Another year is in the books for the Great American Beer Festival and last night they announced the winners for this year’s medals. Last night wrapped up the awards ceremony for the 2021 edition of the Great American Beer Festival. And as per usual, we here at The Beer Thrillers got you the list of Pennsylvania breweries that have won.

For those unaware, The Great American Beer Festival, is thee annual event for craft breweries across the country. Every year, hundreds / thousands of breweries and brewers meet up in Colorado for the annual event, showcasing their goods, and hoping to bring home some of the illustrious medals. Getting a gold, silver, and even bronze at the GABF means a big deal to the brewer, and to the brewery itself.

It helps solidify yourself as a top brewery, it helps to get you recognition, and showcases the merits of the brewers involved.

You can read past years award winners for Pennsylvania here:

• 2019 GABF Winners: Pennsylvania
• 2020 GABF Winners: Pennsylvania

I’ll break this article down by GOLD – SILVER – BRONZE, and then at the end list some statistics. Enjoy.

GOLD

Gold Medals:

Category: Brett Beer
Brewery: Cinderlands Brewing Co. – Foederhouse
Beer: Gregg

Category: Smoke Beer
Brewery: Neshaminy Creek Brewing Co.
Beer: Croydon is Burning

SILVER

SILVER MEDALS:

Category: Bock
Brewery: Attic Brewing
Beer: Unresolved

Category: Contemporary Gose
Brewery: Workhorse Brewing Co.
Beer: Prickly Pear Margarita

BRONZE

Bronze Medals:

Category: Brown Porter
Brewery: Dock Street Brewing
Beer: Man Full of Trouble

STATS

You can see a drop down menu of awards here: 2021 GABF Winners. And you can select it to several different filters.

This year there was a total of 5 Pennsylvania medalists, 2 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze. In 2020 there was 3 medalists, 1 gold, and 2 silver. In 2019 there was 7 medalists, 3 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze.

GABF Competition Statistics

• 35th edition of the GABF competition
• 9,680 beers judged
• 2,192 breweries in the competition from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico
• 170 judges
• Average number of competition beers entered in each category: 99.6
• Category with the highest number of entries: Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale (427)
• 290 total medals awarded
• 265 medal-winning breweries
• 425 first-time GABF entrants
• 30 first-time entrant GABF medal winners

Looking Forward

Hopefully 2022 will see more medalists. 2021 was a step up (5 medalists this year) from last year (3 medalists), but still under 2019 (7 medalists). Hopefully 2022 will be better for Pennsylvania breweries.

Additional Links:

• Great American Beer Festival
• 2021 Great American Beer Festival – Winners Announced – Brewer’s Association
• 2021 Great American Beer Festival Coverage – Forbes
• 2020 Great American Beer Festival Winners – Pennsylvania
• 2019 Great American Beer Festival Winners – Pennsylvania

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So this is a perfect place for a museum dedicated to the history of beer. (Just wish it was opened when I traveled through!) And this will definitely be a stopping point in a future visit to Pittsburgh.

The main presser reads: (dated December 3rd, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania): “Brew: The Museum of Beer’s plans to launch an exhibit on the Story of Beer in Pennsylvania in a downtown storefront were temporarily stymied by Covid-19 but, inspired by the creativity and perseverance of the region’s breweries and restaurants, Brew is forging ahead with an online exhibit of the Story of Beer in Pennsylvania. Supported by a grant from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, the exhibit showcases the legacy and significance of Pennsylvania beer, from the origins of Penn’s Colony through the significant craft beer scene today.”

The event looks extremely interesting, as a person very interested in the history of beer (and history in general), as well as craft beer, and specifically Pennsylvania and the role beer has played in the Keystone State, this event looks very very very interesting to me, personally, as well as I’m sure it is to many of our readers out there.

The exhibit will include:

• Video interviews with many of Pennsylvania’s brewing pioneers, brewers, historians, and collectors
• An updated and expanded interactive map of all of Pennsylvania’s breweries as presented by BREW Museum (including pending breweries)
• A searchable list of the breweries and brewers who have won awards at Great American Beer Festival in the 21st Century
• A beer quiz to test your knowledge of Pennsylvania craft beer – the first 25 participants to finish (and score) will receive a prize

SEE – Pennsylvania’s 2020 GABF Award Winners.
SEE – Pennsylvania’s 2019 GABF Award Winners.

