Beer fests hopping with more competition
At the annual Bistro Double IPA Festival in Hayward, beer judges taste and review scores and scores of strong hoppy beers before deciding which ones are the best in show. Two times, the gold medal has gone to the Compulsory Triple IPA of Iron Springs Pub and Brewery in Fairfax.
But several years have passed since Iron Springs has won an award for any of its beers in any contests, anywhere, and that’s neither for lack of trying nor lack of quality.
Mike Altman, the brewery’s owner and founder, says the number of beer entrants into most competitions has increased several fold in the past decade, paralleling the tremendous growth of the beer industry as a whole and making it more and more difficult for any given beer to be noticed let alone win an award.
“There are just so many beers in these competitions now,” he says. “They’ve grown exponentially. They have more categories, and way more entries per category, especially the IPAs and double IPAs.”
Brendan Moylan, owner of Moylan’s and Marin brewing companies, recalls attending the Great American Beer Festival, an annual event in Colorado, more than 25 years ago.
“There were like 50 breweries,” he says. “I knew all of the brewers and all the breweries. Now, you just get lost. There are like 1,000 breweries each year. Last time I was there I barely knew anyone.”
All of this adds up to stiff competition in the judging events.
“There’s such a bigger playing field now,” Moylan says. “It’s gotten a lot harder.”
Other veteran brewers report a similar change in the beer competition environment, whether it’s the biannual World Beer Cup, the Great American Beer Festival, the Bistro Double IPA Festival, or many others. Fal Allen, brewer at Anderson Valley Brewing Co., says “it was easier to win medals 20 or 30 years ago.”
For instance, frequent repeat winners of medals in the Great American Beer Festival of the 1990s and early 2000s have been displaced by younger breweries on the scene.
“In early years days some names were constants — these brewers no longer win medals every year, some don’t win at all anymore,” he says.
Increasing numbers of breweries and beers is just one reason that competitions have gotten harder. Another factor is improved average quality, which has raised the competitive bar.
“The quality of most beer out there has improved,” says Kevin McGee, whose family purchased Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in late 2019. “There are so many more good beers now.”
Improved ingredient quality as well as advancing technology in brewing equipment has allowed more breweries to make consistently better beer.
Moylan notes that breweries that recently launched likely purchased newer, state-of-theart equipment, giving them a
“There are just so many beers in these competitions now. They’ve grown exponentially. They have more categories, and way more entries per category.”
— Mike Altman, owner of Iron Springs Pub and Brewery in Fairfax
technical edge over breweries that installed their systems long ago.
“Thirty-year-old breweries have 30-year-old equipment,” he says. “Newer breweries have newer equipment. In some ways this makes it easier for them.”
While the odds of any given brewer taking home a contest award may be down from past years, it may still be worth paying the entry fees and sending over a keg or two of beer to be tasted and rated. McGee says that beer vendors pay attention to which beers have won medals, and Moylan says winning awards “helps you develop your reputation.”
Altman said he plans to enter the Great American Beer Festival this fall, though he’s not certain which beers he’ll submit.
“Our odds may be less of winning now, but with all the beers in the contests, it makes winning even more prestigious,” he said.