GABF Honors for Central Coast Breweries

More than 5,500 beers were tasted by more than 220 beer experts in Denver last weekend during the Great American Beer Festival, and when the suds settled, three Central Coast breweries again took home impressive awards.

Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company (team pictured above; see figmtnbrew.com) snagged a gold for their Danish Red Lager in the Vienna Style Lager category and a silver for their Surfliner Lager in the Kellerbier category. “With over 5500 beers in the competition, we are so fortunate to come away with two medals,” said brewmaster AJ Stoll in a statement, “and we are proud to represent the Central Coast.”

Firestone-Walker Brewing (firestonebeer.com), which was founded in Buellton and is now based in Paso Robles, took home a gold for their Pivo Pils in the German Style Pilsener category, and Santa Barbara’s Telegraph Brewing Company (telegraphbrewing.com) also won a gold for their Reserve Wheat Ale in the German-Style Sour Ale category. Telegraph’s owner Brian Thompson called the result “outstanding,” explaining, “To win medals four years in a row at the GABF is just overwhelming. I want to congratulate our hard-working staff for all the effort they put in each and every day at the brewery.” One such staffer, brewer Paul Rey, said, “Sour beers are some of the most fun, but also some of the most stressful, styles to brew. This medal shows that Telegraph knows how to do them well.”

Good work brew crews!