Listening to members and assessing their level of comfort in gathering, as well as working closely with state and local authorities helped the Brewers Association host its largest judged competition to date, with a few modifications.
The famous maxim “the show must go on” applied to the 2021 Great American Beer Festival (GABF), which went on, even without a festival portion. During the 35th edition of the world’s largest commercial beer competition on September 10, the Brewers Association (BA) awarded 290 medals to 265 breweries across the country. The best beers in 97 beer categories—covering 175 different beer styles—received gold, silver, and bronze medals.
“Despite being forced to cancel the festival portion of GABF, our brewing community rallied together to make this year’s GABF competition one for the books—our largest competition judged to date,” said Chris Swersey, GABF’s competition director, in a press release.
“We listened to our membership and knew there was strong desire to convene the brewing community after more than 18 months,” said Ann Obenchain, BA’s marketing and communications director.
(Handout photo)
Judging took place in 34 sessions over 17 days with strict health and safety measures in place. A total of 170 judges evaluated 9,680 entries from 2,192 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. The awards ceremony was held in Denver during the Craft Brewers Conference and was livestreamed on The Brewing Network.
BA worked closely with the state of Colorado, the city of Denver, the convention center, and its security team and exhibit vendor to monitor the latest CDC recommendations, local guidelines, and best practices from other large events around the country. This comprehensive planning helped BA carefully manage the event’s onsite operation.
BA eliminated “high touch,” or perceived high-risk activities, and moved the event’s welcome reception outdoors with limited attendance. The group also planned the event for 7,000—half its normal capacity of 12,000 to 15,000 attendees—to better facilitate social distancing.
While the group did not require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to attend the conference, it did encourage all attendees to be fully vaccinated to protect themselves and others. BA also requested that attendees wear facemasks, regardless of vaccination status.
“Judges continue to be impressed with the quality and innovation of all entries they evaluated,” Swersey said. “The Brewers Association is proud to honor this year’s deserving winners. We look forward to celebrating in person together next year.”
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