Colorado brewers win big at GABF competition

Colorado brewers dominated this year's Great American Beer Festival competition, taking home a stunning 40 medals, including 14 golds.

Why it matters: GABF is the most prestigious U.S. beer contest, and the medal haul is the largest in recent memory.

Driving the news: Wibby Brewing claimed the biggest prize among Colorado breweries as Brewer of the Year in the 5,000-15,000 barrel segment. The Longmont brewer also took gold with Wibby Jibby in the American pilsener category.

• Cannonball Creek in Golden extended its 11-year winning streak with a gold for its Featherweight Pale Ale.
• Westbound & Down won three medals including gold with Select, a West Coast-style IPA — which was a new category and had the second most entries.

What they're saying: "This year was a huge year for Colorado, not only for the number of awards but also for the diversity of awards," Colorado Brewers Guild executive director Shawnee Adelson said in a statement. "Colorado brewers proved that they can make anything between a traditional lager to the newest category of West Coast IPAs."

Of note: These are the Colorado brewers who won:

Gold

Ratio Beerworks: King of Carrot Flowers (Field Beer)

Banded Oak: Ye Old Ale (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer)

Wibby: Wibby Jibby (American Pilsener)

Seedstock: Seedstock Maerzen (German-Style Maerzen)

Resolute: Execrator (German-Style Doppelbock or Eisbock)

Cannonball Creek: Featherweight (American-Style Pale Ale)

Westbound & Down: Westbound Select (West Coast-Style IPA)

Knuckle Puck: Blown Tire (American Red/Red Ale)

Bootstrap: Wreak Havoc (Strong Red Ale)

Left Hand: Sawtooth Ale (English Mild or Bitter)

Rock Bottom: Foggy London Town (Robust Porter)

Cheluna and Prost: Luna Nueva Mexican Export Lager (Collaboration)

CooperSmith's: She Fancies Herself a Little French (Pro-Am)

Avery: White Rascal (Belgian-style Witbier)

Silver

Odell-Five Points: Big Sippin (American Fruit Beer)

Bent Barley: Green Chile Honey Kolsch (Chile Beer)

River North: Midnight Hike (Chocolate Beer)

Wynkoop: Kurt's Mile High Malt (Coffee Beer)

Hideaway Park: Skate Juice (Other Strong Beer)

Pumphouse: Forager IPA (Experimental IPA)

Dostal Alley: The Sauer House Project: Ellie's Version (American Sour Ale)

Lone Tree: Mexican Lager (Light Lager)

Liquid Mechanics: Cerveza Mecanica (American Pilsener)

Cheluna: Orizaba Cold IPA (India Pale Lager or Cold IPA)

Prost: Prost Pilsner (German-Style Pilsener)

Red Leg: Wunder Bier (German Dark Lager)

New Terrain: Rise & Climb (German-Style Koelsch)

Westbound & Down: Spirit of the West (New Zealand IPA)

Bristol: Laughing Lab (Scottish-Style Ale)

Call to Arms: Freedom Fries with Cherry (Specialty Saison)

Wild Blue Yonder: Scottish Wildcat (Scotch Ale)

Diebolt: Populator (Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barley Wine)

Avery: Island Rascal (Belgian Fruit Beer)

Blue Moon: Barrel-Aged Maibock (Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer)

Bronze

The Empourium: Condition of My Parole (Coffee Beer)

14er: Pina Colada Milkshake IPA (Experimental IPA)

Westbound & Down: The Coloradan (American Cream Ale)

Oskar Blues: Old Chub (Scotch Ale)