Follow Sean Inman to the best in craft beer
The night before the big award ceremony was the coveted 2025 Challenge for Alpha King and here are your winners….
Gold – Sunriver Brewing Double Whammies IPA
Silver – No Boat Brewing Lil’ Sal Imperial Hop Saturated Ale
Bronze – Hop Dogma Muka Laka Hiki International Style IPA
Locally ISM Brewing in Long Beach landed in the top 25 which ain’t too shabby.
Back in the heady days of the craft beer boom and the cellaring craze, the Denver Rare Beer Tasting held during the Great American Beer Festival was one of those beer bucket list items. Early in my beer journey, I attended and was just overwhelmed.
Now after a 16 year run, the Denver Rare Beer Tasting is ending after the 2025 event at Bierstadt Lagerhaus. The event raised funds and awareness for the Pints for Prostates campaign.
As with past years, this is an opportunity to not only taste the “whales” and limited releases but to meet the brewers behind them. In addition, “Each attendee receives beer samples, lunch, collectible tasting glass, t-shirt and program. Attendees will get the chance to bid in an exciting online auction that includes a variety of unique beer experiences and collectibles, and participate in the Brewers Health Initiative, a free health screening.”
The 2025 Great American Beer Festival competition will have 8 new beer styles this year:
Light, Pale, Amber, & Dark Mexican-Style Lager
Czech-Style Amber Lager
Czech-Style Dark Lager
West Coast-Style Pilsener
Vera Hop Beer (one-time category)
There has been a mini explosion of Czech beers so that makes sense. Breaking down Mexican lagers into four groupings seems carrying the point a little far to me. I do like one time categories though. I think that can be a fun way to promote a hop, malt or yeast.
If you want to familiarize yourself with all of the 2025 style categories, you can head HERE.
Since the Great American Beer Festival kicks off, well, today. I have to reach back to a 2023 winner first. So we head to Puttsburgh and any one of the three locations for Cinderlands.
They won Gold in the Experimental Category for their Hill & Hollow- Cayuga. A “Golden saison fermented with our house mix culture of farm house yeast and Brettanomyces in an American oak foeder. Pressed down for 4 weeks on pressed Cayuga wine grapes.”
So whether you go to the Warehouse, Wexford or the Long Story Short sandwich shop, here are some ideas for a taster tray…
Lil’ Cinder Lime Light Lager – 4.2% – “Classic American light lager brewed with real lime and flaked maize.”
Black and Yellow Yinzerade – 5.0% – “Hard lemonade-inspired sour beer brewed with blackberries, black currants, and lemons.”
One Way Out – 6.3% – “Hazy IPA brewed with Nelson Sauvin, Nelson Sauvin SubZero Hop Kief, Citra, and Citra Cryo.”
Hill & Hollow Chambourcin – 7.4% – “Amber rye saison fermented with our house mixed culture yeast. Punched down on local Chambourcin red wine grapes.”
Our second stop in GABF Colorado this October is Monolith Brewing. I noticed them because they have great beer names and also because they donate 1% of their revenue to the Brew Like a Girl Scholarship Fund.
Let’s taste some beers then…
Czech it Out – “Ahroy! Come walk down the prlank of a broat, alrighty, maybe more kryak than broat, with Captains Kat and Stephen (of Monolith Brewing) for the delightful Czech Pilsner collab. RootShoot Pilsner malt + Saaz hops = looks ok to me!”
Bavarian Contrarian – ” A traditional Bavarian Hefeweizen for those who choose to defy conventionalism”
Baguette About It – “A Collaboration with Body by Beer Podcast and Dry Storage, this beer is brewed with 100% Rouge de Bordeaux wheat, and fermented with 3lbs/bbl of Sweet Cherries and Apricots”
Tau Neutrino – “Crafted with a stellar blend of hops, this hazy IPA delivers a juicy burst of 1 lb/bbl of Amarillo and 4 lbs/bbl of Citra, Mosaic, and El Dorado. Experience a tropical supernova of citrus, mango, and stone fruit, all swirling together in a nebulous cloud of hop-induced bliss.”
