Colorado Brewers Sweep Great American Beer Festival Medals After Outdoor Move to Levitt Pavilion
The Great American Beer Festival shifted its longtime indoor setup to an outdoor venue on Saturday and Sunday, drawing 7,267 entries from 1,300 breweries and cidermakers across the United States, denverpost.com reported. Judges evaluated competitors across 105 beer-style categories during six days of judging at the Levitt Pavilion Denver in Ruby Hill Park.
Cannonball Creek Brewing Claims Brewery of the Year Honors
Golden-based Cannonball Creek Brewing secured three medals and won brewery of the year in its size category for the second year. The brewery took a gold medal for Mindbender in the American-Style Strong Pale Ale category, a silver for Featherweight in the American Pale Ale category, and a bronze for Trump Hands in the Session India Pale Ale category.
Colorado Winners and Repeat Champions Across Categories
Colorado entrants claimed 41 medals overall during the weekend event. Several local producers repeated their previous wins from 2025, including River North Brewery, Second Dawn, The Empourium, Glenwood Canyon Brewing, Avery Brewing, Verboten Brewing, Liquid Mechanics, Wild Blue Yonder, Holidaily, Snow Capped Cider, Prost Brewing, The Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field, New Belgium Brewing, and Haykin Family Cider.
Gold medals went to Bent Barley Brewing for Dry Irish Stout in the Porter or Stout category, Bierstadt Lagerhaus and Wayfinder Beer for Infinite Hotel in the Collaboration category, Bull & Bush Brewery for Pineapple 3 Way in the Belgian-Style Fruit Beer category, and Dostal Alley Brewpub & Casino for Jacob Mack Mild Ale in the newly created Craft Malt Beer category.
Haykin Family Cider earned a gold medal for Newtown Ice Cider in the Experimental, Barrel-Aged or Specialty Cider category. Los Dos Potrillos Cervecería won gold for Agua Fresca in the American Fruit Beer category, and Sweet Heart Brands took gold for Spiced Apple in the Botanical or Spiced Cider category.
Additional gold medals included The Empourium Brewing Company for Honey Panda in Specialty Beer, The Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field for Calamansi Wheat in Fruit Wheat Beer, Snow Capped Cider for The Russets in No/Low Tannin Cider and Kingston Black 26 in Tannic Cider, The Well in Wellington for Altbier in Classic Gluten-Free Ale or Lager, Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project for Grow Old With You in Barley Wine or Wheat Wine, Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Co. for Sereno Moreno in Mexican-Style Pale Lager, and a joint entry from Wild Blue Yonder Brewing Co. and Geoff Humphrey Castle Rock for The Burden of Being Wonderful in the Pro-Am category.
Silver and Bronze Medalists From Across the State
Silver medals were awarded to 105 West Brewing Co. for Mexican Lager, Avery Brewing Co. for White Rascal, Glenwood Canyon Brewing Co. for Endless Groove, Haykin Family Cider for LUCY Ice Cider, Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. for Kolsch, and New Belgium Brewing for Trippel. New Image Brewing Company and Offset Bier Co. earned a silver medal for Neon Lady in the Collaboration category. Additional silver medals went to Old 121 Brewhouse for Colt 121, Second Dawn Brewing Company for Wolf of the Woods, Snow Capped Cider for Harrison Reserve, and Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project for Coconut CO.
Bronze medals went to Holidaily Brewing Company for Fat Randy’s IPA and Favorite Blonde Ale, Liquid Mechanics Brewing Co. for El Poblano Borracho, Locavore Beer Works for Friend of the Devil, MainStage Brewing Co. for Oktoberfestfest, Pattern Break Brewing Co. for Negroni Ale, Prost Brewing Company for Prost Helles, River North Brewery for Quandary, Ska Brewing for Westskalle, Snow Capped Cider for Spiced and Pink Pearl, and Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub for Jack Whacker Hazy Wheat.
Frequently Asked Questions About the 2026 Festival
Where did the Great American Beer Festival take place this year?
The event moved from its longtime home at the Colorado Convention Center to the outdoor Levitt Pavilion Denver in Ruby Hill Park.
How many entries and judges participated in the competition?
The competition featured 7,267 entries from 1,300 breweries and cidermakers evaluated by 225 judges over six days.
Which brewery won top honors at the event?
Cannonball Creek Brewing in Golden won brewery of the year in its size category for the second year in a row, alongside three individual medals.