2018 Great American Beer Festival Awards

The Great American Beer Festival (GABF), took place late last month with a record 2,404 breweries entering. Known as the annual “Super Bowl” of the American brewing industry, US breweries competed to win a gold, silver or bronze medal – a symbol recognized around the world for brewing excellence.

Judging for the competition occurred in five different three-hour sessions, over a three day period and consisted of 292 beer judges working their way through 8,496 beers in a hotel ballroom. The result, 306 medals were awarded, across 102 beer categories and incredibly, 40% of the gold, 39% of the silver and 34% of the bronze medals were awarded to Wyeast clients.

“Congratulations to each of the Great American Beer Festival award winners!,” said Jenny Kreft-Logsdon, President of Wyeast Laboratories. “On behalf of Wyeast Laboratories, I’d like to raise a glass to all of those who participated and extend a heartfelt congratulations to each of the medalists.”

These statistics prove that Wyeast clients are unparalleled in their commitment to quality and innovation in the craft brew industry and we can’t thank them enough for making us part of their continued success. Allowing us to grow along side of each of them, has been a joy and point of pride for all of us at Wyeast Laboratories.

About the Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival awards gold, silver and bronze medals for excellence in 102 beer-style categories but does not necessarily award medals to the top three finishers in a particular category.

When judges decide a category contains three excellent examples of the style, they award gold, silver and bronze medals for the first, second and third place beers, respectively.

AWARD CRITERIA

If judges believe that no beer in the category meets the quality and style-accuracy criteria, they may elect not to award a medal. Judges may award a beer with a silver or bronze medal and yet not award a gold medal.

GOLD: A world-class beer that accurately exemplifies the specified style, displaying the proper balance of taste, aroma and appearance.

SILVER: An excellent beer that may vary slightly from style parameters while maintaining close adherence to the style and displaying excellent taste, aroma and appearance.

BRONZE: A fine example of the style that may vary slightly from style parameters and/or have minor deviations in taste, aroma or appearance.