2016 Great American Beer Festival Competition Winners

Congratulations to the breweries who won medals at this year's Great American Beer Festival competition! With over 7,200 entries, it was a huge competition. IPA still reigns supreme, with over 300 entries, but the biggest surprise was the addition of the Pumpkin/Squash category. Despite the overwhelming number of pumpkin beers in the market, only ten entered, with judges only awarded a bronze...remember, pumpkin spice isn't the same as pumpkin.The day wasn't without controversy, with Fat Heads originally being named the Mid-size Brewing Company of the Year, but then some time after the ceremony they were stripped of that award. The Brewers Association has rules that govern GABF brewery-classification that say "If Moe's Brewing Company enters both Moe's Brewing Company Production Facility (producing 100,000 BBL) and Moe's Brewpub (producing 7,000 BBL) in the competition, both locations must compete in the largest applicable (Brewery of the Year) category for the company as a whole. In this case, both compete in Mid-Size Brewing Company."Some operations don't work this way, but that's how they do it at GABF. We'll update this as more things come up.

Some Stats about the awards:

Colorado had 38 medal winners, 13 of those being Gold, 16 being Silver, and 9 being bronze!California lead the way with 68 total medals.Durango, CO had 4 medals!

Here's the full list of winners:

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Here's our photos from the awards ceremony:

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