Eleven craft brewers in Maryland, Virginia and D.C. came home with medals — including five golds — from the prestigious Great American Beer Festival, held over nine days with awards presented on Sept. 23 in Denver.
This year, 250 judges from 10 countries sipped and sniffed more than 9,400 entries from all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico. There were 99 beer categories and more than 170 beer styles that were judged.
A total of 303 medals were awarded to 263 breweries, some of which came home with multiple wins. Medals are awarded as Gold, Silver and Bronze.
The Great American Beer Festival is sponsored annually by the Brewers Association, which is the nation’s largest craft beer festival.
Here are winners from Maryland, Virginia and D.C., their medal, and beer category:
- Gold: Kodiak Kolsch, Bear Chase Brewing Company, Bluemont, Virginia (German-style Krolsch)
- Gold: Rock Hill Irish Red, Barley Naked Brewing Co., Stafford, Virginia (Irish-style red ale)
- Gold: Scout, Vibrissa Beer, Front Royal, Virginia (Sweet stout or cream stout)
- Gold: Oktoberfest, Port City Brewing Co., Alexandria, Virginia (Vienna-style lager)
- Gold: Rye Whiskey Barrel-Aged Atom Smasher, Rock Bottom Brewery, Bethesda, Maryland (Wood-and-barrel-aged strong beer)
- Silver: Passionfruit on Acid, Blue Mountain Barrel House, Arrington, Virginia (Fruited wood and barrel-aged sour beer)
- Silver: Milk Stout, Waredaca Brewing Co., Gaithersburg, Maryland (Sweet stout or cream stout)
- Silver: Oktoberfest, Silver Branch Brewing Co, Silver Spring, Maryland (Vienna-style lager)
- Bronze: Buttons the Bear, Bear Chase Brewing Co., Bluemont, Virginia, (Oatmeal stout)
- Bronze: Silent Neighbor, Atlas Brew Works, D.C. (Stout)
- Bronze: Midnight Rider Imperial Porter, Great American Restaurants — Sweetwater Tavern Merrified, Falls Church, Virginia (Strong Porter)
The nonprofit Brewers Association has nearly 6,000 U.S. brewery members and 37,000 members of the American Homebrewers Association.