GABF 2023

GABF 2023: The Crew will cover this year from home for a good reason

Posted by Stoutmeister on
We will not be walking the grand halls of Valhalla again this year.

The Great American Beer Festival returns to Denver a little early this year, starting this afternoon at the convention center.

We are not there this year. Well, technically Luke is there, but he is working for Hidden Mountain, so we will only call upon him if absolutely necessary. However, we do have a good reason for skipping this year’s festivities.

Our own Gentleman Assassin, Erin, is getting married this weekend, so most of us will be part of those festivities instead. Fear not, we will still have time to cover the awards ceremony broadcast Saturday morning via the remote feed, and hopefully we will be able to follow up via phone/email/text with the winning breweries afterwards. Anyone we miss Saturday, we will catch up with them next week, as we have done in the past.

This is the first year in which GABF has taken place that at least one of us will not be there in a reporting capacity since 2015. We will miss some of the fun, but our bank accounts are probably thankful for the year off. Denver likes to surge price everything from hotels to Lyft/Uber rides.

Now, speaking of that awards ceremony, we once again reached out to the New Mexico breweries for full lists of the beers that they entered in the 99 (!) categories for this year. A good number of breweries responded to us and/or the NM Brewers Guild, with whom we shared much of the following information.

Consider this your handy guide as to which categories to monitor when the ceremony kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday, and you can follow it via the Brewers Association website.

