I well remember the first Great American Beer Festival. It took place at the Hilton Harvest House in Boulder, CO. The time: 4:30 to 9:30 pm, on Friday, June 4, 1982. (I still have the T-shirt, although it no longer fits.) There were 20 breweries in attendance and between them they served 34 different beers, but there was no competition for awards of any kind. The beer list was short by today’s standards, but a revolutionary step forward for that bygone era.
Surfing Through 24 GABFs
The beers: Anchor Steam and Porter (CA); August Schell’s Deer, Export and Ulmer Lagers (MN); Blitz-Weinhard Henry’s; Boulder Extra Pale, Porter and Stout (CO); Coors Killian’s Irish Red (CO); Falstaff Ballantine India Pale Ale and Porter (IN); F.X. Matt’s Premium and Maximus Super (NY); Fred Koch Black Horse Ale and Beer (NY); Geyer’s Frankenmuth Bavarian Light and Dark (MI); Heilman’s Special Export (WI); Huber Augsburger Light and Dark (WI); Hudepohl Christian Moerlein (OH); Latrobe Rolling Rock (PA); Leinenkugel Beer (WI); Rainier Ale (WA); River City Dark and Gold (CA); Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Stout and Porter (CA); Stevens Point Special Beer (WI); Yuengling Premium, Porter and Lord Chesterfield Ale (PA). (By the way, on this list, the word “light” in the name indicates pale beer only.)
At that time, there were 78 brewing plants owned by the 40 U.S. brewing companies. Of those, 15 were considered “small,” producing fewer than 100,000 barrels annually. Five of these outfits were what we would call “craft” or “micro,” four of which were entered into competition. That year I was able to sample all of the brews that I had not previously evaluated in my travels. My favorite was then-microbrewed Sierra Nevada Porter. The next year (’83), 24 breweries―four of them micros―were present with 44 beers and an expanded program (Saturday afternoon and evening). At that time, predictions in the brewing industry held that by 1990, only 10 actual brewing companies would remain in business.
By 1985, the fourth GABF was in its second year in Denver. Forty-seven brewers offered 86 of their best beers in the Grand Ballroom of Denver’s Regency Hotel. Attendees voted Bert Grant’s Yakima-brewed Russian Imperial Stout as the best beer. In those two days, I actually sampled all 53 (!) of the beers I had never tried, although many of my tasting notes were garbled. (Hey―I was working! OK?) I rated Sierra Nevada Big Foot Barleywine tops at that time, although the crowd voted Sam Adams Boston Lager as its favorite.
