DENVER – When four Durango breweries compete at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver this weekend, they will face some of the stiffest competition the event has seen in its 35 years.
With 379,000 square feet in the tasting hall at the Colorado Convention Center, an anticipated 60,000 attendees will have the opportunity to sample some 3,800 beers from more than 800 breweries.
While the event is a playground for beer enthusiasts, it represents a chance for brewers to showcase their talents and earn bragging rights among peers and colleagues.
Carver Brewing Co., Durango Brewing Co., Ska Brewing and Steamworks Brewing Co. will enter several beers into the competition, representing Durango, which is sometimes called the “Napa Valley of beer” because of its high concentration of breweries in a small city.
As the craft-beer industry has experienced a boom over the past decade, the level of brewing skills has exploded, with brewers experimenting with different styles to quench the seemingly endless thirst of consumers.
“The caliber across the board, the beer you’re competing against every year, it’s just the best breweries, and there’s so many of them. The bar just gets raised higher and higher and higher,” said Dave Thibodeau, co-owner of Ska.
The medal round will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Ska is entering five beers, including Mexican Logger, a light Mexican-style lager, which won a silver medal last year in the American-Style or International-Style Pilsener category; True Blonde Ale, the brewery’s most decorated beer; Decadent Imperial IPA, which is making its first appearance in the competition; Buster Nut Brown Ale, an English-style brown; and Steel Toe Stout, an English milk stout.
Ska will also pour some beers for patrons that aren’t in the competition, highlighting creations from the brewery’s new, smaller experimental laboratory, Mod Brewery, which features “crazy” tart beers that are soured in the brewhouse using Colorado fruits.
One beer is a traditional Berliner weisse, a lower alcohol-by-volume, which has roots in old Germany as a beer for teens, who would add flavored syrups to turn the beer a bright color and take the edge off the tartness.
Ska’s Mod Brewery also will feature a peach gose, made from Palisade peaches and brewed with salt for an interesting flavor that is packed with fruit.
Kris Oyler, co-founder of Steamworks, agreed that the level of skill seems to have no end in the craft beer world, which represents an effort to meet consumer demand.
“Craft beer drinkers, they’re not brand loyal; they want to push boundaries and try different things,” Oyler said.
Steamworks also is entering five beers, four of which have won medals at GABF in the past, including Steam Engine Lager, which is considered the best American-style amber lager in the world after winning a gold medal in May at the World Beer Cup in Philadelphia. That event saw 6,596 beers from 1,907 breweries representing 55 countries.
Steamworks also will enter its Colorado Kolsch Ale, a German blonde that’s light and crisp with a touch of wheat malts; Backside Stout, an oatmeal stout that is named after the backside of Purgatory Resort in Durango; Slam Dunkel, a German dunkelweizen, which is a dark wheat beer; and Red Headed Stepchild, a barrel-aged sour.
Carver’s is entering five beers, including three that have not been entered in the past: Lightner Creek Lager, a German-style light lager that is a mainstay for the brewery; Gardenbrau Hefeweizen, a cloudy hefeweizen; and Old Fort Fresh Hop IPA, which is made with fresh hops from the recent harvest.
The brewery will also enter some past contestants, including Twin Beard Double Red, an imperial double red ale, and Colorado Trail Nut Brown Ale, an American-style brown ale.
Durango Brewing Co. could not be reached for this story.
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