California Crush

Yet again, the Golden State led the pack at this year’s Great American Beer Festival, mining Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Rocky Mountain State’s capital city at the fest’s awards ceremony on September 22 – Out of more than 8,600 entered beers (including the Pro-Am and Collaboration entries) from 49 states (Mississippi sat this one out) and the District of Columbia, California breweries took home 73 medals — more than twice the amount of the next winningest contender, GABF’s home state of Colorado, which won 32. Last year, California’s tally was 57.

In a sign of the ever-increasing number of breweries in Beer Paper’s coverage area — ranging from up in SLO to out in San Berdoo — and the ever- improving quality of their wares, beermakers in our region scored 33 awards — a record haul of just over 45% of all of California’s bounty! Divided by “precious medals,” there were 11 Gold, 10 Silver and 12 Bronze. Orange County was our big winner, with 11 medals, followed closely by LA with nine. Five other counties shared the remaining 13 (see below for complete list).

And unsurprisingly, those medals were spread amongst 30 breweries. Only three of them won two awards each: Orange’s Green Cheek, Placentia’s Stereo and Buellton’s Figueroa Mountain (although its Westlake Village brewery won one also).

This year’s GABF was anticipated as — and will likely be remembered for — the first accredited competition in which those ubiquitous so-called New England-style hazy, hoppy beers finally got some respect. They also got a style-guide description, formulated by the Brewers Association (which puts on the fest), and therefore could finally be judged in their own three categories: Juicy or Hazy Pale, IPA and Double IPA. Congrats, haze fans; your favorite brews now have their own beer styles.

Little wonder that there were some 673 cloudy brews entered in those three Juicy or Hazy categories, with 391 alone in the IPA section — making it the most competitive beer category at GABF and dethroning the previous

top-ranking style, American-Style IPA (311 entries), for the first time in over a decade.

Ironically, of the nine awards presented in that trio of categories, not one medal went to a New England brewery.

However, leave it to California breweries — the originators of the West Coast IPA (or American-Style IPA, in BA parlance), the unabashed bitterness of which arguably provoked the decidedly un-bitter East Coast haze craze in the first place — to excel at versions of its reactionary nemesis of beer styles.

Indeed, while Chicago’s Alarmist Brewing took the coveted Gold among Juicy or Hazy IPAs with its Le Jus (Golden State brewers were shut out), it was California that had a win, a place and a show in the other two hazy categories. Our own Black Market Brewing of Temecula grabbed the Gold among hazy DIPAs for its straightforwardly titled New England Style Double IPA, while Northern California’s Alvarado Street Brewing (Salinas) burnished the Bronze for Contains No Juice. And Kings Brewing, straight outta Rancho Cucamonga, snagged the Silver in hazy Pales with Sippin’ on Dank 2.0.

At the Festival session following

the awards ceremony on Saturday afternoon, Black Market’s brewmaster Kyle Boruff was happy pouring pitcher after pitcher of his winning brew, as well as Pina Colada and Neopolitan milkshake variations (all of which were extremely tasty). Was he surprised by his win? “I would

say excited; I had great confidence in this beer,” he responded. “I know everyone’s throwing out their best for GABF, especially Double IPAs,

which is one of the most entered for a new category. It’s really great to know that in the first time for this category, we got Gold. We get to set a standard for other brewers trying to create the style, and help out other breweries in the future with what we’re trying to accomplish.”

The American-Style IPA, now the second largest GABF category, is still highly competitive, and Green Cheek Beer bagged a Bronze for its entry, West Coast IPA Is Dead.

Always known for his cheekily named brews, co-owner/brewmaster Evan Price (who judged the competition this year and did not have a booth

at the show), explained that he took that name from a comment he heard made by Paul Jones, co-founder and managing director of Manchester, UK’s Cloudwater Brewing, describing his preference for hazy IPAs. “I didn’t even care if I won,” Price conceded. “I just wanted to see that name projected up on the screen at the awards.” He got his wish (and the appropriate laughter from the audience), along with his medal. Green Cheek brought home another Bronze in the English Mild category for Fools and Babies.

Another competitive category is American-Style Strong Pale Ale, and George Peterson, owner of Central Coast Brewing in San Luis Obsipo, was delighted to win Bronze for the style (the beer had won Gold at the World Beer Cup in 2016). “It’s always fun to win a medal,” he commented, pointing out that other beers he was pouring at his booth — including Monterey Street Pale Ale and General Schwarz Black Lager — were previous award winners at GABF or WBC. “We’re trying to stay at the top of our game.”

CCB was also pouring a hazy IPA, the aptly named Dude…It’s Not Even Hazy, but Peterson decided not to enter it this year. “We wanted to see how that category played out, because there’s so much diversity,” he explained. “This year alone, we’ve done seven or eight of those beers, and everyone fights about which one is their favorite. They’re all different, and everyone has different tastes — including the judges. When you don’t have a defined style like that, it’s a wild card.”

When asked about his umpteenth medal (a Silver) for Udder Love in the Cream Stout category, which has earned multiple honors at past GABFs and WBCs, Huntington Beach’s Beachwood Brewing co-owner and brewmaster Julian Shrago said he does not take those awards for granted.

