Virginia will be well represented in this year’s Great American Beer Fest

This weekend, Oct 7th, the 2017 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) will take place in Denver at the Colorado Convention Center, and it is going to be spectacular!

This year they are expecting 800 breweries to be on hand pouring 3,800 of the finest craft beers in the country. And out of those 800 breweries there will be 18 Virginia brewers there, ready to show that Virginia knows craft beer.

Port City Brewing Co, New District Brewing Co,  Lost Rhino Brewing Co,  Studio Brew, Sweetwater Tavern, Three Notch’d Brewing Co, Starr Hill Brewing, Ocelot Brewing, Mad Fox Brewing Co, Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery, Bull Island Brewing Co, Fair Winds Brewing Co, Steam Bell Beer Works, Adroit Theory Brewing Co, Caboose Brewing Co, Commonwealth Brewing Co., Pleasure House Brewing, and Ornery Beer Co, will be there competing in a variety of beer categories, as well as overall categories such as Brewpub Brewer of the Year and Brewing Company Brewer of the Year,  and the competition is expected to be stiff.

Last year 11 Virginia brewers brought home 13 medals with Devils Backbone taking gold in two beer categories and South Street Brewing taking silver and bronze in two other categories. Additionally, Starr Hill Brewing and American Homebrewers Association (AHA) member Gary Layton teamed up to take silver in the Pro-Am Competition!

This year has been a great year for craft beer in Virginia, and with 18 Virginia brewers competing in this year’s GABF I think it’s safe to say that after the last beer has been poured, and the judging is over, one thing will be clear: Virginia is for lovers (and brewers) of craft beer.