The
Healdsburg Tribune News
By Matthew Hall, Staff Writer
Bear Republic named best small brewery
Norgrove
named brewer of the year at national beer festival
Healdsburg
has one of the best breweries in the country and brews some of America's
best pale ale as judged by the Great American Beer Festival.
Bear
Republic Brewing Company returned from this year's competition with
four medals and the coveted Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing
Company Brewer of the Year award.
Brewmaster
Richard G. Norgrove said winning at the GABF was huge for an American
brewer. “It's our Super Bowl. It's our Daytona 500, it's the one
where you get out and are basically competing against every brewery
in the U.S.”
The Brewer of the Year award is based on a numerical value calculated
by the number of medals won. Bear Republic won a total of four medals,
two silver and two bronze in some of the GABF's most competitive categories.
Bear
Republic's XP Pale Ale won bronze for American Style Pale Ale (83 entries),
Racer 5 won silver for American Style Strong Pale Ale (66 entries),
Apex Ale won silver for American Style India Pale Ale (94 entries),
and Peter Brown Tribute Ale won bronze for Brown Porter (29 entries).
The GABF said the average number of entries per category was 35.
Norgrove
said some brewers “medal hunt” by looking for categories
with fewer competitors and that winning in the Pale Ale categories was
especially gratifying as they were the most competitive in the festival.
“The awards we won say we're making the best pale ale in the U.S.
and we can lay claim to that because we have the medals to prove that,”
he said.
Bear Republic has won six medals in past GABF competitions including
a silver for Racer 5 IPA last year. “Healdsburg can claim the
fame to having the best Microbrewery in the U.S. It's not just about
wine,” he said.
Norgrove
said that while many locals know the company through the restaurant,
more people know the Bear Republic brand through retail outlets. The
company currently ships products to 22 states.
Norgrove
said the company ships about 9,500 barrels a year with another thousand
being sold across the bar. Those figures allowed Bear Republic to compete
in the small brewery classification, open to companies who produce less
than 15,000 barrels a year.
The
GABF awards medals in 69 categories and Norgrove said the Bear's wins
were particularly fun as three of the four came in consecutive categories.
Norgrove and two brewers, Raymond Lindecker and Jode Yaksic walked circles
onto and off of the stage to collect the first three medals. He said,
“the cool part is this is the third award that Racer has won and
these are the same ones we sell every day, you can go buy them at Safeway.”
Norgrove
said the win for Racer was a vindication of the company's recent move
to Cloverdale as the beer was the seventh to be brewed at their new
production facility. “It kinda tells us we're on the right track
and that we can brew award winning beers in Cloverdale and Healdsburg."
The
GABF is one of the largest beer festivals in the world. One hundred
three judges from nine countries evaluated 2,410 beers from 450 breweries
over the course of the competition. Participating breweries are able
to enter up to eight beers into any of the 69 categories.
“We've
got America's best brewery in Healdsburg and it's really cool,”
Norgrove said.