He was more excited about, and interested in talking up, his colleagues at Beachwood Blendery, Harrison McCabe and Ryan Fields, for their Gold win in the Belgian-Style Lambic category of the Gueuze-inspired Funk Yeah.

To this writer’s taste, it was the closest-to-authentic American-made Gueuze since Isabelle Proximus, the collaborative Gueuze from Lost

Abbey, Avery, Allagash, Dogfish Head and Russian River, was released 10 years ago. From the cheesy nose to the funky finish, it seems to be precisely the kind of I-can’t-believe-it’s-not- Belgian beer Beachwood co-owner Gabriel Gordon envisioned when he launched the Blendery four years ago.

“This medal is as much Ryan’s as it is mine; he’s departing Beachwood

soon, but he’s been the best,” McCabe offered when inquired about his win in the Lambic category. “Funk Yeah

is a one-, two- and three-year blend; it’s not spontaneous. This is the very first blend of this beer, and the fact that it won is really awesome. We had a one-year blend of this beer; it was called Chaos Is a Friend of Mine, and it won a Silver medal here two years

ago. That was the one-year component. As it ages, it loses a little bit of the fruitiness, the funk intensity increases, and the acid profile is a little sharper

— but not crazy, very balanced.”

Last year, Beachwood Blendery won a Bronze for Dia de los Mangos. “We’re three for three in our GABF entries.” McCabe added. “We’re proud of all those beers.”

Following are this year’s winning beers, (style categories) and breweries,

by county, in Beer Paper country:

Orange County

Gold Medals:

Grandpa Tractor (Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest) – Barley Forge Brewing, Costa Mesa

Nobility (Imperial India Pale Ale) –

Noble Ale Works, Anaheim

Silver Medals:

Robot (Imperial India Pale Ale) – Stereo Brewing Co., Placentia

Black the Riipper (American- Style Black Ale) – Riip Beer Co., Huntington Beach

Udder Love (Sweet or Cream Stout)

– Beachwood Brewing, Huntington

Beach

Bronze Medals:

Mischief (American Belgo-Style Ale)

– The Bruery, Placentia

Lumino (American-Style Lager or Malt Liquor), Unsung Brewing Co. – Tustin

West Coast IPA is Dead! (American- Style India Pale Ale) – Green Cheek Beer Co., Orange

Fools & Babies (English-Style Mild Ale) – Green Cheek Beer Co., Orange

Hayshaker (Classic Saison) –

Gunwhale Ales, Costa Mesa

Wall of Sound (Oatmeal Stout) – Stereo Brewing Co., Placentia

Los Angeles County

Gold:

Happy Days (Imperial Red Ale) –

Claremont Craft Ales, Claremont

Get Up Offa That Brown (English- Style Brown Ale) – Golden Road Brewing, LA

Funk Yeah (Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale) – Beachwood Blendery, Long Beach

Silver:

It’s My Island (Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout) – Pocock Brewing Co., Santa Clarita

The Shroud (Imperial Stout) – Bravery Brewing, Lancaster

Skag (Scottish Ale) – 6th and La Brea,

Los Angeles Bronze:

Kumquat Saison (Belgian-Style Fruit Beer) – Smog City Brewing, Torrance

Figtoberfest (Dortmunder or German- Style Oktoberfest) – Figueroa Mountain Brewing, Westlake Village

Bear Temper (Barley Wine-Style

Ale) – Trustworthy (formerly Verdugo

West) Brewing Co., Burbank

Riverside County

Gold:

Raspberry Twist Lager (American- Style Fruit Beer) – Garage Brewing Co., Temecula

New England Style Double IPA (Juicy or Hazy Imperial or Double India Pale Ale) – Black Market Brewing Co., Temecula

Silver:

TAPS Irish Red (Irish-Style Red Ale)

– TAPS Fish House and Brewery,

Corona

San Bernardino County

Gold:

Belgian Honey Blonde (Honey Beer) – No Clue Brew Craft Brewery, Rancho Cucamonga

Silver:

Sippin’ on Dank 2.0 (Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale) – Kings Brewing Co., Rancho Cucamonga

Ventura County

Gold:

MadeWest Standard (Golden or Blonde Ale) – MadeWest Brewing Co., Ventura

Silver:

Neighborhood (American-Style Pale Ale) – Ventura Coast Brewing Co., Ventura

Bronze:

Nighthawk (Dark Lager) – Enegren

Brewing Co., Moorpark Santa Barbara County Gold:

Feral Brute (Experimental Beer), Firestone Walker Barrelworks, Buellton

Davy Brown Ale (American-Style Brown Ale) Figueroa Mountain Brewing, Buellton

San Luis Obispo County

Bronze:

Hoppy Poppy IPA (English-Style India Pale Ale) – Figueroa Mountain Brewing, Buellton

San Luis Obispo County Silver:

• Pixie Dusted (Collaboration Competition) – Firestone Walker Brewing Co., Paso Robles and Firestone Walker Barrelworks, Buellton

Bronze:

Lucky Day (American-Style Strong Pale Ale) – Central Coast Brewing Co., San Luis Obispo

• Shared award