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Which ABQ breweries won medals at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival?
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Three sa国际传媒官网网页入口 breweries beat out some tough competition in two categories at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival in Denver.
Quarter Celtic Brewpub and Meadery won a gold medal for its Vienna Festbier, in the Vienna Style Lager category, which had 123 entries. This is the fourth GABF medal for Quarter Celtic. It won two silvers in 2020 and a bronze in 2022 at GABF.
鈥淲e are super excited to get a gold medal at the Great American Beer Fest, in the Vienna Festbier style!鈥� said Ror McKeown, Quarter Celtic co-owner, via text. 鈥淭here is one keg left that we are holding for a previous employee for their wedding.鈥�
McKeown added his brother and head brewer Brady McKeown along with assistant brewer and Ror鈥檚 son, Keegan McKeown, will brew another Vienna.
鈥淪o everyone can taste the best Vienna lager in America once again,鈥� Ror McKeown said via text.
Another gold winner at this year鈥檚 GABF was Tractor Brewing Company. It took the top medal for its Mustachio Milk Stout in the Sweet Stout or Cream Stout category. Boxing Bear Brewing Co.-Firestone took silver in the same category with its Chocolate Milk Stout. The category had 37 entries.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be more proud or excited for this brewing team,鈥� said TJ Frederich, head brewer of Tractor Brewing Company, in a statement. 鈥淲e have worked so hard over the last 3鈥�4 years to reach this milestone. It鈥檚 not the end of the story, but just the beginning in my opinion. I am extremely excited for the next chapter of this journey.鈥�
It is Tractor鈥檚 first GABF medal for its brewing team of Damian Perez, Dominic Gantar, C茅sar Adri谩n Quezada-Hern谩ndez and Friedrich. The Mustachio Milk Stout is available at all Tractor locations as well as various retailers throughout the state.
鈥淲atching the hard work, dedication, and love for the game pay-off has been a true joy,鈥� Friedrich added. 鈥淚鈥檓 beyond grateful for the unwavering support from everyone along the way, and I look forward to all the amazing things ahead.鈥�
Boxing Bear Brewing Co. has medaled in the past at GABF with its Chocolate Milk Stout. The stout won gold in 2016 and silver in 2015 at the competition. It is available on tap at both Boxing Bear locations.
鈥淲e are incredibly proud of our dedicated employees whose hard work and passion earned us this award,鈥� said Justin Hamilton, Boxing Bear co-owner and director of operations. 鈥淚t is an honor to represent New Mexico at a national competition.鈥�
The Brewers Association, in partnership with the American Cider Association, awarded 326 medals to 273 breweries and cideries during an awards ceremony held on Saturday at GABF, according to a GABF news release. The festival is the nation鈥檚 largest professional beer competition.
This year, the GABF judge panel evaluated noteworthy brews and ciders in 102 beer categories, including 170 subcategories, as well as five new cider categories and the Pro-Am and Collaboration competitions. The Pro-Am is an opportunity for commercial breweries to team up with homebrewers to vie for top honors.
There was a multi-step judging process done by 285 beer experts who evaluated 8,836 commercial beer entries, 233 commercial cider entries, 95 collaboration entries and 52 Pro-Am entries, according to the news release. Judging took place in three phases over seven days and included brewery entries from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
