- Can design by Phineas X. Jones
On Saturday, October 4, at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, a panel of 222 judges from ten countries bestowed 268 medals on a record-breaking field of roughly 5,700 entries from more than 1,300 breweries. (That’s a lot of breweries, but it’s not even half the current U.S. total—and thousands more are in the planning stages.) Chicago institution Half Acre took home its first GABF hardware, winning silver with its Heyoka IPA—and Heyoka’s category, “American-Style India Pale Ale,” was by far the most hotly contested at the fest, with 279 entries. (“Herb and Spice Beer” came in second with 150.) The gold went to Breakside IPA from Breakside Brewery in Milwaukie, Oregon.
- Now that’s some artsy bullshit.
What’s the connection to this beer? Search me. Maybe it’s a self-deprecating joke—like it’s somehow “backward” to make an IPA as a fall and winter seasonal? During the colder months, Märzens, pumpkin beers, harvest ales, winter warmers, stouts, and barleywines traditionally dominate American breweries’ special-release schedules. (I suspect that this is not the place to discuss the wisdom of naming anything to do with alcohol after anything to do with Native Americans.)
- I’m getting better about rewashing my glass before I take these pictures.
Other Illinois winners at GABF included Evanston’s Temperance Beer Company, which took silver in “English-Style India Pale Ale” with Gatecrasher, validating my immoderate review from May. In “Golden or Blonde Ale,” 5 Rabbit Golden Ale likewise took silver—ironically, the judges didn’t award a gold medal in that category.
The One and The Many by SIOUX
