Judges awarded Michigan breweries nine medals, including one gold, last weekend in Denver at the biggest annual festival for judging U.S.-made beers.
The Mitten Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids took gold at the 32nd annual competition at the Great American Beer Festival (all Michigan medalists listed below), with its West Coast Swing Amber in the American-style Amber/Red Ale category.
Two breweries — Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids and Wolverine State Brewing Co. in Ann Arbor — each received two medals for beers they entered.
The festival competition awarded a total of 306 medals to 280 breweries across the country. Entries were judged by 293 beer experts from 13 countries. And for each category, an average of 83 beers was entered, according to a news release for the festival.
Last year, most of the medalists were on the western side of the state, but this year, the medals were more evenly distributed between the Grand Rapids and Detroit areas.
Michigan medalists at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival
Gold:
West Coast Swing Amber (5.6 percent alcohol by volume) by The Mitten Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids; American-style Amber/Red Ale category
Silver:
NZ Pils (5.5 percent ABV) by Wolverine State Brewing Co. in Ann Arbor; American-style Pilsener category
Kung Fu Smurf (10 percent ABV) by Bastone Brewery in Royal Oak; Belgian-Style Dubbel or Quadrupel category
Breakfast Stout (8.3 percent ABV) by Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids; Coffee Stout or Porter category
Roundhouse (7.5 percent ABV) by Bell's Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo; Double Hoppy Red Ale category
My Brown Eyed Girl (4.5 percent ABV) by Thornapple Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids; English-Style Brown Ale category
Porter (6.5 percent ABV) by Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids; Robust Porter category
Bronze:
Cerveza Delray (4.2 percent ABV) by Brew Detroit in Detroit; International-Style Pilsener category
Raucher (5.5 percent ABV) by Wolverine State Brewing Co. in Ann Arbor; Smoke Beer category
Previous years' medalists in Michigan:
A full list of 2018 medalists across the country is available on the festival's website.
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