Ska Brewing Wins 18th GABF Medal, First in Belgian Beer Category

Ska Brewing Wins 18th GABF medal: WestSKAlle earns Belgian beer honors

Ska Brewing has another reason to celebrate in Durango, Colorado, and this one comes with a little Belgian inspiration behind it. The Colorado brewery has earned its 18th Great American Beer Festival medal, taking home bronze for WestSKAlle in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category, a first for Ska in a Belgian beer category and a nice bit of recognition for a beer that grew out of the brewery team’s own travels and curiosity.

That makes this award more than another medal for the wall. WestSKAlle traces its beginnings to a 2023 trip to Belgium, when Ska Brewing employees celebrating their 10-year work anniversaries visited Belgian breweries and beer halls, taking in the traditions and brewing techniques that make the country’s beer culture so distinctive. Those experiences followed the crew home to southwest Colorado, where the idea developed into an amber-brown Trappist-style ale built around malt, fruit, and a dry finish.

Ska Brewing Wins 18th GABF medal. Eighteen GABF medals is a serious milestone, but Ska Brewing’s broader competition record is worth noting too: the brewery now has four World Beer Cup medals, bringing its combined total from the two major international beer competitions to 22. The latest result also fits a pattern of Ska earning recognition across several brewing traditions, from English-style pale ale and Vienna-style lager to Mexican-inspired pilsner and now Belgian-style abbey ale. Not a one-style brewery.

WestSKAlle’s bronze medal gives Ska Brewing another opportunity to show what happens when brewers stay curious, take inspiration from established beer cultures, and put their own work into the glass. The brewery says the beer delivers caramel and dark-fruit aromas, a rich and balanced malt profile, herbal and fruity notes, and a long, dry stone-fruit finish. Here’s the full announcement from Ska Brewing, including the story behind WestSKAlle and the brewery’s latest Great American Beer Festival recognition.

Here is the full Press Release from Ska Brewing:

DURANGO, CO— Ska Brewing Wins 18th GABF medal to take home on Sunday, the brewery’s first in a Belgian beer category: a bronze medal for WestSKAlle in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category.

Ska Brewing’s 18th Great American Beer Festival (GABF) medal joins four World Beer Cup medals, totaling 22 medals for Ska in two of the world’s most prestigious beer competitions. This award continues to showcase Ska’s brewers’ talents in brewing a wide variety of international beer styles.

Ska Brewing Wins 18th GABF medal

The path of their 2026 GABF award winner, WestSKAlle, started several years earlier and several thousand miles away. In 2023, Ska took a group of longtime employees to Belgium to celebrate their 10-year anniversaries with the brewery. What could loosely be described as research at Belgian breweries and beer halls sparked a deeper interest in traditional Belgian beer styles back home in Durango. 

Enter WestSKAlle, an amber-brown Trappist-style ale with a creamy head and aromas of caramel and dark fruit. The flavor is rich, balanced, and complex: herby, fruity, and deeply malty with a long, dry stone fruit finish.

“Taking our crew to Belgium reminded us how much history, technique and personality can exist in a single beer style,” said Ska Brewing Co-Founder Dave Thibodeau. “We came home wanting to explore some of those traditions ourselves. WestSKAlle grew out of that, so having this beer earn our first GABF medal in a Belgian category makes this one especially meaningful.”

Ska’s latest medal continues a run of international beer style awards, with its most recent GABF medals for beer styles rooted in four different brewing traditions: True Blonde Ale in the English-Style Pale Ale category; Oktoberfest in the Vienna-Style Lager category; Mexican Logger in the International-Style Pilsener category, and now WestSKAlle in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category.

“We’ve never wanted to be good at just one kind of beer,” Thibodeau said. “One of the best parts of brewing is getting interested in a style, figuring out what makes it great and then trying to do it justice. Sometimes that takes you to England, sometimes Austria, sometimes Belgium—and sometimes Mexico ends up here in Southwest Colorado through our curiosities. 22 GABF and World Beer Cup medals later, the mission remains pretty familiar: make great beer, keep learning, and try not to take ourselves too seriously while doing it.” 

Related news from mybeerbuzz.com:
For more Ska Brewing news and award-winning craft beer coverage, check out Ska Brewing True Blonde Wins Gold at the 2026 World Beer Cup, which highlights another major competition result for the Durango brewery; Ska Brewing toasts to 30 years of characters brewing beer with character, celebrating the brewery’s history and distinctive personality; and True Blonde: the first Ska Brewing beer ever, still winning awards 30 years later, which explores the longevity of one of Ska’s signature beers.

Ska Brewing Wins 18th GABF medal

You can also revisit Ska Brewing’s Mexican Logger lager can release for more background on the brewery’s popular Mexican-style lager. These stories offer a closer look at Ska Brewing’s award-winning beers, Colorado brewing roots, long-running releases, and continued interest in a wide range of beer styles.

ABOUT SKA BREWING

Founded in the spirit of punk rock and a little bit of ska, Ska Brewing has been challenging the status quo and brewing beers that refuse to conform since 1995. From the iconic Mexican Logger to the rebellious Modus Hoperandi IPA, Ska Brewing is dedicated to crafting unforgettable beers and beverages that are as unique as the people who drink them. For more information, samples, or just to chat about how great peaches are, contact Ska Brewing at [email protected] or visit our website at www.skabrewing.com.

Ska Brewing Wins 18th GABF medal

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