The Great American Beer Festival, better known as the GABF, is the Superbowl, Stanley Cup, National Championship, America's Cup, World Cup...........bottom line it is the Holy Grail for a Craft Beer Lover. When my passion for craft beer began, the GABF was always a event that was on my bucket list to partake. Finally the stars aligned and the trip to Denver became a reality. The best part was I was able to take this venture with my son, who first introduced me to craft beer. Can it get any better than that? Oh yes it can, we both were given brewery credentials and represented Adroit Theory Brewery at all four sessions. In addition to sampling brews from close to 900 breweries with nearly 4,000 different beers, we took turns with the brewery team pouring great selections of Adroit Theory's beer and then sampling all the other available brews. Everyone asks how beers did I sample? The answer is simple.... a lot!
The Colorado Convention Center is the perfect venue for this event. Walking in on the festival floor for the first time is like being a little kid walking into a candy store. Speaking of candy, beware of the Denver Gummy Bears.....unless you want a little Rocky Mountain High. It took us the first hour to get our bearings, the floor is a maze of craft brewery booths. The breweries are grouped together by geographic regions. With a little bit of geography and a map, it was easy to find the breweries you wanted to visit. The GABF is one of the few festivals that require a brewery Representative to pour their beer with the help of volunteers. You often have the opportunity to talk with the brewer or owner. Unlike most festivals that have volunteers pouring beer that know little or anything about the beer they are poring.
If you have been bitten by the Craft Beer Revolution bug, you need to put this festival on your bucket list. You will have the time of your craft beer life, with or without Brewery credentials.
The Colorado Convention Center is the perfect venue for this event. Walking in on the festival floor for the first time is like being a little kid walking into a candy store. Speaking of candy, beware of the Denver Gummy Bears.....unless you want a little Rocky Mountain High. It took us the first hour to get our bearings, the floor is a maze of craft brewery booths. The breweries are grouped together by geographic regions. With a little bit of geography and a map, it was easy to find the breweries you wanted to visit. The GABF is one of the few festivals that require a brewery Representative to pour their beer with the help of volunteers. You often have the opportunity to talk with the brewer or owner. Unlike most festivals that have volunteers pouring beer that know little or anything about the beer they are poring.
If you have been bitten by the Craft Beer Revolution bug, you need to put this festival on your bucket list. You will have the time of your craft beer life, with or without Brewery credentials.
The GABF offers close to 4,000 brews, represented by nearly 800 breweries. However, there is not a session on Friday afternoon. So what does one do with their free time? You visit some of the many breweries located in the Denver area. So in the spirit of true beer adventurers, we ubered to the following Denver Breweries:
Crooked Stave Brewery: if you enjoy sour beer this is a must visit for you when in Denver. Located in the "Source", an Artisan food market within an 1880 vintage foundry building. The tasting room is small, the bar area is not very large and there are a few tables. Arriving minutes after they opened, the line was long, however, the wait was worth it. There were so many choices and I sampled so many, just check the beer log to see what I tasted. The 12 beers that I sampled were all good, I wish I could have sampled the remaining 12. The source also has a few nice restaurants within the building, so food is not far away from the tasting room.
Great Divide Brewing Barrel House: Almost directly across the street from the Source, you will find Great Divide Brewery's warehouse, canning & kegging line and barrel aging room. We were informed that this is where Great Divide will house their sour program. They also have a small tasting room in front of the facility. The bar area is small, however, they do have a nice patio area. They offered a great selection of their brews. Since Yeti is one of my favorite Great Divide brews, I sampled 3 variants of Yeti and their Mosaic IPA.
Mockery Brewery: wait, hold off ordering the Uber, across the parking lot from Great Divide you will find Mockery Brewery. The tasting room is located in front of the Brew House. The inside area is not that large, however, there is a very nice sized outdoor area. Mockery had 12 of their brews on tap to build your flight. I sampled 8 of their brews with Party at the Moon Tower and Oaked Southern Hemisphere Black Pale Ale, making it to the top of my list.
Unfortunately we ran out of time and the Friday Session of the GABF is caaling us back from our brewery tour. We still have 3,00 beers remaining to be sampled at the convention center.