Denver's Great American Beer Fest gets underway Thursday. It can be a make or break moment for brewers - if their beer receives an award. When brewer registration slots sold out in less than two hours, many were left on waiting lists for the 鈥楽uper Bowl鈥� of beer festivals.
Chad Yakobson, owner of has his hands full. Not only is it GABF week, he鈥檚 also overseeing the final touches to his new tap room inside a repurposed 19th century factory known as 鈥�.鈥�
鈥淸It鈥檚 an] 1880s brick foundry building, everyone hand-picked artisans,鈥� Yakobson said. 鈥淲e fit in as a community brewer in a way. There was always a brewery in all the communities 鈥� in fact in everyone鈥檚 house if you go back a couple hundred years.鈥�
The new tap room will play host to a festival of its own Friday night when 30 breweries, some in competition at GABF and some not, will tap special brews highlighting the unique flavors of barrel aged beer. Yakobson鈥檚 wood and barrel aged sour beer took a 2012 GABF silver medal, and this year he was hoping to win more.
It hasn鈥檛 worked out that way though.
鈥淚t was great last year, Paul Gatza of the Brewers Association used Crooked Stave amongst other breweries as examples of up and coming breweries to watch and to continue to watch at GABF,鈥� Yakobson said.
Waiting until later on registration day, Yakobson found himself on a waiting list and unable to enter the competition.
鈥淪o at first when we didn鈥檛 get in I was bummed because here we were last year an up-and-coming brewery for years to come and now this year we can鈥檛 participate,鈥� Yakobson laments.
Barbara Fusco, sales and marketing director for the Brewers Association says she wishes every brewer who wants to participate in the yearly festival could. The Brewers Association is the host of the Great American Beer Fest; their coveted competition medals are the reasons so many want to participate.
鈥淭he GABF is the pinnacle event for craft brewing and so many breweries do want to participate,鈥� Fusco said.
For Jeff Crabtree, owner of Greeley鈥檚 , it took a while to convince him the time and energy he had to expend preparing for the fest was actually worth it.
鈥淔or years, I believed we didn鈥檛 really need to go, so we didn鈥檛,鈥� Crabtree said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 expensive and we have to pay a lot of money to go. And as a small brewery we weren鈥檛 as capitally funded as most鈥� it was hard to make that decision.鈥�
Then he started winning medals.
鈥淎nd I felt good about that,鈥� Crabtree said. 鈥淎nd then, the national recognition came into play.鈥�
鈥淪o, I now have an approach that 'yeah, it鈥檚 a festival.' But it鈥檚 the NBA -the Super Bowl of festivals,鈥� continues Crabtree. 鈥淵ou can win a bunch of tiny little festivals but until you can actually go to competition in the large festival 鈥揳nd win? It鈥檚 worth it. And I believe strongly behind it.鈥�
Since the Great American Beer Festival is now considered the big game, Crabtree was ready days before game day. He was prepared before registration opened, beat the rush and secured a place for his 11 beers in the competition
He says it simply makes good business sense spending well over a thousand dollars in fees to showcase his beers and grow his brand recognition. It's an even better pay off if his beers win.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really going for that national recognition,鈥� Crabtree said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot easier to go to a distributor and say, 'would you like to carry this beer, oh鈥� by the way it鈥檚 a national or international award winning beer.' It really breaks down that barrier to sale.鈥�
Crooked Stave鈥檚 Chad Yakobson agrees.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great exposure to be able to say, hey of this style that we鈥檙e making - that we think we鈥檙e doing really well - look we have some recognition from others," Yakobson said.
With so many brewers wanting a piece of the action organizers are having to make, like limiting the number of beers a brewery can enter for competition.
鈥淭he Brewers Association is making some significant changes the format to entry, registration and the parameters of competition for 2014, so we are looking to accommodate hopefully all of the brewers that wish to participate in the competition next year,鈥� Barbara Fusco said.
All of the more than on the 2013 GABF waiting list were offered a chance to participate in the festival in some capacity. Yakobson says his brewery was able to secure slots for a couple of his beers and also received permission to pour during the public tasting sessions.
鈥淢y employees, we all love GABF,鈥� Yakobson said. 鈥淲e love to be able to go, we love being able to pour, we love [it] . It鈥檚 a very spirited event. When you have that many people in the room with that much energy going on, it鈥檚 great to be a part of.鈥�
It鈥檚 estimated that 48,000 gallons of beer will be served during the three day event. And that鈥檚 not the only record for 2013. All 49,000 tickets to the Great American Beer Festival 鈥� that go for $80 apiece 鈥� sold out in in July.
And there鈥檚 no sign it will stop growing in the future.
