The 2010 Great American Beer Festival just wrapped up its annual three day beer tasting and competition in Denver, Colorado. Every year since 1982, the Brewer’s Association has hosted the festival in which more than 2,000 different beers are showcased for tasting from more than 450 of America’s greatest breweries. The beer convention is one of the largest beer festivals in America, with almost 50,000 people in attendance over three days. If you want to attend, you’d better get tickets early, as this year’s festival sold out five weeks before the event. 

The festival’s beer tasting competition is a blind taste testing conducted by professional judges. They then assign a medal to the three beers that best represent the category in which the beer was entered. There are 79 different categories or styles of beer with hundreds of participants. 

After putting their most prized beverages up against the best in the country, Pennsylvania breweries brought home medals in nine different categories. Hats off to the local participating breweries for representing us and showing the rest of the country what we’re all about.

Here are our winners:

Field beer: Bronze: Imperial Pumpkin Ale, Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton PA

Wood and Barrel aged sour beer: Bronze: The Jaspers, Bullfrong Brewery, Williamsport, PA

European-style Dunkel: Silver: Dunkel Lager, Triumph Brewing Co., Philadelphia PA

American-style amber/red ale: Silver: Hop Back Amber Ale, Toegs Brewery, Harrisburg PA

Kellerbier/Zwickelbier: Silver: Kellerbier, Triumph Brewing Co. Philadelphia PA

Bock: Silver: Troegenator, Troegs Brewery, Harrisburg PA

South German-style Hefeweizen: Gold: Stoudts Heifer in Wheat, Stoudts Brewing Co., Adamstown PA

French and Belgian-style saison: Gold: Saison Vautour, McKenzie Brew House, Malvern, PA

Barley wine-style ale: Gold: Flying Mouflan, Troegs Brewery, Harrisburg, PA

Congratulations to all the local winners and participants in the 2010 Great American Beer Festival!