The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event used to be held at Denver's Colorado Convention Center, but despite community pushback, it has moved outdoors to Levitt Pavillion for 2026. Established in 1982, it is the largest ticketed beer festival in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world.
History The GABF was founded by brewer Charlie Papazian, and the first festival was held in conjunction with the American Homebrewers Association's annual conference in Boulder, Colorado, in June 1982, featuring 24 participating breweries, 47 beers, and 800 attendees.
In a private event, held the week prior, judges evaluate the beers in the associated competition. They then award medals in over 100 beer style categories. In 2019, the panel consisted of 322 judges from 18 countries, who evaluated over 9,400 beers. There were 800 breweries and 4,000 beers. In 2023, 250 judges from 10 countries evaluated 9,298 entries. There were 263 breweries.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 and 2021 in-person festival was cancelled with a virtual event held instead.
Statistics For a list of all medalists, see the List of Great American Beer Festival medalists
2004 Attendance - 28,000 Breweries at the festival - 334 Beers at the festival - 1,454 Breweries in the competition - 398 Beers in the competition - 2,016 Medals awarded - 201
2005 Attendance - 29,500 Breweries at the festival - 377 Beers at the festival - 1,672 Breweries in the competition - 466 Beers in the competition - 2,335 Category with most entries - American-style India Pale Ale: 103 Medals awarded - 206
2006 Attendance - 41,000 Breweries at the festival - 384 Beers at the festival - 1,668 Breweries in the competition - 450 Beers in the competition - 2,402 Category with most entries - American-style India Pale Ale: 94 Medals awarded - 203
2007 Attendance - 46,000 Breweries at the festival - 408 Beers at the festival - 1,884 Breweries in the competition - 473 Beers in the competition - 2,973 Category with most entries - American-style India Pale Ale: 120 Medals awarded - 222 + 3 in Pro-Am
2008 Attendance - 46,000 Breweries at the festival - 432 Beers at the festival - 2,052 Breweries in the competition - 472 Beers in the competition - 2,902 Category with most entries - American-style India Pale Ale: 106 Medals awarded - 222 + 3 in Pro-Am
2009 Attendance - 49,576 Breweries at the festival - 457 Beers at the festival - 2,100 Breweries in the competition - 495 Beers in the competition - 3,308 Category with the most entries - American-style India Pale Ale, 134 entries Medals awarded - 234 + 3 in Pro-Am
2010 Attendance - 49,000 Breweries at the festival - 455 Beers at the festival - 2,248 Beers in the competition - 3,523 Category with the most entries - American-style India Pale Ale, 150 entries Medals awarded - 236 + 3 in Pro-Am
2011 Attendance - 49,000 Breweries at the festival - 466 Beers at the festival - 2,375 Breweries in the competition - 526 Beers in the competition - 3,930 Category with the most entries - American-style India Pale Ale, 176 entries Medals awarded - 248 + 3 in Pro-Am
2012 Attendance - 49,000 Breweries at the festival - 578 Beers at the festival - 2,774 Breweries in the competition - 666 Beers in the competition - 4,338 Medals awarded - 254
2013
Attendance - 49,000 Breweries at the festival - 624 Beers at the festival - 3,142 Breweries in the competition - 732 Beers in the competition - 4,809 Beer categories - 84 Category with most entries - American-Style India Pale Ale, 252 Medals awarded - 254
2014 Attendance - 49,000 Breweries at the festival - 710 Beers at the festival - 3,500+ Breweries in the competition - 1,309 Beers in the competition - 5,507
2015 Attendance - 60,000 Breweries at the festival - 750 Beers at the festival - 3,800 Breweries in the competition - 1,552 Beers in the competition - 6,647
2016 Attendance - 60,000 Breweries at the festival - 780 Beers at the festival - 3,800+ Breweries in the competition - 1,752 Beers in the competition - 7,227 Beer categories - 96 Category with most entries - American-Style India Pale Ale, 312 Medals awarded - 286
2017 Attendance - 60,000 Breweries at the festival - 800+ Beers at the festival - 3,900+ Breweries in the competition - 2,217 Beers in the competition - 7,923 Beer categories -
2018 Attendance - 62,000 Breweries at the festival - 800+ Beers at the festival - 4,000+ Breweries in the competition - 2,404 Beers in the competition - 8,496
2019 Attendance - 65,000+ Breweries at the festival - 800+ Beers at the festival - 4,000+ Breweries in the competition - 2,295 Beers in the competition - 9,497 Beer categories - 107 Category with most entries - Juicy or Hazy IPA, 348 entries Medals awarded - 318
2022 Attendance - 40,000 Breweries at the festival - 500 Beers at the festival - 2,000 Breweries in the competition - 2,154 Beers in the competition - 9,904 entries Beer categories - 98 Category with most entries - American Style India Pale Ale, 423 entries Medals awarded - 300
2023 Attendance - 40,000 Breweries at the festival - 500+ Beers at the festival - Breweries in the competition - 2,033 Beers in the competition - 9,298 Beer categories - 263 Category with most entries - Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale, 365 entries Medals awarded - 263
2024 Attendance - 40,000 Breweries at the festival - 273 Breweries in the competition -1,869 breweries and cideries Beers in the competition - 8,836 commercial beer entries, 233 commercial cider entries, 95 Collaboration entries, and 52 Pro-Am entries Beer categories - 102 Category with most entries - Juicy/Hazy IPA, 349 entries Medals awarded - 326 Added 5 new cider categories
See also Craft beer
References
External links
Great American Beer Festival