Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Awards
Brewers Association · Boulder, Colorado, USA
AG Process Grade
Grade A See the Award rubric →The GABF competition, run by the Brewers Association since 1982, is a source-blind, merit-based contest judged by hundreds of certified industry professionals (285 judges in the 2024 post-event report), with conflict rules preventing brewers from judging styles they entered. Published style definitions and medal criteria, a documented multi-round panel process, and independent volunteer judges support strong judging and merit signals. Selectivity is disclosed and high: the 2024 report documents 8,836 beers judged and 326 medals awarded (about 3.7% of entries), with a hard cap of up to three medals per category across 102 categories and gold medals withheld when no entry qualifies. Winners are published annually by the Brewers Association. Because the winner rate is both disclosed and highly selective, criterion 3.0 earns full credit and no selectivity cap applies. Fee-transparency items (full itemized cost schedule and the exact per-beer entry fee) and a per-competition named-judge roster could not be verified from primary sources during grading and are treated as undisclosed/removed (neutral) rather than as documented failures; total dashed points are 15%, below the insufficient-disclosure threshold. With no documented failures among assessable criteria, the award earns full assessable points. [Verify: 1.1a docked (judges not individually named) → 100→100, still A.]
Founded 1982 · Brewers Association · HQ Boulder, Colorado, USA · Food & Beverage · Entry undisclosed
The Great American Beer Festival is an annual U.S. beer competition and public festival founded in 1982 and organized by the Brewers Association, a trade group based in Boulder, Colorado. Professional, licensed breweries submit beers that are evaluated in source-blind tastings by panels of certified judges, with gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded on merit in more than 100 style categories.
Profile data
| Organizer | Brewers Association |
| Location | Boulder, Colorado, USA |
| Entry fee | Undisclosed |
| Cost to receive award | Undisclosed |
| Winner rate | 3.7% of entries medal), with an average of ~85 entries per category competing for up to 3 medals |
| Selection authority | Mixed |
| Data confidence | ● Fully documented |
| Official site | https://cdn.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/GABF24-Post-Event-Report.pdf(nofollow) |
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* undisclosed, not scored.
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Industry Alternatives
Other awards in the same industry (Food & Beverage), graded A or B -- real judging, disclosed criteria, and genuine selectivity.