So nice that they have two locations now. The Very Nice Brewing Company is based in Nederland, Colorado with a second location in Gilpin now.
Let’s get tasting, starting with….
Calmer Than You Are IPA – “Light bodied and light on alcohol. Generous late additions of Citra and Mosaic Hops and then dry hopped with Motueka, Mosaic, and Citra make for a huge hop forward character in a very easy drinker. Lots of citrus in the form of grapefruit and orange followed up with tones of mango, passion fruit and kiwi.”
Logical Fallacy Black Ale – “This beer challenges the Logical Fallacy that says if a beer is a stout, it can’t be hoppy. With 4 generous hop additions of Summit and Northern Brewer, this beer has a technical IBU (International Bittering Unit) of almost 70. However, this hops bill is challenged with the deep smokiness of black patent malt, coffee tones of chocolate malt, and the sweetness of 4lbs/BBL of wild Colorado honey.This is a unique stout that will make you look deep into this beer, and lose yourself in the intricate taste of its oil like blackness.”
Monk’s Phunk – “Strong ale named after a strong woman! Our brewer’s dear mother! This recipe is crafted as a tribute to the tradition the Monk’s started in Belgium over a thousand years ago. It includes lots of Munich and dark crystal malt with a shot of chocolate malt, giving it a deep burgundy color and a heavenly rich caramel taste that literally would bring people to God, or at least to his cathedrals in Europe. It has enlightening fruity esters from the Belgian yeast as well as divine sweetness from 4lbs/BBL of wild Colorado honey.”
I usually do not venture into the comments in social media because my opinion of humanity is already low enough as it is but when I saw noted home brewing authority Denny Conn posted this in the middle of this month….
….I delved into what people had to say and boy was it an eye opening. There is a lot of bruised feelings and ill will to how the Brewers Association (BA) is handling the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) and not just from rank and file homebrewers but from influential beer people whom I know from their writing and speaking. There is also a lot of low opinions of the marquee festival as well.
It is dispiriting to say the least because the BA and AHA really need each other in the way that a Major League Baseball team needs the minor leagues. And GABF needs to get its mojo back as well.
But despite the low ebb, the tide can turn. I would strongly suggest that the AHA be given autonomy on how it runs events so that the leadership of that group can brainstorm how to make HomeBrewCon and other gatherings more attractive to members. Folding a sliver of the event into GABF seems a small gesture at best. Perhaps smaller regional events are the way to go. But the AHA members should be charting the way not dictated at by Denver.
As for GABF, I have been twice (ages ago) and, yes, it is not for the faint of crowds or cup drop culture. But it is also a fantastic way to sample beers that you otherwise would have to take a year off of work and travel the country to taste. Again, maybe regional events would be a solution with a smaller, focused affair in Denver for those that win judging regionally. Sort of a March Madness model.
First off, there needs to be some fence mending and that means people getting together to talk about craft beer and how pros and amateurs can work in concert.
One of the best things about The Great American Beer Festival (GABF®) is their Paired food and beer section of the convention floor.
But I got questions about this….
“This year’s festival will offer a sweet surprise on Thursday as sponsor Russell Stover Chocolates stops by on a nationwide tour celebrating its 100th anniversary and Guinness World Records title.”
It measures “30 feet 4.5 inches wide by 15 feet 5 inches tall and held more than 5,000 lbs. of chocolate. Russell Stover Chocolates will provide free chocolate samples to festivalgoers while supplies last.”
Maybe I am a See’s Man but even if I wasn’t one, I would avoid Russell Stover cause it don’t taste like chocolate and I sure don’t want a bigger piece of it. I would prefer a local chocolatier instead.
Well, you caught me in two untruths there. One, GABF is in September. It is only the tickets that are on sale. And second, general sales start on the 12th as the insider sales get a one day jump on the action.
$95 will get you in to a session with the big blue bear.
The 40th edition of The Great American Beer Festival has announced the ticket sale dates…
Celebrate our 40th anniversary October 6-8 in Denver.
Member Presale: July 12
Public Ticket Sale: July 13
Get your ticket buying gear ready.