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.