Judges cited two Illinois beers as America’s best juicy or hazy IPAs while awarding medals to 273 breweries and cideries Saturday at the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver.
Juicy and hazy IPAs are the rage among American consumers, and the judges said the best one is TourBus Double Dry Hopped Hazy IPA, brewed by Destihl Brewery of Normal, Illinois.
Capturing the silver medal was MadeWest Hazy, brewed by MadeWest Brewing Co. of Ventura, California, and the bronze medal went to Cloud Counter, brewed by Pollyanna Brewing Co. of Lemont, Illinois.
A total of 347 gold, silver and bronze medals were given for the best beers in 108 categories and the best ciders in eight categories. The beer category with the most entries—301—was Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale.
The category with the second-most entries—300-was West Coast India Pale Ale. The gold medal was awarded to How the West Was One: Mosaic, brewed by Westbound & Down Brewing Co. of Idaho Springs, Colorado.
The silver medal went to Coast Molinos, brewed by Los Molinos Beer Co. of San Clemente, California, and the bronze medal was earned by Cosmic Guava West Coast IPA, brewed by pFriem Family Brewers in Hood River, Oregon.
A total of 8,315 beers and ciders were entered into the competition by 1,555 breweries and cideries based in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their entries were evaluated by 250 judges during seven days of tasting.
Judges also named eight breweries Brewer of the Year. They are: Zeus Brewing Co., Poughkeepsie, New York; UPP Liquids, Bend, Oregon; Cannonball Creek Brewing Co., Golden, Colorado; River North Brewery, Denver, Colorado; Third Eye Brewing Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; Westbound & Down Brewing Co.-Westbound Mill, Lafayette, Colorado; Fat Head’s Brewery, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, and Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, Maine.
The Cidermaker of the Year award was given to Gowan’s Heirloom Cider of Philo, California.
This year was the 39th edition of the Great American Beer Festival competition.
“Year after year, the Great American Beer Festival sets the bar for American brewing and, for the second year in a row, cidermaking,” said Chris Williams, the competition director for the Brewers Association, which presents the annual festival.