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Texas wins 18 medals at Great American Beer Festival competition

Each year, thousands of beer drinkers decend upon Denver for the Great American Beer Festival, three days dedicated to sipping libations from breweries nationwide. But the excitement isn't just about the tasting. The Great American Beer Festival also hosts one of the industry's most prestigious competitions.

Judges tasted nearly 9,000 beers from upwards of 2,400 breweries in what the 36-year-old festival called its largest competition to date. Winners were announced Saturday and Texas made a commendable showing, bringing home 18 medals to the Lone Star State, six of them gold.

Texas' biggest winner was Austin Beer Garden and Brewing Co., which was honored as the large brewpub of the year for its third consecutive year. 

The ABGB, as it's known, took home two gold medals: one for Rocket 100 in the American-style pilsner category and another for Hell Yes in the Munich-style helles category.

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"ABGB sets the standard for lagers. We could not be happier for them," said Charles Vallhonrat, executive director of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild. "The whole state continues to demonstrate how strong the quality of craft beer is in Texas."

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The categories in which Lone Star breweries placed proved the German brewing tradition is alive and well in the state. Texas won for many of its lagers, and multiple breweries garnered awards in the Oktoberfest category. San Antonio also showed its native flavors with both Ranger Creek Brewery and Künstler Brewing winning medals in the chili beer category.

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Dallas-Fort Worth made a modest showing, with four medals going to local breweries.

Here's how Texas did in the 2018 Great American Beer Festival competition:

Gold medals

  • Rocket 100 by Austin Beer Garden and Brewing Co. (Austin) in "American-style pilsner" category
  • Hell Yes by Austin Beer Garden and Brewing Co. (Austin) in "Munich-style helles" category
  • Pecos Amber Lager by Texas Beer Co. (Taylor) in "American-style amber lager" category
  • Oktoberfest by Rahr and Sons Brewing Co. (Fort Worth) in "German-style maerzen" category
  • Green Battles IPA by Pinthouse Pizza North (Austin) in "American-style strong pale ale" category
  • Real Heavy by Real Ale Brewing Co. (Blanco) in "Scotch ale" category
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Silver medals

  • Chamuco by Künstler Brewing (San Antonio) in "chili beer" category
  • Hazelnut Crunch by North By Northwest Restaurant and Brewery - Slaughter (Austin) in "herb and spice beer" category
  • Saint Arnold Oktoberfest by Saint Arnold Brewing Co. (Houston) in "Scottish-style ale" category
  • Hoofer's Hef by Bankhead Brewing Co. (Rowlett) in "south German-style hefeweizen" category

Bronze medals

  • San Antonio Hatch Lager by Ranger Creek Brewery (San Antonio) in "chili beer" category
  • Super Awesome Lager by Austin Beerworks (Austin) in "light lager" category
  • Oktoberfest by Oak Highlands Brewery (Dallas) in "German-style maerzen" category
  • Flavor Country by Austin Beerworks (Austin) in "Australian-style pale ale" category
  • Saint Arnold Amber Ale by Saint Arnold Brewing Co. (Houston) in "ordinary or special bitter" category
  • Doppel Blur by Circle Brewing Co. (Austin) in "German-style wheat ale" category
  • Sol Hominis (The Sun of Man) by Save the World Brewing Co. (Marble Falls) in "Belgian-style strong specialty ale" category
  • Kilt Switch by 903 Brewers (Sherman) in "Scotch ale" category

In 2017, Texas won 21 medals from the Great American Beer Festival compeition.

See the full list of 2018 winners -- a.k.a. beers you should try -- here.