No craft beer style has been more popular in recent years than hazy IPAs, and the best in the country is being brewed right here in the Valley. That’s the verdict of the judges at the 34th annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver.
This year’s GABF, the world’s largest commercial beer competition, judged 8,806 beers from 1,720 breweries in 170 different style categories. Winners were announced in a virtual ceremony Friday night.
The style category drawing the most entries – 377 – was juicy or hazy IPA, and this year’s gold medal went to 5-year-old Wren House Brewing in Phoenix for its Spellbinder IPA.
It’s the second straight year Wren House has won a GABF medal. Last year its Valley Beer took the silver in the American-style lager or pilsener category.
Wren House, though, was not the only Valley brewery adding to its trophy case Friday. Saddle Mountain Brewing in Goodyear earned a bronze medal in the Scottish-style ale category for its Taildragger Clan-Destine.
Taildragger won the gold in the category the previous three years, giving the beer a rare four-year medal streak at GABF.
Fate Brewing, based in Scottsdale, grabbed a bronze in the chile beer category with its Hatch Chile Gatos. It’s the brewery’s second medal-winning ale, joining its Candy Bar Milk Stout that won a silver in 2013.
This year’s honor caps a tumultuous 18-month period that saw Fate part ways with its founder Steve McFate, change its name, and launch a new location in Tempe.
Finally, one of Arizona’s newer breweries, LazyG Brewhouse, earned a silver medal in the session IPA category with its Pedal Pounder. Lazy G opened in Prescott last October.
Check out the complete list of GABF winners here.
