Washington breweries took home 17 medals at the 2026 Great American Beer Festival® (GABF) awards ceremony held on October 11th in Denver, Colorado.
New this year, the competition added categories including rice lager, hop water, and a one-time craft malt category, along with two new specialty beer subcategories and three new standalone gluten-free style categories.
A total of 243 breweries and cideries took home 336 medals in this year’s Great American Beer Festival competition. Over 3 days, 225 expert judges evaluated 7,267 beer and cider entries—including 54 Collaboration and 30 Pro-Am submissions—from breweries across 49 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico…