Colorado Brewers Collect 40 Medals at Great American Beer Festival® Competition

35 Colorado breweries earned hardware at awards ceremony on Sept. 23

DENVER (Sept. 23, 2023) — The Colorado Brewers Guild (CBG) proudly honors the 35 Colorado breweries, 32 of which are independent craft breweries, that were awarded a total of 40 medals at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) competition this Saturday morning. The GABF competition drew in 9,300 entries from 2,033 breweries across the United States and Puerto Rico.

First time GABF winners included:

• Bent Barley Brewing Company in Aurora
• Call to Arms Brewing Company in Denver
• The Empourium Brewing Company in Denver
• Hideaway Park Brewery in Winter Park
• Knuckle Puck Brewing in Longmont
• Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Co. in Castle Rock

Trends from member breweries:



• 14 Colorado breweries took home gold medals
• Wibby Brewing in Longmont took home a Brewery of the Year (5,001 to 15,000 barrels) award, as well as a gold medal for Wibby Jibby in the American Pilsener category. Wibby collected a silver medal in 2017 for Moondoor Dunkel and a gold medal in 2020 for Volksbier Vienna
• Laughing Lab from Bristol Brewing is the most awarded Colorado beer with 11 GABF medals collected including this year and 1 for World Beer Cup
• Westbound & Down Brewing Company lead the pack with the number of medals collected this year (3). The brewery also took home a gold medal for Westbound Select in the 2nd most competitive and new category—West Coast-Style India Pale Ale and
• Wreak Havoc from Bootstrap Brewing now has 6 medals in total for the Imperial Red Ale; the brewery has 3 medals for GABF including this year and 3 for World Beer Cup
• Sawtooth Ale from Left Hand Brewing Company also has 9 medals in total for the Amble Ale; 7 for GABF including this year and 2 for World Beer Cup
• Cannonball Creek Brewing had increased their GABF streak to 11 years in a row with a Gold Medal for Featherweight in the American Pale Ale category. Featherweight now has earned five medals—4 collected at GABF and one at World Beer Cup
• Colorado brewers did well in lager categories. Notably, Lone Tree Brewing took home a silver medal for their Mexican Lager in the light lager category which was the third most competitive category with 284 entries.
• Old school breweries take home medals for old school styles: Left Hand’s Sawtooth and Bristol Brewing’s Laughing Lab both earned medals for beers popular in the 90s that both earned their first GABF medals in 1994. Wild that both breweries took home medals for beers nearly 30 years apart.

“This year was a huge year for Colorado, not only for the number of awards but also for the diversity of awards!” says CBG Executive Director Shawnee Adelson. Colorado brewers proved that they can make anything between a traditional lager to the newest category of West Coast IPAs. We are truly the State of Craft.”

2023 Colorado Craft Beer Award-Winning Winners:

• Odell Brewing Company – Five Points: Big Sippin (silver, American Fruit Beer category)
• Ratio Beerworks: King of Carrot Flowers (gold, Field Beer category)
• Bent Barley Brewing Company: Green Chile Honey Kolsch (silver, Chile Beer category)
• River North Brewery: Midnight Hike (silver, Chocolate Beer category)
• The Empourium Brewing Company: Condition of My Parole (bronze, Coffee Beer category)
• Wynkoop Brewing Company: Kurt’s Mile High Malt (silver, Coffee Beer category)
• Hideaway Park Brewery: Skate Juice (silver, Other Strong Beer category)
• 14er Brewing Company: Pina Colada Milkshake IPA (bronze, Experimental India Pale Ale category)
• Pumphouse Brewery & Restaurant: Forager IPA (silver, Experimental IPA category)
• Dostal Alley Casino & Brewpub: The Sauer House Project: Ellie’s Version (silver, American Sour Ale)
• Banded Oak Brewing Company: Ye Old Ale (gold, Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer category)
• Lone Tree Brewing Company: Mexican Lager (silver, Light Lager category)
• Liquid Mechanics Brewing Company: Cerveza Mecanica (silver, American Pilsener category)
• Wibby Brewing: Wibby Jibby (gold, American Pilsener category)
• Westbound & Down Brewing Company: The Coloradan (bronze, American Cream Ale)
• Cheluna Brewing Company: Orizaba Cold IPA (silver, India Pale Lager or Cold India Pale Ale)
• Prost Brewing Company: Prost Pilsner (silver, German-Style Pilsener category)
• Seedstock Brewery: Seedstock Maerzen (Gold, German-Style Maerzen category)
• Red Leg Brewing Company: Wunder Bier (silver, German Dark Lager)
• Resolute Brewing Co: Execrator (Gold, German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock category)
• New Terrain Brewing Company: Rise & Climb (silver, German-Style Koelsch category)
• Westbound & Down Brewing Company: Spirit of the West (silver, New Zealand India Pale Ale category)
• Cannonball Creek Brewing Company: Featherweight (gold, American-Style Pale Ale category)
• Westbound & Down Brewing Company: Westbound Select (Gold, West Coast-Style India Pale Ale category)
• Knuckle Puck Brewing: Blown Tire (gold, American Red/Red Ale category)
• Bootstrap Brewing: Wreak Havoc (gold, Strong Red Ale category)
• Left Hand Brewing Company: Sawtooth Ale (gold, English Mild or Bitter category)
• Bristol Brewing Company: Laughing Lab (silver, Scottish-Style Ale category)
• Call to Arms Brewing Company: Freedom Fries with Cherry (silver, Specialty Saison category)
• Rock Bottom Brewery: Foggy London Town (gold, Robust Porter category)
• Oskar Blues Brewery: Old Chub (bronze, Scotch Ale category)
• Wild Blue Yonder Brewing: Scottish Wildcat (silver, Scotch Ale category)
• Diebolt Brewing Company: Populator (silver, Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barley Wine category)
• Cheluna Brewing Company and Prost Brewing Company: Luna Mexican Export Lager (gold, Collaboration category)
• CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing: She Fancies Herself a Little French (Gold, Pro-Am category)
• Brewery of the Year (5,001 to 15,000 barrel): Wibby Brewing

“I’m extremely proud of all the brewers who won. Congrats!!” says Adelson.

The full list of 2023 GABF winners can be found here.