DURANGO, CO — Ska Brewing has been awarded five medals out of six entries at the recent Colorado State Fair Craft Beer Competition, and now believes it to be one of North America’s most important beer competitions.
Ska won a Gold medal for its Pinstripe Red Ale, three Silver medals for Steel Toe Stout, Buster Nut Brown and Special ESB, and a Bronze in the German and Rye category for its GABF Pro-Am winning recipe “On The Sly Again,” which will be released later this fall as #21 in the brewery’s (locally) popular Local Series.
“This is obviously an important competition,” said Ska President and co-founder Dave Thibodeau. “Having won five medals this year, it’s clear to us that this is an event with expert judges who are beyond qualified to determine who makes the best beer.”
Pressed further, Thibodeau acknowledged, “When we win a lot of medals, we feel like beer competitions are not only legitimate, but critical to the industry. I’m actually not sure if the industry could function without them.” He added, “Of course, that could change next year.”
The Colorado State Fair has occupied its current site in Pueblo since 1901, and has grown to be Colorado’s largest summer event. The Craft Beer competition, (formerly the Commercial Microbrew Competition), is an international event open to all licensed breweries—in contrast to the Green Chili Competition, which is open to amateur chefs only. That means if you’re going to enter the Green Chili Competition, you’ll have to quit your restaurant job first—a strategy Thibodeau says he may consider applying to the Fair’s Homebrew Competition next year.
“It’s amateurs only,” said Thibodeau, “but we still think the Homebrew Competition could be the key to winning more medals next year. You have to be willing to do what it takes to be the best.”
About Ska Brewing
Based in Durango, Colorado, Ska Brewing was founded in 1995 and now produces over a dozen medal-winning beers including the Pinstripe Red Ale, True Blonde Ale and Steel Toe Stout. Four Ska beers are now widely available in cans: ESB Special Ale, True Blonde, Modus Hoperandi IPA and the winter seasonal Euphoria Pale Ale. For information, music and a good time, visit www.skabrewing.com. Chat us up and get the latest news at facebook.com/skabrew and twitter.com/skabrewing.
