Devils Backbone Awarded Two Gold Medals at the Great American Beer Festival

LEXINGTON, VA – Devils Backbone Brewing Company was honored to be awarded with two Gold Medals at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) this past weekend in Denver, CO. Vienna Lager, Devils Backbone’s flagship beer and winner of Gold in the Vienna-Style Lager category, and Danzig, part of the Trail Blazer series and winner of Gold in the Baltic-Style Porter category, bring the brewery’s GABF total to 31 medals, including three national titles, since first entering the competition seven years ago.

“Devils Backbone couldn’t be happier to be one of the 13 Virginia breweries to bring home medals from the Great American Beer Festival,” said Steve Crandall, who founded Devils Backbone with his wife Heidi in 2008. “Seeing Vienna Lager and Danzig continue to earn recognition from this event is a huge honor for our entire company, and it shows the high level of execution from our brew team.”

Devils Backbone beers are inspired by the great brewing traditions of Europe and the ingenuity of modern craft brewing. The brewing team has earned numerous awards and accolades for their beers, exceling in the art of lager brewing in an ale dominated industry. Vienna Lager (5.2% ABV, 18 IBU) is amber in color with a subtle toasted caramel note and a smooth malty finish. Danzig (8% ABV, 28 IBU) blends a strong English porter with a Germanic lager approach, fairly robust – this strong black lager has notes of chocolate and coffee with hints of caramelized sugar.

“It has been a great year for Devils Backbone beers in competition,” said Brewmaster Jason Oliver. “This GABF medal is especially cool for Danzig, because 2016 is the first year we’ve released that beer as a bottled Trail Blazer seasonal offering.”

The GABF is an annual event celebrating the best in American brewing culture. This year’s competition featured 1,752 breweries representing all 50 states and Washington, DC. Participants offered 7,227 beers for judging in 96 style categories. For more information, including a complete list of winners, please visit www.gabf.org.

Devils Backbone Brewing Company is the largest craft brewery in Virginia and one of the most award-winning breweries in the United States. This is the fourth GABF medal for Vienna Lager, having also received golds in 2015 and 2012, plus a silver in 2009. This is also the fourth GABF medal for Danzig. It was awarded a bronze in 2013 and silvers in 2012 and 2009. Devils Backbone has also garnered three coveted national titles at GABF including 2014 Mid-Sized Brewing Company and Brew Team of the Year, 2013 Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year and 2012 Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year.