Great American Beer Festival Sets Records for 2018

ALL PHOTOS BY DAN RABIN (BOULDER, COLORADO)
 
The Great American Beer Festival was greatly expanded for 2018. More space and more to taste as beer lovers gathered in Denver’s Mile High City September 20-22, 2018.

For the 37th consecutive year, beer lovers gathered in Denver for the country’s preeminent beer festival and competition. This year’s GABF offered a record 62,000 attendees the opportunity to sample over 4,000 beers from more than 800 breweries in an expanded festival hall.

GABF added 100,00 square feet in 2018 for a total of 584,000 square feet, roughly the size of eight football fields for beer!

This year’s GABF represents the largest collection of U.S. beer ever served, in the format of a public tasting event plus a privately judged competition. Dubbed by Thrillist as “The One Beer Festival You Must Go to Before You Die,” GABF has topped beer lovers’ bucket lists since 1982 and unites beer lovers and brewers from all corners of the country to celebrate the nation’s ever-growing craft beer culture.

A sellout crowd lines up outside the Colorado Convention Center prior to Thursday night’s opening session of the 37th Great American Beer Festival. A record 62,000 people attending this year’s festival.

Dubbed by Thrillist as “The One Beer Festival You Must Go to Before You Die,” GABF has topped beer lovers’ bucket lists since 1982

The Brewers Association, responsible for organizing the GABF, awarded 306 medals to 280 breweries across the United States at this years GABF judging competition. In a ceremony at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, award-winning breweries received prestigious gold, silver and bronze medals in 102 beer categories covering 167 different beer styles (including all subcategories), establishing the best examples of each style in the country and earning a symbol of brewing excellence.

The Sounds of Silence took on a new meaning at the Silent Disco which included a live DJ.

GABF COMPETITION STATISTICS

32nd Edition of the GABF competition
8,496 entries plus 101 Pro-Am and 49 Collaboration entries
2,404 breweries in the competition from 49 states plus Washington, D.C. (no Mississippi)
293 judges from 13 countries
Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 83
Category with the highest number of entries: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (391 entries)
280 medal-winning breweries (including Pro-Am and Collaboration)
306 total medals awarded plus three (3) each for Pro-Am and Collaboration
537 first-time GABF entrants
31 first-time GABF winners

A variety of food trucks upped the food offerings within the festival hall.

MOST-ENTERED STYLE CATEGORIES

In its GABF competition debut, the Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale style category was the most-entered with 391 entries. Since 2002, the most-entered category was American-Style India Pale Ale (IPA), which saw 311 entries in 2018.