It can be hard for a brewer to stand out at the Great American Beer Festival.
With over 800 beer makers pouring more than 4,000 different varieties one ounce at a time, there’s a lot of competition, especially for newer and regional breweries. Winning one of the esteemed GABF competition medals certainly concentrates buzz on a brewer, but the unofficial people’s choice awards can be just as valuable.
Lines are a part of GABF, and as you wait for your next pour, you chat with the people around you or overhear their conversations. And, before long, trends start to appear.
Some of the chatter is about beers you’d expect: names like Russian River Brewing Co.’s eternally popular Pliny the Elder, Three Floyds’ Zombie Dust, and any of Avery Brewing’s barrel aged offerings. Sometimes, it’s slightly lesser known names and beers (some made with unusual ingredients) that emerge as favorites. And those are the beer makers who could be on the verge of becoming craft beer’s next big thing.
Here’s a look at the beers and breweries people were lining up for at the 2019 show:
J Wakefield: Imagine if beer and Kool-Aid had a lovechild. That’s Haterade. And while it might sound odd, the result is an incredible refreshing, juicy drink that goes down easy (and can catch up with you at 6% ABV). People lined up 50 or so deep for a pour on Thursday, the slowest night of GABF. The lines grew even longer on Friday.
Weldwerks: A crowd favorite whose status has been growing exponentially in recent years, the lines created a choke point on the GABF floor as people waited for Extra Extra Juicy Bits, a double IPA that features more than 11 pounds of Citra, Mosaic and El Dorado hops per barrel, and different versions of Medianoche, an imperial stout, then would return to the back of the line for more after they got their pour. (The White Peach Pie Berliner Weiss wasn’t quite as popular, but those who tried it called it outstanding as well.)
Modern Times Beer: You had to head to Modern Times booth the minute you entered the Colorado Convention Center hallway if you wanted a taste of Mega Devil’s Teeth. The barrel-aged imperial stout is brewed with macadamia nuts, coconut and cocoa was in high demand and didn’t last long, as many people made it their top priority.
The Bruery: They started lining up for Grey Monday, special edition imperial stout made with hazelnuts, long before the brewer planned to pour. And the beer was gone in minutes. Within 90 minutes of the festival’s opening, several of its other offerings were kicked as well. Another popular pour was the So Happens It’s Tuesday Mole, an imperial stout that had enormous chocolate notes.
Two Roads Brewing Co: While it was rare to find the extreme lines here that you might see at other booths, there was a steady, heavy flow of people curious to try Twoquila, a tequila barrel aged lime gose. Synopsis, a fruited sour ale, was another popular choice.
Great Notion: No longer an under-the-radar name, this Oregon brewer’s booth was swarmed from the minute the festival opened until its taps ran dry (well before last call). The line was consistently 40-50 deep. The star? That’d be Blueberry Muffin, a sour that, astonishingly, tastes just like its namesake.
