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Join us in 2008 for our 27th Annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado during the weekend of October 9 through October 11.
Thanks to more than 46,000 of you who attended the 2007 Great American Beer Festival making it our largest festival ever! Photos from Friday night and Saturday's Members Only session are available for viewing and ordering. These include photos of each award and medal winner from Saturday afternoon's Award Ceremony.
 Visit the 2007 Great American Beer Festival photo gallery hosted by Brightroom.
26th Great American Beer Festival Names Top
Beers and Brewers: Record Number of Entries Heightens Competition
Denver, Colorado–October 13, 2007
More than 100 judges labored for three days to evaluate 2,793 beers and pick the best entries and top breweries for this year’s Great American Beer Festival. A total of 222 medals were awarded in 75 beer style categories and top breweries and brewers were designated based on the total number of medals won.
See the full release, 26th Great American Beer Festival Beers and Brewers: Record Number of Entries Heightens Competition (PDF file).
2007 five top awards for small, medium, and large breweries and small and large brewpubs
| Award |
Brewing Company or Brewpub |
Brewer |
Sponsor |
| Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year |
Pabst Brewing Company
Woodridge, Illinois |
Bob Newman |
|
| Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year |
Firestone Walker Brewing Company
Paso Robles, California |
Matthew Brynildson |
Crosby & Baker Ltd. |
| Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year |
Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey
San Marcos, California |
Tomme Arthur |
Microstar Keg Management |
| Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year |
Redrock Brewing Company
Salt Lake City, Utah |
Kevin Templin |
Brewers Supply Group |
| Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year |
Montana Brewing Company
Billings, Montana |
Travis Zeilstra |
Briess Malt & Ingredients Co. |
2007 Beer Journalism Awards
During the GABF awards ceremony, journalists and distributors were also recognized for their important role in the craft beer industry.
The Brewers Association Beer Journalism Awards recognized journalistic excellence in the coverage of American beer. The 2007 sponsors were Brooklyn Brewery, Rogue Ales and Samuel Adams.
| Media Category |
Winner |
Title |
Featured In/On |
| Consumer Print |
Marine Old |
“Beer Takes the High Road” |
Santé Magazine
June 2007 |
| Consumer Electronic |
Roger Sherman (Directory)
Jesse Sweet (Writer) |
"The American Brew" |
The History Channel
April 2007 |
| Trade and Specialty Beer |
Julie Johnson Bradford |
"The Men in the Tall Rubber Boots" |
All About Beer Magazine
May 2007 |
2007 Craft Beer Distributor Awards
The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and the Brewers Association (BA) presented the Craft Beer Distributor Awards that recognized the beer distributors in America who do the most to market, sell, and promote craft beer in their market. 2007 was the first year these awards were presented.
| Award |
Distributor |
| Craft Beer Distributor of the Year Award |
Monarch Beverage Company
Indiana |
| Craft Beer Distributor Achievement Award |
Louis Glunz Beer Company
Illinois |
| Craft Beer Distributor Recognition Award |
Cavalier Distributing
Ohio |
2007 Pro-Am Competition
The GABF Pro-Am entries are brewed by professional craft brewers based on award winning homebrew recipes from American Homebrewers Association (AHA) members. Homebrew recipes are scaled up and brewed at a craft brewery for submission into the competition.
Medals for the 2007 annual GABF Pro-Am Competition were sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients, Co. and HopUnion CBS, LLC. The medals for the GABF Pro-Am competition do not count toward the Brewery or Brewpub of the Year award.
| GABF Pro-Am Awards |
Brew |
Brewing Company |
AHA Member Brewer |
| Gold |
English Style India Pale Ale |
Allentown/Bethlehem Brew
Allentown, Pennsylvania |
Chris Bowen |
| Silver |
Kentucky Weissbier |
Alltech's Lexington Brewing Company
Lexington, Kentucky |
Bill Caldwell |
| Bronze |
Sculpin India Pale Ale |
Ballast Point Brewing Company
San Diego, California |
Doug Duffield |
The Brewing Network produced several podcasts before during and after the festival.
| 1 |
Pro-Am category for the competition |
| 7 |
Countries represented by competition judges |
| 37 |
Competition beers (on average) in each category
(2 more beers than last year) |
| 75 |
Categories of beer judged
(6 more than last year) |
| 84 |
Percent of beer arrived in kegs |
| 107 |
Expert judges evaluated festival beers
(4 more judges than last year) |
| 408 |
Breweries on the festival floor
(24 more than last year) |
| 473 |
Breweries in the festival competition
(24 more than last year) |
| 1,884 |
Beers on the festival floor
(more than a 230-beer increase from last year) |
| 2,642 |
Event volunteers lent a helping hand |
| 2,793 |
Beers in the competition |
| 25,000 |
Gallons of beer flowed at the festival |
| 33,025 |
Hours contributed by volunteers |
| 39,000 |
Bottles and cans recycled |
| 46,000 |
Attendees to Festival (12% increase from 2006) |
2007 category with the most entries
American Style India Pale Ale with 120 entries
(Same category last year with 26 more entries)
See GABF Number of Beers Per Category for the entire list of GABF beers entered per style category.
GABF visitors enjoy one-ounce beer samples from the festival's’s breweries. These breweries are arranged on the festival floor by regions of the country, giving beer lovers a walking tour of the nation’s beer-blessed landscape. Many of the booths are staffed by the brewers themselves. More than 46,000 beer enthusiasts from Colorado, the United States, and around the world attended this year’s GABF. The 2007 GABF covered 188,000 square feet of the Colorado Convention Center.
The GABF also hosts one of the world’s largest and most prestigious tasting competitions. Over 100 professional beer judges from the United States and abroad evaluated over 2,800 beers entered by more than 470 domestic breweries. Gold, silver and bronze medals in 75 beer-style categories were awarded on October 13 at the 1:30 p.m. awards ceremony held during the Members Only Tasting Session.
The GABF’s popular food & beer pairing seminars featuring an A-list of America’s brewers joined local and national celebrity chefs for demonstrations on how to cook with beer and pair different styles of beer with various dishes. |
