2011 GABF ~ California Craft Beer takes home the Medals!

California craft brewers brought home 51  out of 248 medals awarded at the 2011 Great American Beer Festival (GABF), and were awarded 4 out of 6 of the prestigious Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards.

California was the top medal winner, followed by Colorado with 44 medals. The 2011 GABF drew an impressive field of competitors, with 2011 topping last year’s entries by 11 percent.

This year’s GABF competition attracted 167 beer judges from nine countries, 526 breweries in the competition from 48 states (including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico). Award-winning brewers received prestigious gold, silver and bronze medals in 83 beer categories covering 134 beer styles, establishing the best examples of each style in the U.S.

Great American Beer Festival 2011 Statistics

•    466 breweries in the festival hall
•    2,375 beers served at the festival
•    49,000 attendees
•    3,300 volunteers approx.
•    526 breweries in the competition from 48 states (including Washington,  D.C. and Puerto Rico)
•    3,930 beers judged (includes 86 Pro-Am competition entries)
•    83 style categories judged, plus the Pro-Am competition
•    167 judges from nine countries
•    Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 48
•    Category with highest number of entries: 176, American Style India Pale Ale

2011 winners

Great American Beer Festival 2011 Statistics

  • Firestone Walker, Pizza Port Carlsbad and Rock Bottom Brewery won 6 medals each,
    the 2nd most medals won per brewery.
  • Firestone and Pizza Port both took 3 gold medals each – 2nd to the most gold medals per brewery.
  • 21st Amendment took 2 gold medals.

2011 Brewery and Brewer of the Year Awards ~ California took 4 out of 6 awards

Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company
Brewer of the Year

Firestone Walker Brewing Co, Paso Robles, CA
Matthew Brynildson

Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Yiga Miyashiro

Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year
Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Pizza Port Brew Guys

Brewpub Group and Brewpub Group Brewer of the Year
TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Brea, CA
Victor Novak

The following are the California brewers who brought home the medal:

Category: 8 Coffee Beer   – 60 Entries
Silver:    Coffee Monster, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category: 10 rye Beer – 36 Entries
Gold: Three Flowers IPA, Marin Brewing Co., Larkspur, CA

Category: 12 Session Beer – 44 Entries
Silver: Twerp, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: Firestone Walker Extra Pale Ale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category: 13 Other Strong Beer – 53 Entries
Bronze: Totality Imperial Stout, FiftyFifty Brewing Co., Truckee, CA

Category: 14 Experimental Beer – 83 Entries
Silver: Petit Obscura, Telegraph Brewing Co., Santa Barbara, CA

Category: 15 Indigenous Beer – 31 Entries
Gold: Hqt, 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Bronze: Hot Rocks Lager, Port Brewing Co., San Marcos, CA

Category: 18 American-Style Sour Ale – 21 Entries
Silver: Framboise de Amorosa, The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, CA

Category: 20 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer – 40 Entries
Gold: Velvet Merkin, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category: 23 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer – 75 Entries
Silver: The Wanderer, The Bruery, Placentia, CA

Category: 24 Aged Beer – 36 Entries
Bronze: 2004 Triple Exultation, Eel River Brewing Co., Fortuna, CA

Category: 39 German-Style Schwarzbier – 26 Entries
Gold: TAPS Schwarzbier, TAPS Fish House & Brewery (Corona, CA), Brea, CA

Category: 42 Baltic-Style Porter – 19 Entries
Bronze: Puddy Porter, Triple Rock Brewery and Alehouse, Berkeley, CA

Category: 43 Golden or Blonde Ale – 56 Entries
Bronze: Kent Lake Kolsch, Iron Springs Pub & Brewery, Fairfax, CA

Category: 47 English-Style India Pale Ale – 46 Entries
Silver: Napa Smith Organic IPA, Napa Smith Brewery, Napa, CA

Category: 49 American-Style Pale Ale – 105 Entries
Gold: Pale 31, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: Mission St. Pale, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category: 50 American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 103 Entries
Silver: AleSmith IPA, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category: 52 Imperial India Pale Ale – 102 Entries
Gold: Citra Double IPA, Kern River Brewing, Kernville, CA
Silver: Double Jack, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA

Category: 53 American-Style Amber/Red Ale – 82 Entries
Gold: Amber Waves, 21st Amendment Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Silver: Jamaica Red Ale, Mad River Brewing Co., Blue Lake, CA

Category: 54 Imperial Red Ale – 57 Entries
Gold: 547 Haight – The Toronado San Francisco’s 20th Anniversary Imperial Red Ale,
Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Silver: Rhino Chaser Imperial Red Ale, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

Category: 55 English-Style Mild Ale – 25 Entries
Gold: Skidmark Brown Ale, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA
Silver: Dawn Patrol Dark, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Solana Beach, CA

Category: 56 Ordinary or Special Bitter – 28 Entries
Gold: DBA, Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles, CA
Silver: New Speedway Bitter, Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery, San Francisco, CA
Bronze: Bonnie Lee’s Best Bitter, Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery, San Francisco, CA

Category: 60 English-Style Brown Ale – 45 Entries
Gold: Good Grief Brown, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category: 61 American-Style Brown Ale – 49 Entries
Gold: Great American Brown, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA

Category: 62 American-Style Black Ale – 74 Entries
Bronze: Black Racer, Bear Republic Brewing Co., Healdsburg, CA

Category: 63 German-Style Altbier – 30 Entries
Silver: TAPS Alt, TAPS Fish House & Brewery (Brea, CA), Brea, CA

Category: 64 German-Style Sour Ale – 13 Entries
Silver: Hottenroth Berliner Weisse, The Bruery, Placentia, CA

Category: 66 German-Style Wheat Ale – 23 Entries
Silver: Weizenbock, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., Chico, CA

Category: 69 Belgian- and French-Style Ale – 56 Entries
Gold: California Ale, Telegraph Brewing Co., Santa Barbara, CA
Silver: TAPS Biere de Garde, TAPS Fish House & Brewery (Corona, CA), Brea, CA

Category: 71 Belgian-Style Abbey Ale – 76 Entries
Gold: Brother David’s Double, Anderson Valley Brewing Co., Boonville, CA
Bronze: Two Tortugas, Karl Strauss Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category: 72 Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale – 59 Entries
Silver: Revelations, Pizza Port Carlsbad, Carlsbad, CA
Bronze: The Twelve, Black Diamond Brewing Co., Concord, CA

Category: 73 Brown Porter – 32 Entries
Silver: FireHouse Porter, FireHouse Grill & Brewery, Sunnyvale, CA

Category: 74 Robust Porter – 62 Entries
Bronze: Pier Rat Porter, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, CA

Category: 76 Foreign-Style Stout – 23 Entries
Bronze: Z-Man Stout, Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

Category: 77 American-Style Stout – 37 Entries
Gold: Jules Winnfi eld, Pizza Port Solana Beach, Solana Beach, CA
Silver: Achievement Beyond Life’s Experiences American Stout, Brit Antrim Benefi t Beer,
Pizza Port Ocean Beach, San Diego, CA

Category: 79 Oatmeal Stout – 36 Entries
Bronze: Stagecoach Stout, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co., Buellton, CA

Category: 82 Old Ale or Strong Ale – 35 Entries
Gold: Papier, The Bruery, Placentia, CA
Silver: AleSmith Decadence ‘10 Old Ale, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA

Category: 83 Barley Wine-Style Ale – 42 Entries
Silver: AleSmith Old Numbskull, AleSmith Brewing Co., San Diego, CA