GABF Winner's List

Further proof, if any were needed, that the GABF is an enormous shill. The list of beerstyles continues to broaden in what amounts to self-parody: Specialty Beer and Specialty Honey Beer? What's the difference between them? or between a Specialty Beer and an "Experimental Beer"? Now there's a category for coffee beers?

What's the difference between an American-style Wheat Beer and an American-Style Hefeweizen? And here's a fave: German-Style Pilsner, Bohemian-Style Pilsner and European-Style Pilsner. What? Germany and Bohemia have left the continent?

Eight categories of "American" lagers? American-Style "Light" Amber Lager? WTF is that?

Come one, come all -- everyone gets a medal. What a lame joke, but hey, it's money in the pocket at the AOB.

--Jeff Frane

The difference is, of course, that there are twice (three times, in some cases) the categories for large corporate brewers to enter their beers and win medals, justifying the money they pay to help sponsor the event.

I was mostly impressed that a Trappist Pale Ale and a Grand Cru won medals in "Experimental." With the thousand or so categories, these beers couldn't be fit into a named slot?

Why, in one you leave the yeast in, while in the other, you *can* leave the yeast in. Big difference.

Euphemism. The big brewers couldn't see themselves entering Michelob in a select group, so they make up new vague categories. Europils is the category of Heineken, Stella, and so forth, but they didn't pay to play, so A-B gets a pretty medal.

Your no dim bulb gigy.

Witzel

Dunno about the Grand Cru, but I've had Scott's TPA: it's brewed with brettanomyces. IMO, to have put it in any other category was risking its not being understood. Good beer, BTW, and I was pleased to see Scott take two medals.

Its clear that the names of the categories are silly, but the European style pilsner is meant to encompass the type of beer represented by Heineken or Carlsberg. Hence Michelob winning the category.

Sounds like it was invented just to accommodate Leinie's Amber Light!

ayup.

Or how bout this one- Category: 2 American Lager/Ale or Cream Ale Gold: Red Dog - Silver: Milwaukee's Best - Bronze: Old Style

Are any of these beers even lager/ale blends or cream ales? (That is what they mean by "lager/ale", right? They don't mean either/or, but that must be how the brewers took it.) Aren't all three just regular/discount priced NAIL's? Geez, at least give the medal to Genesee and Little Kings...

I do think they mean Either/or, although that makes this category as weird as many others. As to why they didn't give a medal to Genny or LK, one always needs to keep in mind that its not across all beers, but only those entered in the competition. Many very good breweries do not send their beers. Victory for example I believe has not sent anything to the GABF since I've been paying attention.

I've found, on average, that about half the "greatest breweries" whose products I worship don't enter the GABF--it costs them too much and/or they can't spare the beer. I don't think Weyerbacher sends anything, and I

*know* Selin's Grove Brewing in central Pa. (best damn brewpub I've ever been to for across-the-board, across-the-styles quality) doesn't. On the other hand, Flossmoor Station, New Glarus, and New Belgium do.

What *I* wanna know is how the same damn beer (Pete's Wicked Ale) took medals in TWO categories.

Victory entered once, re-thought it, and hasn't gone back.

Easy. Brewers are allowed, and even encouraged to enter beers in more than one category. They always have been. You can take the view that the style categories overlap, and that entering multiple categories keeps GABF's categories from stifling creativity, or you can take the cynical view that multiple entries makes more money for them on entrance fees. To tell the truth, I don't know if the fees are high enough (compared to costs) to make them much money; but some people are very skeptical about the funding of the whole thing. Anyway, there was supposedly a back-channel system for ensuring that a beer wouldn't win a medal in two different categories, but obviously it either failed, or it never existed.

Despite loud, emotional defenses of GABF judging, IT IS FLAWED. That's not a blanket condemnation, it's an observation. It could be improved. Any rational human would admit that.

Amen, Lew: you should have seen his expression when he won the second medal. REAL happy, I tell ya. Thrilled. His was a popular table at GABF. I'm happy to say I brought back a whole mixed case of his brews from my trip up for the Kennett fest. Mmmm. Cheers, Chuck C.

Yep. And not only the big boys do this either.

I had a few off the record discussions about this with a number of breweries and brewery reps, some from larger breweries, and many felt that the rules should be changed to 1) increase the fees for entering a beer, and 2) only allowing a particular beer to be entered in one style category competition. Final decision up to AOB, I guess....I never heard of any back channel system for a beer not winning two medals.

Having stewarded all three days of the 2002 judging, I can say I saw no funny business and was impressed with the methods used to present the beers to the judges and the actaul judges discussions over which beers to award medals to. All the judges are kept out of the staging room where the beer is prepared to be taken into other rooms in numbered drinking cups. The only thing I could say that is happening is that, if the same or virtually the same set of judges is used every year, and after years they know what X beer tastes like, which is entered every year, they could probably pick that beer out by taste. If they wanted to award it with a medal, they could theoretically lobby for it. As stewards, part of the job is to be in the judging room if the judges need something. You get to hear all there discussions and never once did any beer names ever come up. I honestly just don't see how any funny business or cheating could occur. Chuck C.

I'd say any widely-drunk (termed coined with care) beer geek would at least on occasion be able to pick a particular commercial beer out in a blind tasting. For example, I'd be surprised if I couldn't pick Sierra Nevada Bigfoot and Avery's Hog Heaven out of a blind barleywine tasting.

-- Joel Plutchak Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots

"Resorting to personal harassment is a tactic of desperation."

Yeah-huh.

I have entered beers in the GABF from 1992 - 2001. I won a silver medal in

93, bronze in 94 gold in 98 & 99 (same catagory for the golds). I quit entering beer for two reasons: BIG money venture with little to no return and the judging. I have known 4 judges (who still judge). These judges all tell stories of being able to pick out certain beers, which win year after year and a even more appalling tale that the winners always come from the first ten beers tasted per flight. So hypothetically, I could've entered my APA in a catagory with 71 entries this year to find that I didn't get a fair shake because I wasn't in the first ten tasted. Please...

david