No East Coast Breweries Medal in ‘Hazy’ IPA Category at GABF 2019

Last year’s addition of the ‘Juicy or Hazy’ categories at the Great American Beer Festival was recognition by the Brewers Association of a style that had been largely popularized in the Northeast of the United States. However, for the second year in a row, no New England breweries medaled in the ‘Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale’ category, which had 348 entries this year and was the most entered category of the competition. A few East Coast breweries popped up in the other ‘Hazy’ categories including Kaaterskill (Silver, Juicy Or Hazy Strong Pale Ale) from West Kill Brewing (NY), Gulp (Gold, Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale) from Tribus Beer Co. (CT), and Chaos Emeralds (Bronze, Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale) from Lone Pine Brewing Co (ME). However, the ‘Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale’ category was devoid of East Coast representation.

Photo © Brewers Association

There’s the common belief that the participation of breweries on the East Coast — New England in particular — has dropped off in recent years. Only 16 breweries from New England poured at the festival. For context, that’s nearly half the number of breweries that attended from the state of Illinois (30 breweries). The medal breakdown for the Juicy or Hazy styles can be found below.

Category 60: Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale – 114 Entries

• Gold: Gulp, Tribus Beer Co., Milford, CT
• Silver: Itsy Bits, WeldWerks Brewing Co., Greeley, CO
• Bronze: Mo-Haze-Ic, Migration Brewing Co. – Wilkes, Portland, OR

Category 62: Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale – 106 Entries

• Gold: Breakside What Rough Beast, Breakside Brewery – NW Slabtown, Portland, OR
• Silver: Kaaterskill, West Kill Brewing, West Kill, NY
• Bronze: Goofy Boots, Penrose Brewing Co., Geneva, IL

Category 64: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale – 348 Entries

• Gold: Beezer, Old Irving Brewing Co., Chicago, IL
• Silver: Hazy IPA, City Lights Brewing Co., Milwaukee, WI
• Bronze: Devil’s Gulch, Pond Farm Brewing Co., San Rafael, CA

Category 67: Juicy or Hazy Imperial India Pale Ale – 165 Entries

• Gold: Extra Extra Juicy Bits, WeldWerks Brewing Co., Greeley, CO
• Silver: Juice Jockey, Phantom Ales, Anaheim, CA
• Bronze: Chaos Emeralds, Lone Pine Brewing Company – Gorham, Gorham, ME

The 2019 Great American Beer Festival competition also saw the addition of several new categories: Fresh Hop Beer (Category 20), India Pale Lager (Subcategory 40a), Franconian-Style Rotbier (Subcategory 49a), Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale (Category 62), Emerging IPA (Category 65), and Contemporary Belgian-Style Gueuze Lambic (Subcategory 91c). Surprisingly, the new category Emerging IPA had no bronze medalists, despite a diverse potential for entries. As the guidelines state, “Emerging India Pale Ales are either 1. any of White, Red, Brown, Black, Brut or many other IPA types or combinations thereof currently in production, and fruited or spiced versions of these; or 2. fruited or spiced versions of classic American, Juicy Hazy, and Imperial IPA categories.) Additionally, no gold medals were given in the American-Style Wheat Beer or Historical Beer categories.

Photo © Brewers Association

With 9,497 entries, the 33rd edition of the competition was the largest and “most competitive,” according to Chris Swersey, competition manager of the Great American Beer Festival.

Rowley Farmhouse Ales of Santa Fe, New Mexico, earned the most medals of any single brewery with 3 medals. Rowley was also recognized as Small Brewpub of the Year, while Westbound & Down Brewing Co. (Idaho Springs, CO) and Vintage Brewing Co. (Madison, WI) were awarded Mid-Size and Large Brewpub of the Year, respectively. Brink Brewing Co. (Cincinnati, OH) received the award for Very Small Brewing Company of the Year, while Comrade Brewing Co. (Denver, CO) received the award for Small, and Silver City Brewery (Bremerton, WA) took home the medal for Mid-Size.

For the full list of medals, click below.

GABF 2019 Competition Medalists

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