Colorado Brewers celebrated the best in local -made beer during the weekend after medals were handed out on the inaugural Colorado Brewers Cup.
More than 130 breweries from the entire state entered 650 different beers in the competition in the hope of placing one of the 26 assessment categories. The indigenous competition, organized by the Colorado Brewers Guild, also honored two companies-a small, one medium-sized-as “Breweries of the Year” based on their medals.
The prizes were announced on Friday evening at the end of the Colorado Bewers Summit in Aurora.
Denver’s River North Brewery received the medium -sized brewery of the year with a total of four medals, three of them gold, while Carver Brewing Co. In Durango, the Small Brewery of the Year Award was named three total medals. (The threshold for defining the two prizes was an annual production of 600 barrels of beer.)
River North collected gold medals for his River North White Witbier in the French and Belgian Ales category; his nightmare fuel vessel-coffee-stout in the coffee, chocolate and dessert beers category; And his Mr. Sandman Barrel-May Stout in the Strong Classic UK and North American Ales category. It also took bronze in the last category for his Hello Darkness imperial porter.
Carver Brewing Co., the second oldest Brewpub from Colorado, earned two silvers and one bronze. The Bieren Lightner Creek Lager and Old Oak Amber Ale came in second in the categories Pale Malty European Lagers and Malty North -American beers, respectively. The Colorado Trail Nut Brown Ale deserved bronze under classic British amber and brown Ales.
Technically speaking, Westbound & Down Brewing Co. collected the most medals (six) from each brewery in the competition. But because they were assigned to the production facilities of Lafayette and Idaho Springs, none of the two did not receive enough praises for the title Brewery of the year, according to Guild spokesperson Carrie Knose Wilson.
The most buzz birthy categories in terms of the number of entries were standard IPAs in American style and standard blurry Pale Ales and IPAs-not surprisingly, considering the thirst of local drinkers to hoppy beers.
Amalgam brewing In Denver the best standard IPA makes in Colorado, according to prices. The modern West -India Pale Ale landed gold, while Westbound & Down Brewing Co. In Lafayette both silver and bronze faltered for his western select and western IPA.
On the blurry side of things, Highland Ranch’s Living the Dream Brewing Co. took the highest honor for his Trailhead -Mist, followed by Boulder’s Beyond the Mountain Brewing Co. (silver for I wish you more IPA), and Aspen Brewing Co. (Bronze for surplus in moderation).
Many of the aforementioned breweries regularly earn praises from large competitions, such as the Great American Beer Festival, but the Colorado Brewers Cup also offered less well -known outfits past Denver to climb the stage. Eagle River Brewing Co. For example, in plaster, two medals won, just like Arvada’s Luki Brewery And Hideaway Park Brewery In Winter Park.
Moreover, the Colorado Brewers Cup has awarded its first ambassador for the Craft Award, who acknowledges people who otherwise show dedication to the artisan beer industry than brewing. That prize went to the original founders of the Colorado Brewers Guild, who met in 1995 to plead for the then artisan beer industry of the state.
“This was the scene for the direction of the guild and, while we enter the 30 -year anniversary, we want to recognize their foresight and dedication to create the state of artisan beer,” said Shawnee Adelson, the current executive director of the guild, in a statement.
Honorees include Jeff Mendel (Tabernash Brewing/Left Hand Brewing), Tara Dunn (Great Divide Brewing Co.), Jeff Brown (Boulder Beer Co.), Mike Bristol (Bristol Brewing Co.), Doug Odell (Odell Bewing Co.), and Mark Youngquist (Rock Bottom Brewing/Boulder Beer/Walnut Brewery/Dolores River Brewing).
Visit the full list of winners and which local breweries get the best out of your favorite beer style The Colorado Brewers Cup website.