GABF Wrap-Up: How did Houston fare?
Nathan Miller
After an incredible week in Denver for my third Great American Beer Festival trip, I’m currently in my traditional week of complete sobriety, chugging iced tea and enjoying all the wonders of a life without beer. And the only downside is I really want to try the Saint Arnold Bishop’s Barrel 11, which hopefully will still be around next week.
Speaking of Saint Arnold, they managed to win a Gold Medal, their first since 2010, for Weedwacker, in the German-Style Wheat Ale category. Weedwacker is clearly a huge hit at GABF, as this is not the first medal it has garnished, and this Gold joins two years of straight Bronze in the same category.
Weedwacker’s Gold was one of nine Gold Medals that Texas took home this year, out of a total of fifteen overall medals. Though that’s a slight drop in the overall count from last year, it represents the best showing in the Gold position that Texas has ever had. In fact, only California took home more golds, showing that the appetite for Texas beer is clearly strong.
In addition to the Weedwacker Gold, Houston also earned one other medal this year: Karbach took home the Silver in American-Style Amber Lager for Karbachtoberfest. This marks the third year in a row that Houston has earned 2 medals after a two-year drought; clearly, I’m good luck.
But it wasn’t just on the award stage that Houston’s spotlight shone. The convention floor was full of people sampling the new sours at Texian as well as beers from Buffalo Bayou, No Label (I finally tried What the Hatch, and, yes, it’s as awesome as I expected), Texas Beer Refinery, and Saint Arnold. And, as expected, Saint Arnold did once again erect their famous wedding chapel and assist quite a few couples in love.
After a successful but exhausting GABF, I’m looking forward to a little rest. But more importantly, I’m looking forward to what the next year will bring.
Featured image courtesy of the Saint Arnold Twitter account.
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