Impressive GABF Streaks Ahead of This Year’s Competition
Tonight marks the 35th iteration of the competition portion of the Great American Beer Festival. And while there will be no commercial tasting event open to the public for a second straight year, tonight’s awards are still sure to usher in socially distanced causes for celebration among breweries across the entire country.
In normal years we’d be prepping guided routes for folks to enjoy at the festival, this year we are once again focusing on trends we’ve seen emerge from past award winners.
First, we’ve tallied up a historical look at breweries that have earned the most GABF medals since the competition started in 1987. Keep in mind, unlike the competition, we included breweries with multiple outposts like Pizza Port and Rock Bottom and grouped their medal counts together. Here’s the list of the top 20 breweries with the most GABF medals earned prior to this year’s competition.
As a reminder, be sure to pick up or place your orders for some award-winning beers from our sponsors at Molly’s Spirits to enjoy while you watch this year’s Great American Beer Festival Awards Ceremony tomorrow night at 5pm Mountain.
Most GABF Medals Earned Through 2020
| GABF Medals | Brewery Name | City | State | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98 | Pizza Port Brewery | Various | CA | |||
| 83 | Rock Bottom Breweries | Various | CO | |||
| 76 | Anheuser-Busch, Inc | Saint Louis | MO | |||
| 73 | Pabst Brewing Co. | Los Angeles | CA | |||
| 64 | Miller Brewing Co. | Milwaukee | WI | |||
| 54 | Firestone Walker Brewing Co. | Paso Robles | CA | |||
| 49 | Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. | Juneau | AK | |||
| 45 | Boston Beer Co. | Boston | MA | |||
| 43 | Coors Brewing Co. | Golden | CO | |||
| 43 | Deschutes Brewery | Bend | OR | |||
| 41 | Pelican Pub & Brewery | Pacific City | OR | |||
| 39 | Snake River Brewing Co. | Jackson | WY | |||
| 34 | Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Chico | CA | |||
| 33 | New Belgium Brewing Co. | Fort Collins | CO | |||
| 33 | New Glarus Brewing Co. | New Glarus | WI | |||
| 32 | Rogue Ales | Newport | OR | |||
| 31 | Marin Brewing Co. | Larkspur | CA | |||
| 30 | Russian River Brewing Co. | Santa Rosa | CA | |||
| 30 | Stoudt's Brewing Co. | Adamstown | PA | |||
| 29 | Goose Island Beer Co. | Chicago | IL | |||
Next, we took a look at individual beers that have won the most medals through 2020. That list hasn’t changed since last year’s roundup, however as PorchDrinking editor, David Nilsen (@davidnilsenbeer) notes, while Brink Brewing’s Moozie Milk Stout didn’t make THIS list, it is building an impressive streak having won three straight years in a row within its category. We’ll see if it goes for a fourth this year.
Most GABF Medals Earned by Individual Beers Through 2020
| Brewery | Beer | Total Medals | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaskan Brewing and Bottling Co. | Alaskan Smoked Porter | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | |
| Boston Beer Co. | Samuel Adams Double Bock | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | |
| Bristol Brewing Co. | Laughing Lab Scottish Ale | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | |
| Coors Brewing Co. | Coors Light | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |
| New Glarus Brewing Co. | Raspberry Tart | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Miller Brewing Co. | Miller Genuine Draft | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |
| New Belgium Brewing Co. | Abbey Belgian Style Ale | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
| Pabst Brewing Co. | Pabst Blue Ribbon | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| Anheuser-Busch, Inc | Budweiser | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| Miller Brewing Co. | Miller High Life | 7 | 0 | 5 | 2 | |
| Pabst Brewing Co. | Old Milwaukee Light | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| Genesee/High Falls Brewing | Genesee Cream Ale | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| Pelican Pub & Brewery | Kiwanda Cream Ale | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| Pabst Brewing Co. | Old Style | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | |
| Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. | Sierra Nevada Pale Ale | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| Anheuser-Busch, Inc | O'Doul's | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
| Pete's Brewing Co. | Pete's Wicked Ale | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. | Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| Saint Arnold Brewing Co. | Saint Arnold Summer Pils | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| Pabst Brewing Co. | Rainier | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. | Little Kings Cream Ale | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. | Hefeweizen | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
