Five Utah breweries snagged six medals at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) on Saturday.
The six-pack of medals appears to be the most won by Utah breweries in a single GABF since Beehive State brewers brought home eight in 2012.
Shades Brewing won gold, making it two straight years the South Salt Lake brewery’s earned a top honor.
Red Rock Brewery went home with two medals — a silver and a bronze — at the annual event in Denver.
For Shades, which won gold in 2018 with its inaugural Kveik Golden Sour Ale, it went back-to-back with an iteration of its popular series featuring the ancient Norwegian yeast.
This time, its Thai Tom Kha beat out 118 other entries to win gold in the Herb and Spice Beer category.
According to GABF, gold is awarded to: “A world-class beer that accurately exemplifies the specified style, displaying the proper balance of taste, aroma, and appearance.”
New, Old Utah Breweries Bring Home Hardware
Red Rock, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, earned silver for its Marvella in the Belgian-Style Tripel category (83 entries). It also pocketed a bronze for its White Rainbow White IPA in the American-Belgo-Style Ale category (41 entries).
Two of Utah’s newer breweries — neither yet a year old — also earned coveted medals at the prestigious competition.
T.F. Brewing, which opened in late October last year, won silver for its Rauch Bier. It beat out 59 other entries in the Smoke Beer category.
And Level Crossing Brewing, a South Salt Lake brewery that opened in March, earned a bronze medal for its Suss it Out Rye IPA (Rye Beer, 53 entries).
One of Utah’s oldest breweries, Squatters Craft Beers, won silver for Hell’s Keep Belgian-Style Golden Ale. It marks the sixth time the beer’s won a medal, according to a Squatters Facebook post.
The 2019 GABF competition featured nearly 9,500 beers from 2,295 breweries, according to PorchDrinking.com. The beers spanned more than 100 categories.
View the complete list of winners.
GABF: Utah Winners (category in parentheses)
Utah brewers picked up six medals at the 2019 GABF, up from two in 2018, and the most since 2012, according to the GABF website.
Level Crossing Brewing
- Bronze — Suss it Out (13 – Rye Beer)
Red Rock Brewery
- Silver — Marvella (93 – Belgian-Style Tripel)
- Bronze — White Rainbow (23 – American-Belgo-Style Ale)
Shades Brewing
- Gold — Thai Tom Kha (8 – Herb and Spice Beer)
Squatters Craft Beers
- Silver — Hell’s Keep (86 – Belgian-Style Blonde Ale or Pale Ale)
T.F. Brewing
- Silver — Rauch Bier (35 – Smoke Beer)
Best Booth
In addition, Uinta Brewing picked up the award for Best Booth at GABF. It’s the third time the Salt Lake-based brewery earned the title.