  1. American Wheat Beer:
  2. American Fruit Beer: Pink Panther, La Reforma
  3. Fruit Wheat Beer: Spring Fling, Downshift; Supreme Tangerine, Bosque
  4. Field Beer:
  5. Pumpkin Beer:
  6. Chili Beer:
  7. Herb and Spice Beer: Ginger Honey Blonde, Rio Bravo; Odin’s Eye, Thirsty Eye
  8. Chocolate Beer: Mexican Choco Stout, La Reforma
  9. Coffee Beer:
  10. Coffee Stout or Porter:
  11. Dessert Stout:
  12. Rye Beer:
  13. Honey Beer: Honey Chamomile Wheat, Nexus; Citrus Buzz, Thirsty Eye
  14. Non-Alcohol Beer:
  15. Session Beer:
  16. Session IPA:
  17. Strong Porter:
  18. Other Strong Beer: Imperial Cream Ale, Nexus; Double White, Marble
  19. Experimental IPA: Savage Times, Bow & Arrow; Bury Me in Smoke, Ex Novo
  20. Experimental Beer: Salt Money, Bosque
  21. Experimental Wood-Aged Beer:
  22. Historical Beer: Long Boat Valkyrie, Beer Creek
  23. Gluten-Free Beer:
  24. American-Belgo-Style Ale:
  25. American Sour Ale:
  26. Fruited American Sour Ale: Giggle Bush, Downshift; Slightly Soured Trampled by Tangerines, Nexus; Skimboard Sour, Second Street
  27. Brett Beer:
  28. Mixed-Culture Brett Beer: FunkSloth, Bow & Arrow
  29. Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer:
  30. Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer:
  31. Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout: Barrel-Aged Luna de los Muertos, Tractor
  32. Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour: El Monstruo Wood-Aged Sour, Hidden Mountain
  33. Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer:
  34. Kellebier or Zwickelbier:
  35. Smoke Beer:
  36. Light Lager: Mexican Lager, Hidden Mountain; South Island New Zealand Pilsner, Hidden Mountain; La Llagerona, Thirsty Eye; Sexy NuMexi, Brew Lab 101
  37. American-Style Lager:
  38. Contemporary American-Style Lager: Day Ghost, Marble
  39. American Pilsner: Esmerelda Pilsner, Steel Bender; Denim Tux, Bow & Arrow; Southern Hemisphere Pilsner, Second Street; Westcoast Pilsner, Marble
  40. International-Style Pilsner: La Ref Lager, La Reforma
  41. American Cream Ale:
  42. Other Hoppy Lager: Simcoe Pils, Bosque; Oralé Mexican Lager, Nexus; Hop Honor Lager, Rio Bravo
  43. IPL or Cold IPA: Frio Cold IPA, Nexus
  44. American Amber Lager: Marzen Law, Beer Creek; Oktoberfest, Thirsty Eye; Maytag Man, Marble
  45. German-Style Pilsner: Pajarito Pils, Beer Creek
  46. Bohemian-Style Pilsner: Crossroads Pilsner, Sidetrack; Body Czech Pilsner, Boxing Bear
  47. Munich-Style Helles: She Sells Seashelles, Ex Novo; Munich Helles #9, Tractor
  48. Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest: OktoBEARfest, Boxing Bear; Thunder from Dortmunder, Marble
  49. Vienna-Style Lager: Hikin’ Beer, Downshift; V for Vienna, Ex Novo
  50. German-Style Marzen: German Overalls, Ex Novo; Oktoberfest, Second Street
  51. German Dark Lager: Munich Dunkel, Bathtub Row; Maximillian, La Reforma; Heinebrau Dark, Marble
  52. International Dark Lager:
  53. Bock:
  54. German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock:
  55. Golden or Blonde Ale: Tom’s Blonde, Harmon Lane; Up North Blonde Ale, Bosque; Blonde Bombshell, Brew Lab 101
  56. German-Style Kolsch: A Tribe Called Kolsch, Sidetrack; Lloyd’s 3 O’Clock Kolsch, Steel Bender; Kolsch, Second Street
  57. English Ale: Rod’s Best Bitter, Second Street
  58. International-Style Pale Ale: Weekend Trails, Bosque
  59. New Zealand IPA:
  60. American-Style Pale Ale: Lucille, Boxing Bear
  61. Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale:
  62. American-Style Strong Pale Ale: Riverwalker IPA, Bosque; IPA, Marble
  63. Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale: Freak Juice, Rio Bravo; Desert Fog, Marble
  64. American-Style IPA: Eureka! IPA, Bathtub Row
  65. Juicy or Hazy IPA: Hey Zebra, Rio Bravo; Wicked Pissah, Brew Lab 101; One for 5 Juicy IPA, Steel Bender/Second Street/Sierra Blanca
  66. West Coast-Style IPA: Threat Level Turquoise, Ex Novo; Farm League, Ex Novo
  67. Imperial IPA:
  68. Juicy or Hazy Imperial IPA: Dice Roll, Rio Bravo
  69. American Amber/Red Ale: Camping Vibes, Downshift; Amber, Spotted Dog; Jetty Jack, Bosque; Farmers Tan Red Ale, Tractor
  70. Strong Red Ale: Red Iron Red, Steel Bender; The Red Glove, Boxing Bear
  71. English Mild or Bitter: Pub Ale, Sidetrack
  72. Extra Special Bitter: Eastside Special Bitter, Marble
  73. Scottish-Style Ale: Nigel, Steel Bender
  74. Irish-Style Red Ale:
  75. English-Style Brown Ale: Barranca Brown, Bathtub Row
  76. American-Style Brown Ale: Burning Nut Brown, Spotted Dog; Feathers’ Brown, Hidden Mountain
  77. American-Style Black Ale or Stout:
  78. German Sour Ale:
  79. Specialty Berliner-Style Weisse:
  80. Contemporary Gose: Prickly Pear Gose, Marble
  81. German-Style Altbier:
  82. German Wheat Ale:
  83. South German-Style Hefeweizen:
  84. Belgian-Style or French-Style Ale:
  85. Belgian-Style Witbier: Horse With No Name, Downshift
  86. Classic Saison: Bier du Chien, Spotted Dog
  87. Specialty Saison: Sunbloom, Bow & Arrow
  88. Belgian-Style Sour Ale:
  89. Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale:
  90. Belgian-Style Abbey Ale:
  91. Belgian Fruit Beer:
  92. Brown Porter: Resignation, Downshift
  93. Robust Porter:
  94. Stout:
  95. Sweet Stout or Cream Stout: Work of Heart, Canteen; Chocolate Milk Stout, Boxing Bear
  96. Oatmeal Stout: Oatmeal Stout, Hidden Mountain
  97. Imperial Stout: Freddy’s Got Twenty, Steel Bender; Wicked Raven, Canteen
  98. Scotch Ale: Bomba, La Reforma; Scotch Ale, Nexus; Sons of Scotland, Ex Novo; Ludicrous Speed, Brew Lab 101
  99. Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barleywine: Beam Me Up Higher Scotty, Nexus

A few notable breweries that did not send us their entries include Gravity Bound, Icebox, La Cumbre, Rowley Farmhouse Ales, Sierra Blanca, Starr Brothers, Taos Mesa, Three Rivers, Tumbleroot, and Turtle Mountain. That means there may be some additional beers not listed above, should they have submitted entries.

Good luck to all the breweries who entered! We hope you bring back many a medal to New Mexico.

To all of our readers who are headed to Denver, have fun, stay safe, and if you need a break for a night, find a metal show. We enjoyed Revocation last year and Amon Amarth back in 2019.

Cheers!

— Stoutmeister

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