Several breweries from Big Sky Country brought home top-three medals from the nation’s largest beer festival and competition.
At the 2014 Great American Beer Festival, the Wheatfish Wheat Lager from Great Northern Brewing Co. in Whitefish grabbed third-place honors in the American-Style Wheat Beer with Yeast category. The Whitetail Wheat from Montana Brewing Co. in Billings earned first place among 44 entries.
Draught Works in Missoula earned the top “very small” brewing company and brewer of the year. The Scepter Head at Draught Works won first place in the American-Style Strong Pale Ale category. There were 134 entries.
The Tumbleweed IPA at Lewis and Clark Brewing Co. in Helena won top prize in the 50 English-Style India Pale Ale category. The brewery’s Back Country Scottish Ale earned silver in the Scottish-Ale category.
The Black Hops Tactical IPA, at Uberbrew in Billings, earned silver in the American-Style Black Ale category.
The 2014 Great American Beer Festival saw its largest panel of judges, with 222 beer experts from 10 countries evaluating 5,507 commercial entries. Award-winning brewers received prestigious gold, silver and bronze medals in 90 beer categories covering 145 different beer styles.
Click here for more information and results from this year’s festival.