Ohio Beer Sparkles Again at National Competition

Ohio craft breweries put forth yet another strong showing at the 2020 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) awards ceremony, held on Friday, October 16. After bringing home a total of 15 medals last year, the Ohio delegation scored nine awards at the nation’s most prestigious brewing competition.

Wolf’s Ridge Brewing in Columbus led the field of Ohio entrants with two medals at the 2020 competition. Daybreak won the gold medal in the Coffee Beer category, marking the second award for the beer after taking silver in 2019. Wolf’s Ridge also took the bronze in the Smoke Beer category with their Buchenrauch smoked lager.

Fat Head’s Brewery scored a gold medal for Goggle Fogger in the German-style Wheat Ale category. Fat Head’s has now won awards in 12 straight GABF competitions, earning a total of 26 medals.

Moozie from Cincinnati’s Brink Brewing won gold for the third consecutive year in the Sweet Stout or Cream Stout category. Brink has won at least one GABF medal in each year since its founding in 2017.

Masthead Brewing from Cleveland won gold for Augenblick in the Munich-style Helles category. This is Masthead’s second GABF gold medal and third medal overall.

Cleveland’s Noble Beast Brewing’s Murder Ballads won its second consecutive GABF medal, a silver in the International Dark Lager category. Murder Ballads took bronze in the Baltic-style Porter category in 2019, which was not included in the competition this year.

Fretboard Brewing from Blue Ash and Little Fish Brewing from Athens each won their first GABF medals in 2020. Little Fish earned a silver for Cleft in the Fruited Wood- and Barrel-Aged Sour Beer category, while Fretboard won silver for Crazy Train in the Belgian-Style Ale or French-Style Ale category. Both breweries have previously won awards at the Brewers Association’s World Beer Cup competition, which was canceled in 2020.

Centerville’s Lock 27 Brewing scored their first GABF medal win, a bronze for Wolk in the Belgian-style Witbier.

Since 1987, 50 Ohio craft breweries have combined to win 162 medals – 54 gold – at the Great American Beer Festival.

“In a year that has been defined by struggles, it’s very satisfying to see our Ohio breweries celebrating a victory today,” said Mary MacDonald, executive director of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association. “As much uncertainty and turbulence as our industry has seen, the constant that has remained is that Ohio breweries are still making world-class beer despite all of 2020’s challenges.”