'Great American Beer Festival' Archives

Doomsday beer: Strange Brewing will release Dr. Strangelove in bottles on Friday

By Jonathan Shikes Thu., May 16 2013 at 12:58 PM

Categories: Beer Man, Great American Beer Festival

The crew behind Strange Brewing are in their war room today, preparing to launch an all-out offensive on Denver tomorrow -- but their weapons of choice are bombers rather than bombs, even if the beer they've made is named Dr. Strangelove, like the movie.

Strange will release 1,000 bottles of Dr. Strangelove, a 11.5 percent ABV barleywine-style ale that won a bronze medal last year at the Great American Beer Festival, in its taproom on Friday. It is the first beer that Strange has packaged in bottles.

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barleywine, Dr. Strangelove, Strange Brewing

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Beer Man

Third Shift lager, a new MillerCoors beer, got its medal-winning start at Denver's Sandlot

By Jonathan Shikes Thu., Feb. 7 2013 at 2:03 PM

Categories: Beer Man, Great American Beer Festival

Third Shift Facebook page

Tom Hail loves beer. He loves lagers especially, which is why he stays very late on a lot of nights to work on his passion projects. One of these is a traditional German-style marzen -- a recipe that he's been tinkering with on and off for eighteen years.

It's a tasty beer -- so tasty that Hail, one of only four employees at the tiny Blue Moon Brewing Company @ the Sandlot, inside Coors Field, submitted it for judging a couple of times at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. In 2010, it won gold.

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Blue Moon Brewing, David Coors, Great American Beer Festival, MillerCoors, the Sandlot, Third Shift Amber Lager, Tom Hail

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Coors, Miller, Bud will keep sponsoring GABF, despite craft vs. crafty controversy

By Jonathan Shikes Thu., Dec. 20 2012 at 9:59 AM

Categories: Beer Man, Great American Beer Festival

Blue Moon Brewing Facebook page

Blue Moon brewmaster Keith Villa pours at GABF 2012.

When the Brewers Association blasted the nation's two largest beer makers last week for not labeling some of their smaller brands with the names "MillerCoors" or "Anheuser-Busch," the Boulder organization risked losing a lot of money. After all, the two companies kick in at least $20,000 annually to be a part of the Great American Beer Festival, which takes place in Denver. But neither company says it plans to back away from GABF, which is the largest and most complete beer competition in the nation, despite the controversy, which has become known as the craft vs. "crafty" debate.

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Anheuser-Busch, Blue Moon, Brewers Association, craft beer, craft vs. crafty, GABF, Great American Beer Festival, MillerCoors, Shock Top

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Fort Collins and Funkwerks step up in a down year for Colorado GABF medals

By Jonathan Shikes Thu., Oct. 18 2012 at 1:11 PM

Categories: Beer Man, Great American Beer Festival

Funkwerks Facebook page

Colorado took home 35 medals at the Great American Beer Festival this year, including six that went to Fort Collins brewers, highlighted by Funkwerks, which won two golds and was named Small Brewing Company of the Year.

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Fort Collins, Funkwerks, Great American Beer Festival, medals

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"Stand your ground and pour": How Brooklyn Brewery's Garrett Oliver saved GABF

By Jonathan Shikes Tue., Oct. 16 2012 at 11:17 AM

Categories: Beer Man, Great American Beer Festival

Brooklyn Brewery Flickr page

Garrett Oliver mans the booth at GABF 2011.

Aisle after aisle, table after table, there was one thing about the 2012 Great American Beer Festival that was different from the event in previous years: There were brewery reps, brewers and, in many cases, brewery owners themselves staffing their booths, hanging out and answering questions. It was a refreshing change that may have come about because of a letter from Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery.

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Brooklyn Brewery, Garrett Oliver, Great American Beer Festival

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Photos: The best beer swag of Great American Beer Festival 2012

By Cafe Society Mon., Oct. 15 2012 at 5:57 PM

Categories: Great American Beer Festival, Photos

All photos by Christopher Morgan.

Sure, you like beer -- but have you ever worn it? Wrapped your entire being in it and then spent three days at a convention devoted to it? That's what the country's most dedicated boze enthusiasts (enbooziasts?) did at the Great American Beer Festival, held at the Colorado Convention Center last weekend. Continue reading for photos of the best beer-themed swag money can buy (and fans can make).

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2012, beer, GABF, Great American Beer Festival, photos, swag

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Twenty best costumes of Great American Beer Festival 2012

By Cafe Society Mon., Oct. 15 2012 at 3:52 PM

Categories: Great American Beer Festival, Photos

All photos by Christopher Morgan.

Beer lovers aren't exactly known for their high fashion, but they do know how to stagger in style, and thousands of people showed off just how crazy they could look last week during the three-day Great American Beer Festival. From Viking horns to Waldo costumes, this year's hops lovers were dressed to impress.

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beer, Colorado Convention Center, costumes, GABF, Great American Beer Festival, photos

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Five sexiest beer names at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival

By Samantha Alviani Mon., Oct. 15 2012 at 10:51 AM

Categories: Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival is full of novelties, and Westword has brought you everything from the Best Beards to the Best Beer Swag to the Best Beer Porn over the past few days. Now we'll take a look at a few of the sexiest beer names we encountered.

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Great American Beer Festival, Motor Boat, Red Rocket, Sexual Chocolate, Wee Willy

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Meet the winners of Great American Beer Festival 2012

By Samantha Alviani Mon., Oct. 15 2012 at 9:50 AM

Categories: Great American Beer Festival

All photos by Christopher Morgan.

Slide show: Beer porn of the Great American Beer Festival

This year's Great American Beer Festival played temporary home to 580 breweries -- and with more than 2,700 beers poured, the fest's professional judge panel had its hands (and mouths) full when making decisions on the winners of all 84 categories. Continue reading for the full list of the weekend's winners.

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Beer debate: Colorado versus Oregon at the Great American Beer Festival

By Patrick Langlois Sat., Oct. 13 2012 at 11:41 AM

Categories: Cafe Society, Great American Beer Festival

A scene from this year's GABF

The debate between the beer scenes in Oregon and Colorado has overflowed for years, and word of mouth continues to fall short of an explanation as to which one is the best. That's because an open-minded alcoholic craves more than just hearsay, which may be why the Great American Beer Festival has become so epic. Continue reading for our take on the booze feud.

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