For us members of the craft beer media, the Great American Beer Fest starts with a professional presentation on the state of the craft beer industry and ends with us fleeing from 300-pound dudes wearing bagel bandoliers. And this is only one of many reasons why it is great. We attended GABF 2016, and before we were entirely overserved, we caught some good notes about the state of the craft beer industry today, as calculated by the Brewers Association.
Market place growth
Bart Watson, chief economist of the Brewers Association, kicked things off by noting the continued success (and interest in) the small, independent brewer (which, remember, is what the Brewers Association is representing) has persisted in spite of lagging growth in overall beer. Depending on how craft beer is defined in a market share analysis, one could declare that craft beer growth has slowed, but when looking at the numbers for those breweries that meet the Brewers Association definition of a craft brewer, then craft brewers were up 10 percent year over year in dollar sales. Other beers outside the BA definition were only up 5 percent.
Inside that craft beer popularity are some interesting stats about why craft beer consumers buy it to begin with. The number in the list that jumped out the most was 63 percent of respondents said they were mainly interested in craft beer because it is local. The top two choices were flavor and freshness.
Legislative wins
The political side of the Brewers Association is really focused on two federal issues right now — passing legislation to reduce the excise tax burden on small brewers and changing the scope of the FDA’s rule concerning nutrition labeling at chain restaurants. BA leadership was feeling optimistic about both of these.
The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act that’s been gaining bi-partisan Congressional support left and right was nearly passed last year in a tax package but was removed at the zero hour, according to Bob Pease, CEO of the BA. He believes that this will be the year for it to get through.
The FDA rule on chain restaurant menu nutritional info was delayed until May 2017, after it became clear that the original concept would be a huge undertaking for craft brewers to comply with — and would ultimately not produce information consumers really care about (are people making beer selections based on the percentage of dietary fiber in it?).
“We’ve been working with the Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling at the FDA. … and they are agreeing with us that people ordering beverage alcohol really only care about calories and carbs and that’s it,” said Paul Gatza, director of the BA.
He said they are trying to work on a stylistic approach instead that would give an average calorie count for various craft beer styles since those numbers could just be used in place of the more elaborate testing. and if a brewer gets close to that average, then they should be able to avoid required testing of all those data points. Gatza was optimistic that this could happen.
Paired
The Great American Beer Festival really captures all that beer is in one event. There is fun. There is camaraderie. There is debauchery. There are people wearing lederhosen. There is also a touch of class — you just have to know where to find it.
Tucked away from the be-pretzel-necklaced masses during the Friday evening session was Paired — an event that both celebrates and educates on beer and food pairings. To attend Paired is to become a beer/food pairing evangelist, because my god the food and beer combos are melt-your-face amazing. Your CBB editor freely admits he does not have a very refined, discerning beer palate (I will very rarely be picking out “hints” or “notes” of very much), but you don’t need one to feel the power of Fate Brewing Co.’s sourific Decima cutting through the robust flavors of a roasted squash soup
or to see how Alaskan Brewing’s new Alaskan Cran-Spruce took the experience of a carrot cake with juniper cream to new levels of awesome.
Our takeaway from Paired this year, other than 10 extra pounds, is for craft brewers to understand the power of the pairing. Your pairings don’t have to be as fancy pantsy as these were, but giving a customer a slightly better appreciation for the artistry and functionality of your creation is an engaging, useful exercise.
Enough of this business talk. Who won stuff? Click next page for GABF awards coverage.
Your 2016 Breweries of the Year
The awards ceremony is always the best time at GABF, with a room full of brewing industry professionals rooting each other on and celebrating their accomplishments. In all, 286 medals were awarded. Winners were chosen from 7,227 competition entries (nearly 9 percent more than the 6,647 entries in 2015 and surpassing all previous participation records) from 1,752 breweries hailing from 50 states plus Washington, D.C. First-time GABF competition entrants (self-identified during the registration process) numbered 464. Of those first-time entering breweries, 41 won medals.
The competition also saw its biggest-ever panel of judges, with 264 beer experts from 12 countries, including the United States, and 170 competition volunteers. The panel also evaluated 88 Pro-Am entries, which were judged in three rounds over four days.
