Colorado brewers collect a whopping 40 medals at Great American Beer Festival

The 2023 Great American Beer Festival may not have garnered as much hype as previous years, but Colorado breweries made their most impressive showing in recent memory at the awards, which took place Saturday morning.

Judges evaluated 9,300 beers from more than 2,033 breweries in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, competition director Chris Williams said. Colorado beer makers collected a total of 40 medals, including 15 gold, a significant increase from the 27 awards breweries brought home from the 2022 competition.

Speaking to The Denver Post, Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild, expressed the pride she had in representing the winners. While the number of beers entered into this year’s competition was down, Adelson said brewers are more carefully submitting those recipes they feel are exemplary, and the awards reflect that.