| AleSmith Brewing Co. | AleSmith Old Numbskull | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Marin Brewing Co. | Pt. Reyes Porter | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| New Belgium Brewing Co. | La Folie | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Dogfish Head Craft Brewery | Midas Touch | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Grimm Brothers Brewhouse | Little Red Cap | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Snake River Brewing Co. | Zonker Stout | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| Anheuser-Busch, Inc | Bud Light | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| New Glarus Brewing Co. | Belgian Red | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Tröegs Brewing Co. | Troegenator | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | |
| Boston Beer Co. | Samuel Adams Octoberfest | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pelican Pub & Brewery | Doryman's Dark Ale | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Coors Brewing Co. | Keystone Light | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pelican Pub & Brewery | Tsunami Stout | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anheuser-Busch, Inc | O'Doul's Amber | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Left Hand Brewing Co. | Sawtooth Ale | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| Real Ale Brewing Co. | Real Heavy | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Millstream Brewing Co. | Schild brau Amber | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| Seabright Brewery | Seabright Oatmeal Stout | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | |
| Miller Brewing Co. | Red Dog | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
Finally, we took a look at breweries that currently have the longest active medal streaks across consecutive years at GABF. Pizza Port Brewing has strung together the most impressive streak, earning medals at GABF for 20 years in a row. Texas’ Real Ale had the unfortunate distinction of having the longest streak to end after getting shut out at last year’s competition. With Real Ale’s departure from the leader board, Cannonball Creek moves into the top five active streaks and more interesting to note is that not only has Cannonball Creek won medals at every GABF and World Beer Cup since opening in 2013, but they’re also the only brewery in the top 5 active streaks without multiple locations (meaning more entries). Last year the Golden, CO-based brewery earned a whopping three medals out of four entries submitted
Breweries with the Longest Active GABF Medal Streaks
| Brewery Name | Current Streak |
|---|---|
| Pizza Port | 2020-2000 |
| Firestone Walker Brewing | 2020-2002 |
| Figueroa Mountain Brewery | 2020-2001 |
| Fat Head's Brewery | 2020-2009 |
| Cannonball Creek Brewing | 2020-2013 |
| Chuckanut Brewery | 2020-2014 |
| Denver Beer Co | 2020-2015 |
| TAPS Fishhouse & Bewery | 2020-2015 |
| Alvarado Street Brewery | 2020-2015 |
| Uberbrew | 2020-2016 |
| Alesong Brewing & Blending | 2020-2016 |
| Save the World Brewing | 2020-2017 |
| Claremont Craft Ales | 2020-2017 |
| Brink Brewing | 2020-2017 |
| Pinthouse Pizza | 2020-2017 |
| Saddle Mountain Brewing | 2020-2017 |
| Kern River Brewing Co. | 2020-2018 |
| Lost Rhino Brewing Co. | 2020-2018 |
| Comrade Brewing | 2020-2018 |
| Triple C Brewing | 2020-2018 |
| Moonraker Brewing | 2020-2018 |
| Cloudburst Brewing | 2020-2018 |
| Gun Hill Brewing Co. | 2020-2018 |
| Great Basin Brewing Co. | 2020-2018 |
| Santa Clara Valley Brewing | 2019-2018 |
| BJ's Restaurant & Brewery | 2020-2018 |
| The Post Brewing | 2020-2018 |
| Port City Brewing | 2020-2018 |
| Altitude Chophouse | 2020-2018 |
| IMBIB Custom Brews | 2020-2018 |
| New Belgium Brewing | 2020-2018 |
| Grains of Wrath Brewing | 2020-2018 |
The 2021 GABF Awards Ceremony will take place on Friday, October 16 at 5pm Mountain. Tune in LIVE via The Brewing Network’s Live Stream
Related Posts
BREAKING | Left Hand Brewing Announces New Beers to 2017 Lineup... December 20, 2016 | Tristan Chan
Bronx Brewery B-Sides | On the Black Pale Ale... December 4, 2015 | Carly Mento
Red Rock Brewing | Secale January 23, 2019 | Daniel Avilez
Chicago Quick Sips | A Roundup of Chicago Events & Beer News – August... August 20, 2018 | Mike Zoller
-
Town Brewing Company won back to back golds in 2019 and 2020 but is not listed (while 2018-2019 wins are). Cruise to Nowhere-Contemporary Gose.
Submit a Comment
Comments