Largest U.S. brewing competition goes virtual
Wondering what’s up with this year’s Great American Beer Festival? Apparently, the party is on.
To be clear, the party is online.
Attracting more than 7,000 different beers from over 900 of the nation’s finest breweries, the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver, Colorado, is the most prestigious and top public U.S. beer festival and competition.
Like so many other major events in
2020, amid coronavirus concerns, this year’s festival and competition will go virtual. Originally scheduled for Sept. 24-26 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, the event will pivot to an immersive online experience Oct. 16-17.
This decision was finalized in May, when Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order temporarily suspending certain statutes to allow the operation of alternate sites in Colorado — due to the pandemic — rendering GABF at the Colorado Convention Center impossible.
“While we are disappointed to not be gathering in Denver this fall for the craft beer community’s annual big tent event, the health and safety of our attendees, brewers, volunteers, judges, and employees is and always has been our top priority,” said Bob Pease, president and CEO of the Brewers Association in a news release. “As the world is still greatly affected by the spread of COVID-19 and will continue to be affected for the foreseeable future, we must stay true to our priorities and pursue other ways to host GABF.”
In recent years, Lehigh Valley brewers have fared well at the GABF competition:
2018: Easton’s Two Rivers Brewing earned a bronze medal with its “Bangor Slate Baltic Porter.”
2017: Bonn Place Brewery, Bethlehem won silver for “Mooey” ordinary or special bitter and bronze for “Nemo” English-style mild ale.
Weyerbacher Brewing, Easton won bronze for “Riserva” fruited wood and barrel-aged sour ale
2016: Two RIvers Brewery won gold in the specialty saison category for its “Six Finger Sam Saison.”
2014: Fegley’s Brew Works’ “Arctic Alchemy” — a beverage rich in history as well as flavor — took home a gold medal in the Old Ale or Strong Ale category.
While the 39th Great American Beer Festival may look quite different this year, beer lovers from all 50 states will still have the opportunity to connect (in new ways) to celebrate the craft beer community. The festival’s spirit will carry on through live
and virtual experiences with hop heads and breweries nationwide on Oct. 16-17. Though the event is still in the planning stages, the encounters will likely include tastings (naturally), chats with brewers, demonstrations and at-home beer and food pairing ideas.
The festival’s renowned professional beer competition will go on as planned. A panel of more than 100 professional judges will assess the more than 7,000 expected entries to identify the three beers that best represent each style category. The GABF’s gold, silver, and bronze medals are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence.
“We are thankful to be able to move forward with this year’s competition and have the opportunity to award brewers’ achievements and generate consumer awareness for beer styles and trends,” added Pease. “We look forward to celebrating the annual accomplishments in brew- ing excellence and unveiling this year’s winners.”
GABF Virtual Festival Lineup
Thursday, Oct. 1 - Sunday, Oct. 4: GABF Competition Judging
Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m.: GABF Competition Awards Ceremony
Friday, Oct. 16 – Saturday, Oct. 17: Virtual Great American Beer Festival Finale
GABF passports may be purchased for $20 and in addition to the online content, including access to brewery deals between Oct. 1-18 at 1,000+ breweries from all 50 states.
Educational sessions: GABF’s online programming will feature nine, 30-minute sessions with some of the best known and rising stars in brewing. The sessions will cover topics including tips and tricks to
enhance beer knowledge and enjoyment; lager lore and sudsy stories from craft beer luminaries; profiles of breweries and individuals that are transforming their communities one beer at a time; and flavor fusions through beer and food pairings to tantalize the taste buds.
Passport holder programs: Airing Oct. 16-17 via GABF partner The Brewing Network, the online content will be available
exclusively to GABF passport holders. The virtual festivities kick off on Friday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. with the Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony, then shift to exclusive passport holder content beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday’s programming begins at 7:45 p.m. and runs through 11:30 p.m. Sponsor breaks between sessions will include extra beery content and outtakes, trivia, and prize giveaways. Tasting tip sheets: Virtual GABF passport holders will also be able to download tasting tip sheets prior to each session so you can make a list of beers, beer styles and food in advance — then sip and snack along during the program. Guest speakers include Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River Brewing Company), Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery), Gina Marsaglia (Pizza Port) and Tomme Arthur (The Lost Abby), Matt Meadows (New Belgium Brewing Company), Chef Danny Lee (Mandu and CHIKO), Marcus Baskerville (Weathered Souls Brewing Company), Jose D. Beteta, Tamil Maldonado Vega, and Martín D. Vargas (Raíces Brewing Co); among othVirtual programming concludes Saturday, Oct. 17 at 10:45 p.m. with Sierra Nevada’s founder Ken Grossman and Terrance Sullivan in a Celebration toast to GABF, the coming holidays, and all things beer.
For more info, visit greatamericanbeerfestival.com