Another Great American Beer Festival has come and gone. Beers were shared, judged, and celebrated. A huge congratulations to all of this year's winners, 19 of which came from Oregon. Of those medals, seven were gold, seven were silver, and five were bronze.
 
This year’s gold medals were awarded to Barley Brown's Beer for Ratchet Strap IPA in the American-Style Strong Pale Ale Category and Disorder Stout in the American-Style Stout Category, Block 15 for Turbulent Consequence, Peche in the Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale Category, Old Town Brewing for Shanghai'd IPA in the English-Style India Pale Ale Category, Golden Valley Brewery for Beaverton Blonde in the English-Style Summer Ale Category, Fat Head's Brewery - Portland for Blitzkrieg Bock in the Rye Beer Category, and Pelican Pub & Brewery for MacPelican's Wee Heavy Ale in the Scotch Ale Category.

 

Silver medals were awarded to Lompoc Brewing - The 5th Quadrant for Proletariat Red, Mazama Brewing for Rasplendent, pFriem Family Brewers for Pilsner, Bend Brewing for Volkssekt, Ground Breaker Brewing for IPA No. 5, Laurelwood Public House and Brewery for Eazy Duz It IIPA, and Rogue Ales for Hazelnut Brown Nectar. 

 

Bronze medals were awarded to Bend Brewing for Black Diamond, 10 Barrel for P2P and Cucumber Crush, The Commons Brewery for Petite Classique, and Gigantic Brewing Co. for MASSIVE! 2013.

The Brewers Association awarded 275 medals in 92 categories at this year’s Great American Beer Festival, which marked the competition's 29th year. Total entries climbed to more than 6,600 from over 1,500 breweries hailing from all corners of the country. It took 242 judges from 15 countries to choose this year's winners. It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it. 

For 13 years running now, the most-entered category continues to be American-Style India Pale Ale (IPA), which featured 336 different brews vying for a medal. The second-most popular category at this year's competition was the big brother of IPAs, Imperial India Pale Ale, with 208 entries, followed by Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer with 179 entries.

 

Breweries continue to step up their game, which was proven by a four-way tie between Firestone Walker, Sun King, Port City, and Left Hand Brewing for most medals won. Each brewery took home three medals. 

Three new style categories were added this year – Chili Pepper Beer, Session India Pale Ale, and Mixed Culture Brett Beer. Interestingly, there was one category in which no gold medal was awarded, Pumpkin Beer. The end of a trend? Probably not.