The Great American Beer Festival award ceremony returned to Denver on Sept. 10, recognizing brewing excellence from across the nation. And this year, the Queen City took home medals for three different area breweries, with one returning winner and two new local establishments nabbing wins.
Judges evaluated beers from more than 2,000 breweries this year and dished out 290 medals across 265 breweries.
According to a release from nonprofit guild Ohio Craft Brewers Association, the Buckeye State took home a total of 13 medals across 11 breweries — three of which are local.
“THIRTEEN!” says Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association in the same release. “With all that our state’s breweries have had to endure in the past year and a half of working through the pandemic, a result and return to form like this is a real triumph in the face of adversity. Ohio’s reputation as a truly great beer state continues to grow due to their tireless effort to the craft.”
College Hill's Brink Brewing, one of the three medal-winning breweries, is no stranger to the GABF. It has won at least one medal every year since 2017. The brewery returned to the competition this year and came home with another gold medal in the Honey Beer category for its Father G’s Bees.
Sharonville's Third Eye Brewing and Mason's Sonder Brewing also took home medals, receiving their first wins at the annual competition.
Third Eye Brewing won gold in the Sweet Stout or Cream Stout category for its Higher Purpose brew, while Sonder Brewing nabbed a bronze medal in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer category for its French 75 beer.
See the full list of 2021 winners at greatamericanbeerfestival.com.
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