The presser continues: “To kick off the exhibit, Brew will have live presentations via Zoom by Brew founder Joe McAllister, brewer Paul Young, and special guest, Lauren M. Churilla, Curator, McCarl Coverlet Gallery and Lecturer of History at Saint Vincent College, who will be speaking about the first Benedictine brewery in the U.S. and the controversy it engendered in Latrobe, PA and around the world. The presentations will commence at 7:00 on Tuesday, December 15 and the exhibit will debut immediately thereafter. Once the site is live, the QR code below will take you directly to the exhibit site.”

So be sure to mark your calendars for December 15th (Tuesday) at 7:00PM (EST Time) to be able to visit the exhibit and attend the live zoom. Once its live, the QR code will be usable and will get you access.

The museum for BREW – The Museum of Beer has tons of information and links and ways you can help and support the museum, by donating or by buying merchandise. You can visit their site here: BREW – The Museum of Beer.

You can also follow them on their social media pages:

• Facebook – The Museum of Beer
• Instagram – Pittsburgh Museum of Beer
• Twitter – @BrewMuseum

Check them out, and be sure to like and follow them on their social pages to stay abreast of when their museum opens, when there will be new virtual tours or exhibits or interviews with brewers and brewery workers and brewery news. Check out their available merchandise and see if there’s anything to your liking, and help donate to get this great project up off the ground.

About Brew: The Museum of Beer – Brew: The Museum of Beer is a widely-anticipated Pittsburgh-based museum dedicated to the fascinating, 10,000-year-old story of beer, spanning beer’s role in the origins of civilization to the diversity and aspirations represented in the contemporary craft beer movement. Brew will be a must-see 50,000-square-foot complex capable of accommodating 400,000+ visitors per year. Aside from unique beer artifacts and exhibits, the multi million-dollar museum will also include a 300-seat brewpub, state-of-the art interactive technology, a large event space, gift store, and Beer Hall of Fame. The size and scope of Brew will be comparable to Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I would like to thank Deborah Stueber for reaching out to me and sending the press release for the exhibit and their online opening.

As always everyone – thanks for reading, and visiting the blog. Please be careful and stay safe. Support your local craft breweries, as this week or the next, there might be new mandates, restrictions, and hardships pressed upon breweries (and bars, and businesses, and restaurants in general). So do what you can to help support each other. Give to food banks, give your time at shelters, do whatever you feel comfortable and able to help support your fellow man right now. We are all in this together – as much as that is a cliche, it is the truth. This week or the next might end up being very difficult for many of your favorite small breweries and businesses, be sure to support and show your support, so that they can stay open once this is all over.

-B. Kline

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Be sure to check out our other articles on brewery openings:

• A Sneak Preview of Rubber Soul Brewing (Hummelstown)
• Midwest Coast Brewing Opens (Chicago)
• Rally Point – Cox Brewing Taproom Opens (Elizabethtown)
• Boneshire Brew Works to Open Second Taproom in Harrisburg (Harrisburg)
• Irv’s Pub Rebranded as Rotunda Brewing Pub (Hershey)
• Official BBQ (Pizza Boy Secondary Location) (Rutherford)
• The Grand Opening of Hemauer Brewing
• Pilger Ruh Brewing Needs Your Help (Pottsville)
• Highway Manor Brewing Co. (Camp Hill)
• Grand Opening: Rubber Soul Brewing Company (Hummelstown)
• Tap Room Opening: Howling Henry’s Brewery (Hummelstown)
• Little Fish Brewing Extending into Dayton
• Levity Brewing Expanding Taproom and Opening Second Location in Altoona
• BREW – The Museum of Beer

You can read about more brewery closures here:

• Stoudt’s Brewing Closing
• Crystal Ball Brewing Closes
• Voodoo Brewery Lancaster Closes
• Spigot Brewing Closes
• Full Pint Brewing Closes
• Night Shift Brewing Cancels Expansion
• Mikkeller Brewing NYC Closes Permanently