DENVER — Charlotte breweries racked up several awards at this year's Great American Beer Festival, which was held Oct. 6-8 in Denver.
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, the Great American Beer Festival returned this year to celebrate its 40th anniversary. As the country's largest professional beer competition, GABF awarded a total of 300 medals to 268 breweries. With nearly 10,000 commercial brewery entries, this year's marked GABF's most competitive.
Six Charlotte breweries won medals, five of which took home one medal, while Protagonist Beer was awarded two medals. GABF awards bronze, silver and gold medals in 98 categories and across 177 different beer styles.
"I'm exceptionally proud of the beers that we're making here at Protagonist and being recognized for four beers over the past two years is a great honor," Jeremy Claeys, Director of Brewing Operations at Protagonist Beer, said in a press statement.
Other Charlotte brewery winners include Devil's Logic Brewing, Legion Brewing, Lenny Boy Brewing Co., Pilot Brewing and NoDa Brewing Company.
Gold medals were awarded to Legion Brewing, Lenny Boy Brewing Co., Pilot Brewing and Protagonist Beer. Devil's Logic Brewing and Protagonist Beer both took home silver medals, while NoDa Brewing Company brought home a bronze medal. You can find the full list of GABF's 2022 winners here.
In a press release by the Brewers Association, the organization behind GABF, Chris Williams, GABF's competition director said "the Great American Beer Festival showcases the best that American brewers have to offer. With 9,904 entries, this year’s competition was the most competitive to date. Congratulations to all the winners who truly demonstrated why the U.S. is the best brewing nation in the world.”
People in Charlotte will have the opportunity to try some of these award-winning beers during Charlotte Craft Beer Week, which runs from Oct. 21 through Oct. 30. Since October is North Carolina Craft Beer Month, all breweries and cideries around the Charlotte area are encouraged to participate. Visit www.charlottecraftbeerweek.com for more information about events and locations.
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