Denver - Sept. 24-26

Mostly judging from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I shared a room with another judge, Travis Hixon of Blackstone Brewery in Nashville, Tenn. He was also new to the judging and so it was fun to compare experiences and impressions with him. I also got to try a lot of great beers from these guys I met. You are limited by the volume of beers available and sometimes miss some good ones, but meeting so many of the men and women behind the beer, you really get turned on to some great ones. That was a pleasant surprise. I am always amazed at how much better the beers get every year.