Above Photo by Fernando Gomez

Four Other Locals Hit Doubles 

This year’s Great American Beer Festival (GABF) was cancelled just like every other big event with tens of thousands of attendees. But thankfully, while the fest itself was not able to take place in Denver as it does every year, the GABF Beer Competition was still able to go on. Over 8800 entries from breweries all over the country contested for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in 91 style categories. Our wonderfully world class local breweries took home an impressive 24 medals. 

Riip Beer Co. led all locals by, pardon the pun, ripping a triple: winning a Gold and two Silvers. Four other local breweries doubled: Claremont Craft Ales garnering two Gold medals, Docent Brewing also grabbing two Gold medals, Beachwood Brewing (and Blendery) snagging a gold and a bronze and El Segundo Brewing, also winning a Gold and a Bronze.   

Brewmaster Ian McCall and his brewing team, Danny Priddy and Sean O’Shea, of Riip Beer Co in Huntington Beach won Gold for Tangible Passion (Belgian-Style Specialty), Silver for The Riizzo (Coffee Stout) and Silver for Black the Riipper (Black Ale). Black the Riiper also reaped silver at the 2018 GABF. 

Ecstatic with the multiple medals that very nearly nabbed Riip recognition as Best Small Brewery in the country, McCall shared the history of The Riizzo. The stellar Imperial Coffee Stout is named after Adam Rizzo, former head roaster at Portola Coffee in Costa Mesa. Adam and Ian became good friends when Ian was still lead brewer at Beachwood. The beer had been brewed a couple of times in the past while Adam was still at Portola, using a special roast of Portola Coffee. Adam has since relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan and opened up Dozer Coffee, which is affiliated with Homes Brewery in Ann Arbor. Ian decided to wait to brew this beer again until Adam was set up in his new locale and he had a roast he was happy with. That timeframe happened to coincide with GABF 2020, and the new Dozer Coffee roast was used in the new award-winning formulation of The Riizzo.   

Claremont Craft Ales, located unsurprisingly in Claremont, also unsurprisingly took home two Gold medals, one for its strong red ale, Happy Days, and another in the Experimental IPA category for Peppers and Peaches. Asked about Happy Days, Claremont Craft Ales owner Simon Brown offered, “There is a lot of luck in winning a medal at GABF since there are so many amazing entries and a constantly rotating panel of judges, so when the same beer wins Gold multiple times, it truly means that this beer rises above just ‘luck’ and is a world-class beer.” Brown added about their Gold-medal winning Experimental IPA Pepper & Peaches, “It’s hard to come up with a truly unique IPA, since the market is so flooded with IPAs these days, but Pepper & Peaches is unlike any IPA anyone else is making, and we couldn’t be more proud that it’s getting the recognition it deserves.” 

 

Docent Brewing in San Juan Capistrano, featuring the fantastic brewing brothers, Bryan and Brett Giesen, also received two Gold medals. Gold for Super Tonic, in the Coffee Stout Category which bested the aforementioned The Riizzo by Riip. Gold in the Session IPA category for Hefty Fee allowed Docent to outshine the other 93 entries. On the subject of entries, Bryan shared the interesting (if not nerve-racking) sequence of events which resulted in the five accepted entries for Docent. On the day the online system opened for entries, Bryan began what he thought would be a typical online process for submitting his ten planned entries. But each time he advanced to the next page, only one beer would be listed. Competition manager Chris Swersey was contacted at the Brewers Association. Chris suspected there was a system glitch and requested a screenshot to troubleshoot. Unfortunately, after registration had closed, only one entry had been confirmed. Luckily, another brewery gave back four entries and Docent was able to utilize those spaces. So, with only half of the entries they had planned, Docent Brewing still came away with two Gold medals.  

Beachwood Brewing (and Blendery), an annual visitor to the medal podium in Denver, once again did not disappoint, grabbing a Gold for Funk Yeah! in the Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale category and a Bronze for Barrel-Aged Full Malted Jacket in the Wood and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer category. Both previously medaled at GABF. BA Full Malted Jacket got the Bronze in BA Wood & Strong Beer in 2013 and Funk Yeah! Received the Gold medal in Belgian-Style Lambic in 2018. Owner/Brewmaster Julian Shrago commented, “We are humbled by the medals we received at the 2020 GABF. Breweries that garnered medals are among the best in the world and it’s an honor to be recognized alongside them. Beachwood’s brewing team is deeply passionate and endlessly diligent in the pursuit of creating the best possible beers we can.” 

Rob Croxall, El Segundo Brewing President/Brewer was justifiably super proud of his team winning Gold for their exquisite Hammerland double IPA in one of the most highly competitive categories at GABF. ESBC also brought home a Bronze for Devil’s Path in the same Strong Red Ale category in which their good pals at Claremont Craft Ales nabbed the Gold. Croxall said, “Hammerland winning gold in that huge category is the biggest win we’ve ever had. That beer has done well winning at The Bistro IPA Festival (Hayward, CA) in the past, but this one on the national stage really makes us proud. Devils Path is kind of a funny story. I love that beer and have wanted to submit in the past. Tom (Kelley, aka The Rainmaker), being very aware of what will actually sell in the market, has always talked me out of it. Finally, we submitted it and it worked out. It’s a really old school recipe, and I am stoked it did so well.” 

The “Singles.” We would have loved to offer quotes and photos to all of our local winners because winning a medal at GABF is a phenomenal achievement in brewing. We salute you all and are so proud of our world class local breweries for proving you are year after year.       

Additional Gold Medals (in alphabetical order): 

Arrow Lodge Brewing (Covina) Jungalo Juice in the Brett and Sour Beer category. 

Chihuahua Cerveza (Costa Mesa) Rico (Mexican-style Strong lager). 

Golden Road Brewing (Anaheim/Los Angeles) Get Up Offa That Brown (English-style Brown). 

Firestone Walker Brewing (The Propagator – Venice) Wookey Jack (American-Style Black Ale) 

Three Weavers Brewing (Inglewood) Deep Roots (English Mild or Bitter) 

Additional Silver Medals (in alphabetical order): 

Bravery Brewing (Lancaster) Bourbon Barrel-Aged Big Game (Wood & BA Strong Beer) 

Ogopogo Brewing (San Gabriel) Boeman Belgian White (Belgian-Style Wit Bier) 

Karl Strauss Brewing (Anaheim) Golden Stout (Coffee Beer). 

Additional Bronze Medals (in alphabetical order): 

Bootlegger’s Brewery (Fullerton) Funfest (German-Style Oktoberfest). 

GameCraft Brewing (Laguna Hills) Umbeereon (German Dark Lager). 

Highland Park Brewery (Los Angeles) Sugar on My Tongue (Juicy or Hazy Imperial IPA) 

Stereo Brewing (Placentia) Summer Sun (Fruited American Sour) 

TAPS Brewery & Barrel Room (Tustin) B.A. Dunkel (Wood & Barrel–Aged Beer).