Here is the complete list of winners. Below are some of the more notable awards and tidbits.
Very Small Brewing Company and Very Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year Sponsored by Brewers Supply Group (BSG): Brown Truck Brewery, High Point, N.C. / Team Brown Truck
Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year Sponsored by O-I: Überbrew, Billings, Mont. / Über Cru
Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year Sponsored by MicroStar Logistics: Karl Strauss Brewing Co. — San Diego / Team Karl
Large Brewing Company and Large Brewing Co. Brewer of the Year Sponsored by Beer Institute: Pabst Brewing Co., Los Angeles, Calif. /Gregory Deuhs
Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year Sponsored by Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.: ZwanzigZ Brewing, Columbus, Ind. / Mike Rybinski and Trent Fleener
Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year Sponsored by BSG: Boxing Bear Brewing Co., Albuquerque, NM / Justin Hamilton and Dylan Davis
Large Brewpub and Large Brewpub Brewer of the Year Sponsored by Country Malt Group: The Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co., Austin, Texas / Amos Swifty Kim
GABF awards pulls a Steve Harvey
During the Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony, the name Fat Heads’ seemed to pop up over and over again. The North Olmstead, Ohio-based brewery won a gold medal in the German-Style Wheat Ale category, a silver medal in Other Strong Beer, and a bronze medal in Fresh or Wet Hop Ale. Another Ohio Fat Head’s location took home two other medals as well. Finally, Fat Heads was named the Mid-Size Brewing Co. of the Year. And we thought this was cool because Fat Heads is one of our favorite local breweries.
Problem is, there was a slight goof on those results. Here is the explanation from the BA:
“During competition registration, Karl Strauss Brewing Co. self-identified their San Diego location as a Mid-Size Brewpub. After the award ceremony, GABF competition staff realized that this was inaccurate: this location is, in fact, a Mid-Size Brewing Company. Karl Strauss, while it operates brewpubs, is classified as a production facility by GABF competition guidelines.
After reassigning Karl Strauss to the Mid-Size Brewing Company category, and recalculating the Brewery of the Year results, it resulted that Karl Strauss was the winner of the Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year category. In addition, Boxing Bear Brewing Co. is the resulting winner of the Mid-Size Brewpub of the Year category.
Top three states by ratio of medals to entries by state
- Wyoming (.111) with 45 entries and 5 medals
- Hawaii (.107) with 28 entries and 3 medals
- Virginia (.07) with 200 entries and 14 medals
Winning with Style
The average number of competition beers entered in each category was 75 — up from 72 in 2015 — making the 2016 Great American Beer Festival competition the most competitive ever. The winners in the most-entered (that is, the most competitive) categories were:
American-Style India Pale Ale (312 entries)
- Gold: Bodhizafa IPA, Georgetown Brewing Co., Seattle, Wash.
- Silver: Super Cali IPA, Riip Beer Co., Huntington Beach, Calif.
- Bronze: Breaking Bud, Knee Deep Brewing Co., Auburn, Calif.
Imperial India Pale Ale (211 entries)
- Gold: Humulus Insani, Überbrew, Billings, Mont.
- Silver: Nobility, Noble Ale Works, Anaheim, Calif.
- Bronze: Hop JuJu Imperial IPA, Fat Head’s Brewery, Middleburg Heights, Ohio
American-Style Strong Pale Ale (169 entries)
- Gold: Good Green, Highland Park Brewery, Los Angeles, Calif.
- Silver: Rippin, Sunriver Brewing, Sunriver, Ore.
- Bronze: HFS, Alpine Beer Co., San Diego, Calif.
Coffee Beer (168 entries)
- Gold: Gusto Crema, Georgetown Brewing Co., Seattle Wash.
- Silver: Dusk ‘til Dawn – SC, Pizza Port San Clemente, San Clemente, Calif.
- Bronze: Zumbar Chocolate Coffee Imperial Stout, New English Brewing Co., San Diego, Calif.
Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer (159 entries)
- Gold: Silent Warrior, TAPS Fish House and Brewery – Corona, Corona, Calif.
- Silver: Mélange À Trois, Nebraska Brewing Co. – Papillion, Papillion, Neb.
- Bronze: 15th Anniversary Ale, Island Brewing Co., Carpinteria, Calif.
