Wisconsin GABF

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by robear, Oct 4, 2014.

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  1. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    A remarkably good beer year in Wisconsin leads to a let-down at GABF-

    7 medals
    2 gold-
    Miller Lite, American Style Light Lager
    Capital Oktoberfest, German-style Marzen

    1 silver-
    Mobcraft Batshit Crazy, Coffee Beer

    4 bronze-
    Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale, Pumpkin Beer
    Titletown Stammtisch Lager, Munich-style Helles
    Leinie's Canoe Paddler, German-style Kolsch
    Stillmank Wisco Disco, Ordinary or Special Bitter

    I loved drinking my way through Wisconsin beers this past year and while I think it's a shame the likes of 16 and Wild Peach didn't medal, the parity among America's top craft breweries is historic right now.
     
    #1 robear, Oct 4, 2014
  2. Cubatobaco

    Cubatobaco Pooh-Bah (2,057) Jan 27, 2013 Virginia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Wow! I feel the same way about VA. Complete crap!
     
    #2 Cubatobaco, Oct 5, 2014
  3. Yohann

    Yohann Zealot (744) Apr 29, 2014 Wisconsin
    Trader

    The fact that Colorado breweries won more medals than Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Vermont, and Florida breweries combined gives some indication of how objectively GABF medals are awarded.
     
    #3 Yohann, Oct 5, 2014
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  4. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,635) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah

    The beers are judged blind. A brewery has to enter to win.

    It might be good to see how many breweries per state entered. One could guess that CO breweries have good representation due to proximity translating to lower costs in shipping, transportation, etc. There are some I know here that don't enter due to costs.

    Then there is CA which won more that Colorado, Iowa, Vermont, and Florida combined.
     
    #4 hopfenunmaltz, Oct 5, 2014
  5. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    It's a crapshoot- the judges honestly don't know where the beer is from while judging. BUT there are many more breweries from CO and the West Coast (and now Texas, apparently) who can afford to fly a crew to Colorado for a weekend of beer debauchery. The whole thing has become blown a little out of proportion. And damn does it (and WBC) artificially inflate demand for a year.
     
    #5 robear, Oct 5, 2014
  6. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    CA, CO, OR used to absolutely dominate GABF. It's nice to see so much parity now. Even if I feel like some of my favorite beers are better than those which won medals. (Congrats to Beachwood, by the way. That, along with The Pupil taking a bronze and Bat-shit Crazy giving Mob Craft a silver were my favorite wins of the day.)
     
    #6 robear, Oct 5, 2014
  7. Yohann

    Yohann Zealot (744) Apr 29, 2014 Wisconsin
    Trader

    I'm not saying the actual beer judging is biased toward any region, but rather that the medals awarded don't accurately reflect the current state of beer across the country. Whether it's because of travel costs, or the entry process, or what I don't know, but the results are definitely geographically warped.
     
    #7 Yohann, Oct 5, 2014
  8. Ri0

    Ri0 Initiate (0) Jul 1, 2012 Wisconsin

    Did TG even win a medal?
     
    #8 Ri0, Oct 5, 2014
  9. Ri0

    Ri0 Initiate (0) Jul 1, 2012 Wisconsin

    Oh and all I have to say is that medals don't affect the taste of the beer. :wink: Keep doing what you are doing WI breweries. The last three years have been amazing!
     
    #9 Ri0, Oct 5, 2014
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  10. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    No TG medal. I believe Assassin was poured for the judges, as was Dorothy's, pseudo, Golden Nugget, and Smoove. For what it's worth, Three Floyds poured Permanent Funeral and Zombie Dust and did not medal.

    I was really pulling for Scream to sneak into the IIPA medals.
     
    #10 robear, Oct 6, 2014
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  11. bucks2307

    bucks2307 Initiate (0) Dec 11, 2012 Wisconsin

    Funny, I would almost argue that most of the beers that medaled are unremarkable. Also, tried the gold medal IIPA and it was damn good, but I thought Scream blew it out of the water. Maybe I'm biased, though.
     
    #11 bucks2307, Oct 6, 2014
  12. AstraXtreme

    AstraXtreme Zealot (539) Mar 21, 2014 Wisconsin

    What I get from this is that it must be incredibly difficult to judge what the "best" of a style is.

    I've had quite a few of the gold medal winners and many of them were sub-par, in my opinion (Public Ale ESB, Golden Monkey Tripel, Breakside IPA, among others). Batshit Crazy as the 2nd best coffee beer is also really stretching it. It's good, but far from remarkable.

    If anything, this will jump-start a lot of these breweries that nobody has heard of, which definitely isn't a bad thing.
     
    #12 AstraXtreme, Oct 6, 2014
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  13. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    The idea is that the judges are scoring based on how well the beer suits it's style, although when you've tasted 20+ IIPA's, I think the final round really just boils down to which beer you think tastes better.

    Just like any of us have on or off days with our palates, so do the judges. And you can never discount the fact that while Scream was undoutedly at least a month old, the batch of Pliny the tried was probably kegged just a few days before GABF. I do think Capital's Oktoberfest is really great this year, even better than Staghorn (which is my usual favorite).

    I agree that GABF and WBC are great for jump starting breweries (or in Coronado's case, after WBC, vaulting them back into relevancy in the SD beer scene- it also didn't hurt their newly national distribution.)

    3,500+ beers. There are probably 10+ in each category that are world class.
     
    #13 robear, Oct 7, 2014
  14. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    If Scream was poured, it should have gotten GOLD. Best DIPA to come out of WI. No other DIPA brewed in WI even comes close to scream honestly. I would put scream on the same level of the likes of Heady and its definitely way better than Pliny.
     
    #14 4DAloveofSTOUT, Oct 8, 2014
  15. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    According to the GABF site, Scream was poured by NG. Not certain that it means it was scored or judged... breweries might have had limited entries.
     
    #15 robear, Oct 8, 2014
  16. fredmugs

    fredmugs Initiate (0) Aug 11, 2012 Indiana

    While I agree Scream is awesome Idiot Farm is about even IMO.
     
    #16 fredmugs, Oct 8, 2014
  17. robear

    robear Initiate (0) May 24, 2014 Wisconsin

    I think I was the only one who didn't fall in love with Idiot Farm. Scream on tap was juicier and more lively, I thought.
     
    #17 robear, Oct 8, 2014
  18. Hendrick24

    Hendrick24 Pooh-Bah (1,949) Sep 6, 2013 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    You're not the only one, I really enjoyed Idiot Farm but I feel Scream is on another level.
     
    #18 Hendrick24, Oct 8, 2014
  19. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,635) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah

    Bottles have to be submitted to the competition some time before the judging. Deadline for receiving the bottles in CO
    Was August 25-29.
    http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/brewers/confirmations-and-shipping/
     
    #19 hopfenunmaltz, Oct 8, 2014
  20. Ri0

    Ri0 Initiate (0) Jul 1, 2012 Wisconsin

    Scream is really good, but I still prefer Lake Louie Bunny Green Toe. To me it is a mega citrus/grapefruit bomb with the best malt backbone. I'd like to have it side by side with Surly Abrasive, because it reminds me of it.

    If Idiot Farm is ever bottled, that will also be one of my top WI IIPAs.
     
    #20 Ri0, Oct 8, 2014
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