Another Record-Breaking Year for Ohio Breweries
12 breweries earn 15 medals at Great American Beer Festival competition
DENVER – Ohio craft brewers set a new milestone for a second consecutive year at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) awards ceremony, held on Saturday, October 5. The Ohio delegation won a total of 15 medals at the nation’s most prestigious brewing competition.
Fat Head’s Brewery led the field of Ohio entrants with three medals at the 2019 competition. Bone Head Imperial Red earned its second gold medal in the Imperial Red Ale category. Hop Stalker won its first-ever medal at GABF, a silver in Fresh Hop Beer. Up in Smoke won the bronze for Smoke Beer, the second medal for that brew after taking home a silver in the 2009 competition. Fat Head’s has now won awards in 11 straight GABF competitions, earning a total of 25 medals.
Cincinnati’s Brink Brewing became the first to win the award for Very Small Brewery of the Year in back-to-back years since the award was introduced in 2013. Brink earned the high honor by winning two gold medals in the 2019 competition. Moozie won gold for the second consecutive year in the Sweet Stout or Cream Stout category, while Hold the Reins took a third medal – a second gold – in three years. The brewery has won at least one GABF medal in each year since its founding in 2017.
Hoppin’ Frog Brewery of Akron returned to the medal stand this year with a bronze for Pentuple in the Other Belgian-style Ale category. This was their sixth total award at GABF since 2008. JAFB-Wooster Brewery and Market Garden Brewery each earned their third GABF medals, while Millersburg Brewing, Rhinegeist and Listermann Brewing of Cincinnati each won their second.
Taft’s Brewing Company of Cincinnati and Against the Grain Brewery of Louisville, Kentucky teamed up to take the silver medal in the collaboration beer category with Are You Pricklish?, a wheat ale brewed with prickly pear, kabosu and tangerine.
Hofbräuhaus Cleveland, Noble Beast Brewing of Cleveland and Wolf’s Ridge Brewing of Columbus all took home their first GABF medals this year. Since 1987, 47 Ohio craft breweries have combined to win 153 medals – 50 gold – at the Great American Beer Festival.
“Ohio breweries work so hard every day to create exceptional beers and memorable experiences in their taprooms, it’s great to see them recognized alongside the country’s best” said Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association. “A showing like this on the biggest stage in craft beer just reinforces that Ohio has emerged as a leader in the industry and a destination for world-class beer.”
2019 medal-winning Ohio craft beers:
Fat Head’s Brewery:
• Bone Head Imperial Red – Gold, Imperial Red Ale
• Hop Stalker – Silver, Fresh Hop Beer
• Up in Smoke – Bronze, Smoke Beer
Brink Brewing:
• Hold the Reins – Gold, English-style Mild
• Moozie – Gold, Sweet Stout or Cream Stout
Listermann Brewing:
• Scoring Discrepancies – Gold, Field Beer
Market Garden Brewery:
• Prosperity Wheat – Gold, South German-style Hefeweizen
Millersburg Brewing Company:
• Alegria – Silver, American Belgo-style Ale
Rhinegeist:
• Quid – Silver, English-style Summer Ale
Taft’s Brewing Company:
• Are You Pricklish? – Silver, Collaboration (with Against the Grain Brewing)
Wolf’s Ridge Brewing:
• Clear Sky Daybreak – Silver, Coffee Beer
Hofbräuhaus Cleveland:
• Schwarzbier – Bronze, International-style Dark Lager
Hoppin’ Frog Brewery:
• Pentuple – Bronze, Other Belgian-style Ale
JAFB-Wooster Brewery:
• JAF IPA – Bronze, American-style Strong Pale Ale
Noble Beast Brewing:
• Murder Ballads – Bronze, Baltic-style Porter