World's Largest Beer Competition, Great American Beer Festival, Restyles for 2020

This year's festival to feature online programming in addition to in-person beer events in all 50 states with new Festival Passport

News provided by

VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau

Sep 16, 2020, 14:57 ET

DENVER, Sept. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Great American Beer Festival® (GABF), the country's preeminent beer festival and world's largest beer competition, was scheduled to take place in Denver, CO this fall, as it has done for the past 37 years. Given current travel and gathering restrictions nationwide, this year's 39^th Annual GABF will instead include a two-day online experience on October 16-17, in addition to exclusive on-site deals at more than 1,000 breweries from all 50 states from October 1-18 – because it is not a beer festival without actual beer. Access to both the virtual and in-person GABF events is included with the brand-new GABF Festival Passport. And, although the festival will not be in-person this year, Colorado is still showcasing its beer capital status with the highest number of participating breweries – 146 statewide; and Denver will still celebrate with its annual Denver Beer Week and the latest edition of the Denver Beer Trail.

The 39th Annual Great American Beer Festival - the world's largest beer competition - will be a hybrid virtual and in-person event this year. The 2020 event will include a two-day online experience (October 16-17) in addition to exclusive on-site deals at more than 1,000 breweries from all 50 states with the brand-new GABF Festival Experience Passport (October 1-18). Denver, CO - the annual event host - will still celebrate with Denver Beer Week and the latest edition of the Denver Beer Trail.

The virtual GABF sessions will cover a variety of topics including tips and tricks to enhance beer knowledge and enjoyment; stories from craft beer luminaries; profiles of breweries and individuals that are transforming their communities; and beer and food pairing demonstrations. They will kick off on Friday, October 16 with the annual GABF awards ceremony, giving national and international recognition to beers submitted by breweries from around the country to the renowned professional beer competition. The ceremony will be hosted on The Brewing Network and open to the public.

Additional speakers during the virtual festival will include Ken Grossman (Sierra Nevada Brewing), Natalie and Vinnie Cilurzo (Russian River Brewing Company), Garrett Oliver (Brooklyn Brewery), Gina Marsaglia (Pizza Port) and Tomme Arthur (The Lost Abby), Matt Meadows (New Belgium Brewing Company), Chef Danny Lee (Mandu and CHIKO), Marcus Baskerville (Weathered Souls Brewing Company), Jose D. Beteta, Tamil Maldonado Vega, and Martín D. Vargas (Raíces Brewing Co); among others.

In-person at participating breweries – including the nearly 150 breweries in Colorado alone – GABF Festival Passport holders can sip on some of the award-winning beers while also enjoying exclusive access to deals, including free taster flights, discounted growlers, limited edition merchandise and more.

Denver will still also join in on the festivities with its annual Denver Beer Week. The Mile High City's largest annual celebration of all things beer returns in 2020 for its twelfth year with dozens of beer-centric events happening around the city. Still taking place in the nine days leading up to and including Great American Beer Festival (October 9-17), breweries, taphouses and various venues will feature tap takeovers, rare beer tappings, firkin nights, beer and food pairings and more. VISIT DENVER will also launch the 2020-21 edition of the Denver Beer Trail, an online guide to some of Denver's top breweries.

GABF Festival Passports are available for purchase here, along with a full list of deals; and a full schedule of virtual programming can be found on the GABF website.

About the Brewers Association

The Brewers Association (BA) is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The BA represents 5,000-plus U.S. breweries. The BA's independent craft brewer seal is a widely adopted symbol that differentiates beers by small and independent craft brewers. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup^®, Great American Beer Festival^®, Craft Brewers Conference^® & BrewExpo America^®, SAVOR^™: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, Homebrew Con^TM, National Homebrew Competition and American Craft Beer Week^®. The BA publishes The New Brewer^® magazine, and Brewers Publications^® is the leading publisher of brewing literature in the U.S. Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com^® and about homebrewing via the BA's American Homebrewers Association^® and the free Brew Guru^® mobile app. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau

Celebrating 111 years of promoting The Mile High City, VISIT DENVER is a nonprofit trade association that contracts with the City of Denver to market Denver as a convention and leisure destination, increasing economic development in the city, creating jobs and generating taxes. A total of 17.7 million visitors stayed overnight in Denver in 2019, generating $6 billion in spending, while supporting more than 60,000 jobs, making Tourism one of the largest industries in Denver. Learn more about Denver on the VISITDENVER website and at TOURISMPAYSDENVER or by phone at 800 2 Denver. Denver International Airport (DEN; flydenver.com) connects The Mile High City to more than 200 destinations worldwide. Follow Denver's social media channels for up-to-the-minute updates at: Facebook.com/visitdenver; Twitter.com/visitdenver; Instagram.com/visitdenver; and YouTube.com/visitdenver.