How did Virginia do in the 2017 Great American Beer Festival?

This year there was apparently some concern that interest in craft beer was declining. For example, when tickets went on sale for the Great American Beer Festival last year it took 67 minutes to sell out.  This year it took 4 hours and 15 minutes.  Shocking, I know.

What that tells me is that if you weren’t able to get to a computer within 4 hours of tickets going on sale, you didn’t get a ticket, and that there must be a lot of people who wanted to go but couldn’t get tickets.

There were 800 breweries present, 2,217 breweries in competition (24 percent more than last year), and 7,923 beers (15 percent more than last year) competing for 293 medals in 98 categories.

Last year 11 Virginia brewers brought home 13 medals, and Starr Hill Brewing teamed up with American Homebrewers Association (AHA) member Gary Layton to take silver in the Pro-Am Competition

This year 18 Virginia craft brewers entered the completion, and they took home 4 medals.

Ocelot Brewing out of Dulles, VA won Bronze for their beer Powers of Observation in the Baltic-Style Porter category.

Wild Wolf Brewing out of Nellysford, VA won Silver for their beer American Stout in the American-Style Stout category.

Studio Brew out of Bristol, VA won Silver for their beer The Ferguson in the Oatmeal Stout Category.

And finally Benchtop Brewing out of Norfolk, VA won Gold for their beer Mermaid’s Scorn in the Leipzig-Style Gose or Contemporary Gose category.

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, drop by Ocelot, Wild Wolf, Studio Brew or Benchtop, and congratulate them on their well deserved victory.