The Great American Beer Festival has 3,500+ beers from over 750 breweries on tap under one roof. It’s overwhelming, and even the most weathered GABF attendee has to formulate a plan if they want to have any hope of “success.” With a few GABF sessions under my belt the last few years, and approximately 0% success rate on past plans, I knew I had to not only have some specific ideas in mind, I had to stick to them once I stepped into the hall.
Objective #1 – Kick off Pumpkin Beer season. Although I had more beers flagged, with ten Pumpkin beers sampled, I’d call it a win for me on the Pumpkin front! Big, flavorful offerings from Weyerbacher, Cigar City, Lakefront, and Saint Arnold were highlights.
Objective #2 – Imperial Stouts! Wynkoop’s Reel Big Stout alone was enough to call this one a WIN!
Objective #3 – Pace yourself. Little to no hangover always equals a WIN for me. Intentionally routing breweries in opposite corners of the hall and taking breaks to take photos certainly helped my cause!
Objective #4 – Document every beer sampled. Win!
Here’s my Thursday GABF 2015 breakdown.
26
Number of beers sampled
(~.74%*)
* based on 3,500 beers available
23
Number of breweries sampled
(~3.0%*)
* based on 750 breweries pouring
10
Number of styles sampled
(~10.8%*)
- Pumpkin (10)
- Imperial Stout (8)
- Imperial IPA (1)
- IPA (1)
- Scotch Ale (1)
- Barleywine (1)
- Saison (1)
- Foreign Stout (1)
- Am. Wild Ale (1)
- Tripel (1)
* based on 92 styles
16
Number of states sampled
(32%)
Sampling Map
The Beers (in order)
Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 8% |
| SCORE | 90 |
Sunday Morning Stout
Weyerbacher Brewing Co.
Easton, PA
Style: Imperial Stout
ABV: 11.3%
| STYLE | Imp. Stout |
| ABV | 11.3% |
| SCORE | 92 |
Roadsmary’s Baby
Two Roads Brewing Co.
Stratford, CT
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 6.8% |
| SCORE | 82 |
Barrel-Aged Darkness
Surly Brewing Co.
Minneapolis, MN
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 9.8% |
| SCORE | 95 |
Good Gourd
Cigar City Brewing
Tampa, FL
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 8.5% |
| SCORE | 94 |
Devious Imperial Pumpkin
Fegley’s Brew Works
Bethlehem, PA
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 8% |
| SCORE | 87 |
Pumpkin Barrel Ale
Town Branch Distillery
Lexington, KY
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 10% |
| SCORE | 90 |
Imperial Pumpkin Ale
Lakefront Brewery
Milwaukee, WI
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 9.5% |
| SCORE | 90 |
Frog’s Hollow Double Pumpkin
Hoppin’ Frog Brewery
Akron, OH
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 8.4% |
| SCORE | 88 |
Pumpkinator
Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Houston, TX
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 10% |
| SCORE | 94 |
Punk’in Drublic
Coronado Brewing Company
San Diego, CA
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 6.4% |
| SCORE | 86 |
Don Vanuchi “The Killer”
Barley Brown’s
Baker City, OR
| STYLE | Imp. Stout |
| ABV | 11.7% |
| SCORE | 98 |
Wick For Brains
Nebraska Brewing Co.
Papillion, NE
| STYLE | Pumpkin |
| ABV | 5.4% |
| SCORE | 80 |
Laws Whiskey Barrel Aged Reel Big Stout
Wynkoop Brewing Company
Denver, CO
| STYLE | Imp. Stout |
| ABV | 10% |
| SCORE | 99 |
BEST IN SHOW!
Strangely Epic
Strange Craft Beer Company
Denver, CO
| STYLE | Imp. Stout |
| ABV | 8% |
| SCORE | 94 |
Modus Mandarina
Ska Brewing
Durango, CO
| STYLE | IPA |
| ABV | 6.8% |
| SCORE | 91 |
Fayston Maple Imperial Stout
Lawson’s Finest Liquids
Warren, VT
| STYLE | Imp. Stout |
| ABV | 10.1% |
| SCORE | 90 |
Hippy Sippy
Fat Head’s Brewery
Middleburg Heights, OH
| STYLE | Imp. Stout |
| ABV | 10% |
| SCORE | 98 |
Fievre D’ Abricot
La Cumbre Brewing Co.
Albuquerque, NM
| STYLE | Saison |
| ABV | 7.7% |
| SCORE | 88 |
Malpais
La Cumbre Brewing Co.
Albuquerque, NM
| STYLE | Foreign Stout |
| ABV | 8% |
| SCORE | 87 |
Hop JuJu
Fat Head’s Brewery
Middleburg Heights, OH
| STYLE | Imp. IPA |
| ABV | 9% |
| SCORE | 99 |
Single Malt Bourbon-Barrel Aged Scotch Ale
Saranac
Utica, NY
| STYLE | Scotch Ale |
| ABV | 10% |
| SCORE | 81 |
Night Tripper
New Holland Brewing
New Holland, MI
| STYLE | Imp. Stout |
| ABV | 10.8% |
| SCORE | 92 |
Pentagram
Surly Brewing
Minneapolis, MN
| STYLE | Am. Wild Ale |
| ABV | 6.66% |
| SCORE | 91 |
Bourbon Barrel Three Chopt Tripel
Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery
Goochland, VA
| STYLE | Tripel |
| ABV | N/A |
| SCORE | 96 |
Timberline
Jagged Mountain Craft Brewery
Denver, CO
| STYLE | Am. Barleywine |
| ABV | 11.4% |
| SCORE | 97 |
Top Five
While a vast majority of the beers I sampled were memorable in one way or another, this night was dominated by the big stouts. And I’m still thinking about that Reel Big Stout from Wynkoop!