Big aLICe Brewing Co. is announced as the winner of the Small Brewing Company and Brewer of the Year at the virtual award ceremony (Source: The Brewing Network)
Four New York state breweries, including three in New York City, were awarded medals at the annual Great American Beer Festival competition, which was held virtually with an award ceremony on Friday night. Community Beer Works in Buffalo and Gun Hill Brewing Co. in the Bronx each won one medal in competition. Brooklyn’s Grimm Artisanal Ales won two medals, and Long Island City’s Big aLICe Brewing Co. took home a gold medal in addition to the Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year award. This year’s competition featured over 8,800 beers from over 1,700 breweries across the country in 91 categories. While this year’s competition netted two fewer medals for New York than in 2019, Big aLICe’s win of a Brewing Company of the Year award was the first for a New York State brewery of any size.
Grimm Artisanal Ales in Brooklyn won two GABF medals – a silver for their Tra La La in the Honey Beer category, among 72 entries, and a bronze for their Gathering Red Currants & Peaches in the Mixed-Culture Brett Beer category, among 74 entries. These are the third and fourth medals for Grimm, who last medaled at the competition in 2015.
Gun Hill Brewing Company’s Void of LIght was the Silver Medalist in the Stout category among 72 entries. The stout now has a medal trifecta – the same beer won gold in 2014 and bronze in 2019 at the festival. This is the brewery’s fourth overall GABF medal.
Community Beer Works in Buffalo won their second GABF medal in as many years, this time for This Snow in the Imperial Stout category, taking home a gold among 88 entries.
Finally, Big aLICe Brewing Co. in Long Island City won in the most competitive category among New York wins – with a gold medal in the Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer category for The Many Lives of Our Lives. Back in May, the same beer was awarded the Governor’s Excelsior Cup in New York State’s annual beer competition. It’s the first GABF win for the brewery, but the excitement of winning a medal was quickly followed by an even bigger honor: the Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year, which is awarded to one brewery in the national competition annually.
Great American Beer Festival hopes to return to an in-person format next year, which would be held October 7th through 9th in Denver, Colorado.
