Press Release: The World Beer Cup (WBC), the largest beer competition in the world hosted by the Brewers Association (BA)—the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American craft brewers—honored the best beers in 110 categories covering 172 different beer styles (including all subcategories).
The Great American Beer Festival award ceremony is one of the highlights of the year in craft beer. It is a great time for new breweries to have their beers judged against the best in the country, all on a level playing field, by a group of nationally recognized beer judges. The Festival competition awards gold, silver, and bronze medals in 107 beer-style categories.
Beginning with Brewzzi Boca Raton and Cigar City Brewing’s medal wins in 2009, a Florida brewery has brought home at least one Great American Beer Festival medal each year.
2019 has the distinction of Florida’s breweries bringing home the most medals of all time – a total of nine medals at once – with Corporate Ladder Brewing Company of Palmetto bringing home two of those medals and Cigar City Brewing bringing home a gold medal.
Florida craft breweries at the 2019 Great American Beer Festival
About the Great American Beer Festival Competition:
The Great American Beer Festival is not only about sampling quality beer but is also a beer competition. Breweries enter their beers to be judged by the festival’s Professional Judge Panel. Festival attendees can also sip the beer entered in the competition during the tasting sessions.
The Great American Beer Festival invites industry professionals from around the world to sit together in small groups and, without knowing the brand name, taste beers in each specified style category. The ultimate goal of the Great American Beer Festival Judge Panel is to identify the three beers that best represent each beer-style category as described and adopted by the Great American Beer Festival.
The Professional Judge Panel awards gold, silver or bronze medals that are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence. These awards are among the most coveted in the industry and heralded by the winning brewers in their national advertising.
Five different three-hour judging sessions take place over the three-day period during the week of the festival. Judges are assigned beers to evaluate in their specific area of expertise and never judge their own product or any product in which they have a concern.
Editor’s Note:
For those with a bit of extra time and curiosity, we encourage you to go to the GABF Medal Winners page and enter the search term “Florida” into the page’s search bar. What results is a stroll through memory lane – many breweries have won awards that are no longer in business.