2024 GABF Pro-Am Winners

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2024 issue of Zymurgy Magazine

By Adriana Terron

This year’s 38^th Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Competition, the largest professional beer competition in the nation, awarded 326 medals to 273 breweries and cideries. The number of beer categories judged this year reached 102, including 170 subcategories, alongside five new cider categories and the Collaboration and Pro-Am competitions, non of which could have happened without the 250+ volunteers who help carry out the festival operations from start to finish. Judging occurred in three phases over seven days and included entries from 1,869 breweries and cideries from all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. The category with the highest number of entries was Juicy/Hazy IPA with 349, followed by West Coast IPA, American-style IPA, Dortmunder or German-style Oktoberfest, and lastly German-style Märzen.

A highlight of the GABF Competition is the Pro-Am Competition, now in its 18^th year, which offers commercial brewers and homebrewers a chance to partner up and compete for the highest distinctions. Entries must be based on a homebrew recipe from American Homebrewers Association (AHA) members who have won an award in an AHA- or Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP)-sanctioned competition. All entries are then poured both for the brewery’s own customers and also at the Pro-Am Booth during GABF. Winners were announced during the GABF Awards Ceremony in the Colorado Convention Center Bellco Theatre on October 12, 2024.

Access the full article in the January/February 2025 Zymurgy magazine.

This article includes the following:

• HOMEBREW RECIPE: Piwo Grodziskie (Gold Medal Winner)
• HOMEBREW RECIPE: Rising Sun Rice Lager (Silver Medal Winner)
• HOMEBREW RECIPE: South of Helles (Bronze Medal Winner)
• Profiles and interviews with the gold, silver, and bronze medalists.