This year's Great American Beer Festival competition (known to many as GABF) saw around 2,200 breweries from around the United States enter the competition. 306 medals were awarded to 280 breweries with judges from countries around the globe, who were brought together to evaluate the best of American ales, lagers, and specialty brews. Many Texas breweries have been recognized for their efforts in past years, and 2018 was no different.
Texas brought home 18 total awards this year, 6 Gold, 4 Silver, and 8 Bronze medals, as well as a winner in the Large Brewpub category.
Here are the lucky winning Texas breweries:
Saint Arnold Brewing Co, Houston: Silver medal for 'Oktoberfest' in the Scottish-Style Ale category; and a Bronze medal for 'Amber Ale' in the Ordinary or Special Bitter category.
Texas Beer Co, Taylor: Gold medal for "Pecos Amber Lager" in the American-Style Amber category.
Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co, Austin: Gold medal for 'Rocket 100' in the American-Style Pilsner category; Gold medal for ‘Hell Yes’ in the Munich-Style Helles category; and for the third year in a row, the Large Brewpub/Brewer of the Year award.
Austin Beer Works, Austin: Bronze Medal for 'Flavor Country' in the Australian-Style Pale Ale category; and a Bronze medal for ‘Super Awesome Lager’ in the Light Lager category.
Pinthouse Pizza North, Austin: Gold medal for 'Green Battles IPA' in the American-Style Strong Pale Ale category.
903 Brewers, Sherman: Bronze medal for 'Kilt Switch' in the Scotch Ale category.
Bankhead Brewing Co, Rowlett: Silver for 'Hoofer’s Hef' in the South German-Style Hefeweizen category.
Rahr and Sons, Fort Worth: Gold for 'Oktoberfest' in the German-style Märzen category.
Real Ale Brewing, Blanco: Gold for 'Real Heavy' in the Scotch Ale category.
North By Northwest Resteraunt and Brewery-Slaughter, Austin: Silver for 'Hazelnut Crunch' in the Herb and Soice Beer category.
Circle Brewing, Austin: Bronze medal for ‘Doppel BLUR’ in the German-Style Wheat Ale category.
Save The World Brewing, Marble Falls: Bronze for 'Sol Hominis’ in the Belgian Style Strong Specialty Ale category.
Oak Highlands Brewery, Dallas: Bronze for 'Oktoberfest' in the German-Style Märzen category.
The most eximous part of the awards actually came near the beginning of the ceremony when two San Antonio breweries took home two medals…in the same category: Chili Beer. Künstler Brewing Co. grabbed the Silver medal for ‘Chamuco’ and Ranger Creek Brewing nabbed the Bronze medal for ‘San Antonio Hatch Lager’, making these San Antonio proper's third and fourth GABF medals (Pearl Brewing received a Gold medal in 1991 and Freetail won a Gold medal last year), and the fifth for the San Antonio area (5-Stones Artisan Ales won a Silver medal in 2015). Congratulations to Künstler and Ranger Creek for a jobswell done and well-deserved recognition!!
This was another gangbuster year for Texas breweries and once again sends a message to the rest of the world: ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’.
Künstler Brewing. Photo © 2018 Brewers Association