For a good long while, it appeared that 2022 would see New Mexico breweries bring home the fewest medals since Chama River was the lone medalist in 2010. As the category numbers dwindled down, three different breweries picked up medals to bring the state’s total to four.

Rowley Farmhouse Ales took gold in the Belgian Fruit Beer category, beating out 65 other breweries with its Grandissant – Montmorency Cherry. It is the first medal for RFA since it won three in 2019, when it was named the Small Brewpub of the Year.

Flix Brewhouse actually got things started with a silver in the (deep breath) Australasian, Latin American or Tropical Light Lager category (69 total entries) for its ABQ Lucha Libre. It is the first GABF medal for Albuquerque’s Flix.

The final medals were back-to-back in the same category, Scotch Ale, which had 44 entries total. Quarter Celtic’s Kill or Be Kilt took bronze, and Ex Novo’s Sons of Scotland claimed silver. It was Quarter Celtic’s third GABF medal overall and Ex Novo’s second.

Ex Novo also won a trophy for having the best booth, which is impressive amid a lot of very creative booth designs.

We will get to work at tracking down the winners for their reactions (only RFA and Ex Novo are here at the festival, and the former does not have a booth, so wish us luck). At the very least, we’ll get ’em all on the record when we return to New Mexico.

Congratulations to the winners and to New Mexico!

— Stoutmeister