Breweries

Firestone Walker Brewing Co. and Redrock Brewing Co. won five medals each after judges were done evaluating 2,793 beers at the Great American Beer Festival.

Firestone was honored as Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year, with Matt Bryndlidson capturing his fourth Brewmaster of the Year award at GABF or the World Beer Cup. Port Brewing and Lost Abbey won Small Brewing Company of the Year. Tomme Arthur won his third Brewmaster of the Year award; the previous two having come at Port Brewing in Solano Beach.

All the brewing awards (brewery and brewmaster):

– Large brewing company and company brewer of the year, Pabst Brewing Company, Woodridge, Ill., Bob Newman.

– Mid-size brewing company and company brewer of the year, Firestone Walker Brewing Company, Paso Robles, Calif., Matthew Brynildson.

– Small brewing company and brewer of the year, Port Brewing & The Lost Abbey, San Marcos, Calif., Tomme Arthur.

– Large brewpub and brewer of the year, Redrock Brewing Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, Kevin Templin.

– Small brewpub and brewer of the year, Montana Brewing Company, Billings, Mont., Travis Zeilstra.

During the GABF awards ceremony, journalists and distributors were also recognized.

The Brewers Association Beer Journalism Awards recognized journalistic excellence in the coverage of American beer. The winner in the Consumer Print media category was Marnie Old for “Beer Takes the High Road” published in Santé magazine in June 2007. In the Consumer Electronic media category the winners were Roger Sherman and Jesse Sweet of Florentine Films for THE AMERICAN BREW which first aired in April 2007 on the History Channel. The Trade and Specialty Beer media winner was Julie Johnson Bradford for “The Men in the Tall Rubber Boots” published in All About Beer magazine’s May 2007 issue.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and the Brewers Association (BA) presented the Craft Beer Distributor of the Year Award to Monarch Beverage Co. of Indiana. The award recognizes the beer distributor in America who does the most to market, sell and promote craft beer in their market. The Craft Beer Distributor Achievement Award went to Louis Glunz Beer Co. of Illinois, and the Craft Beer Distributor Recognition Award went to Cavalier Distributing of Ohio.

Complete results.

And then there were two.

The Big Three of American brewing with become the Big Two. Brewers Molson Coors Brewing Co. and SABMiller said today they will combine their U.S. operations in a joint venture.

The makers of Miller Lite, Original Coors and Coors Light said they will share ownership equally in the new venture, but because of the economic value of their respective units SABMiller will have a 58% economic interest to Molson Coors’s 42% interest. The deal is expected to close by the end of he year.

Miller is the second largest brewing company in America and Molson Coors the third, both well behind Anheuser-Busch. Even combined they will still be smaller than A-B.

SABMiller and Molson Coors said they expect the combined brand portfolio, scale and combined management strength of the joint venture will allow it to better compete in the U.S marketplace, improving the standalone operational and financial performance of both Miller and Coors.

“This transaction is driven by the profound changes in the U.S. alcohol beverage industry that are confronting both of our companies with new challenges,” said Molson Coors Vice Chairman Pete Coors.

“Consumers are broadening their tastes and are increasingly looking for greater choice and differentiation; wine and spirits companies are encroaching on traditional beer occasions, and global beer importers and craft brewers are both taking a larger share of volume and profit growth. Creating a stronger U.S. brewer will help us meet these challenges, compete more effectively and provide U.S. consumers with more choice, greater product availability and increased innovation. The Molson and Coors families are firmly in support of this strategic transaction.”

The press release.