as the most awarded craft brewery in Colorado, collecting two medals in 2022 and their 29th medal at GABF overall. Bristol Brewing collected the brewery’s 10th GABF medal for Laughing Lab Scottish Ale (the last time the brewery earned a GABF medal for this beer was in 2010), and this is the 14th medal for the Colorado-Springs based brewery.
Cannonball Creek pushed its winning streak to 10 years earning a bronze medal in the specialty saison category, a first for the brewery in this style; the Golden-based brewery has won 15 GABF medals in total across 10 different categories in the past 10 years.
Beer Enthusiasts: These valley residents were excited to be back in person to try some of the best beers from around the country.
“Colorado proves that we are a leader in the craft beer industry and shows that our brewers continue to brew consistently excellent beers in all types of styles,” said Colorado Brewers Guild Executive Director Shawnee Adelson.
Starry Noche: Neil Fisher, Co-Founder, Head Brewer of WeldWerks Brewery, pours Starry Noche at their booth at the 2022 GABF on Saturday, October 8, 2022.
Although it did not win a medal, WeldWerks Brewery from Greeley poured its 2022 vintage of Starry Noche, started as a carefully selected blend of Medianoche batches aged for 20-29 months in a variety of freshly emptied Old Fitzgerald 14-year bourbon, Elijah Craig 19-year bourbon, Sazerac 14-year rye, Blanton’s 8-year bourbon, Eagle Rare 10-year bourbon, and Henry McKenna 11-year bourbon barrels. After resting in these casks for over two years, the blend was conditioned on more than three pounds per gallon of toasted coconut flakes and raw coconut chips and finished with toasted hazelnut.
Overall, there was a buzz inside the Colorado Convention Center. Attendees were excited to be back in person to try some of the best beers from around the country.
“Each year the Great American Beer Festival showcases the best that American brewers have to offer,” said Chris Williams, competition director, Great American Beer Festival. “With 9,904 entries, this year’s competition was the most competitive to date. Congratulations to all the winners who truly demonstrated why the U.S. is the best brewing nation in the world.”
For more information on GABF and to see the list of all the winners, visit www. greatamericanbeerfestival.com. For more information on the Colorado Brewers Guild, visit www.coloradobeer.org. The 41st Great American Beer Festival is set for September 21-23, 2023.
