With 3800 beers from 800 breweries on tap at The Great American Beer Festival, it’s easy to get distracted. Bu tI had a plan. And mostly stuck to it, with just a few distractions along the way. A total of 32 beers sampled, from every region of the country, here are the five beers that stood out for me on night one of GABF 2016.

#5 | Hop Juju

gabf-2016-thursday-top-5-fat-heads-hop-juju

Fat Head’s Brewery

North Olmsted, OH

A perennial favorite and arguably one of the best DIPAs in the land (2013 and 2015 GABF Gold). Fat Heads is always in the running for my favorite brewery at the show as well. Every beer in their lineup is on point!

Style: Imperial IPA

ABV: 9%

IBU: 100

Yeast: American Ale

Malt: Pale, C-15, Caramel Light

Hops: Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe, Cascade, Citra

fatheadsbeer.com

 

#4 | Barrel Aged Cherry Artillery

GABF 2016 - Wynkoop Barrel Aged Cherry Artillery

Wynkoop Brewing Co

Denver, CO

I wasn’t planning on stopping by Wynkoop, but once again they pulled me in with a big ole imperial brown aged in Laws Whiskey barrels for 11 months. It’s subtle on the booze and cherries, and dangersously easy to drink.

Style: Barrel Aged Imperial Brown

ABV: 9%

IBU: 5

wynkoop.com

 

#3 | Coolship Red

GABF 2016 - Allagash Coolship Red

Allagash Brewing Co

Portland, ME

Enjoyed this beautiful Lambic aged in oak barrels with raspberries while listening to Jason Perkins from Allagash explain the process and history of spontaneous fermentation in the Brewer’s Pavilion.

Style: Lambic

ABV: 5.7%

allagash.com

 

#2 | Barrel Aged Darkness

GABF 2016 - Surly Barrel Aged Darkness

Surly Brewing

Brooklyn Center, MN

You could stand at the Surly booth and drink nothing but Darkness the entire session and it would be well worth the price of admission.

Style: Russian Imperial Stout

ABV: 9.8%

IBU: 85

Malt: Pale Ale, Golden Promise, Crystal, Dark Crystal, Oats, Black Malt, Chocolate Malt, Roast Malt

Hops: Columbus, Amarillo, Simcoe

surlybrewing.com

 

 

#1 | Gallagher Watermelon Gose

GABF 2016 - Storm Peak Gallagher Watermelon Gose

Storm Peak Brewing Co.

Steamboat Springs, CO

One of the last beers of the night. So good, and so easy to drink! I’m a sucker for watermelon, I guess. Add this year-round offering from Storm Peak to the long list of reasons to visit Steamboat as soon as possible!

Style: Gose

ABV: 5.2%

IBU: 10

Malt: Pilsner, White Wheat, Caramel

Hops: Chinook

stormpeakbrewing.com

 

Complete chronological list of beers sampled

  1. Surly – Barrel Aged Darkness
  2. Fargo Brewing Company – Dad’s Pale Ale
  3. Black Bottle – Cerealiously Count Chocula
  4. Union –  Old Pro Gose
  5. COOP – Alpha Hive DIPA
  6. Highland – Mandarina IPA
  7. Highland – IPA
  8. The Brew Kettle – White Rajah
  9. Tin Man – Tomato Gose
  10. pFriem – Sour IPA
  11. Laurelwood – Citrus Wit Mango
  12. Thomas Creek – Trifecta IPA
  13. Wind River – Indian Pass IPA
  14. Lagunitas – Double Dry Hopped Sucks
  15. Iron Hill – The Grand Inquisitor
  16. Allagash – Coolship Cerise
  17. Baere – Sour Brown
  18. Allagash – Coolship Red
  19. Wynkoop – Barrel Aged Cherry Artillery
  20. Fat Head’s – Hop JuJu
  21. Wonderland  – Wet Hop IPA
  22. Bear Republic – Cafe Racer 15
  23. Surly – Pentagram
  24. New Holland – Dragon’s Milk
  25. Figueroa Mountain – Mosaic
  26. Rhinengeist – Peach Dodo
  27. Grand Teton – American Sour
  28. Fiction – Logic is Relative
  29. Barley Brown’s – Fresh Hop Pallet Jack IPA
  30. Ecliptic – Zenith Grapefruit Gose
  31. Storm Peak – Gallagher Watermelon Gose
  32. Spangalang – Colorado Junction