Best Gluten Free Beers

GABF: Gluten Free Beer Winners (2007-2019)

gluten free beer brands 2023

The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual 3-day festival held in Denver, Colorado. It’s hosted by the Brewers Association and brings in beer lovers from all over the globe to participate in its tastings and competitions.

Founded in 1982 by  Charlie Papazian, GABF started with only 22 participating breweries, but has since grown into the largest ticketed beer festival in the country. This year it saw 106 different competition categories (2019) in addition to the brewer/brewery awards, and the pro-am/collaboration competitions.

Photo © Brewers Association

Judges come from all over the world to sample thousands of beers submitted by hundreds of breweries from all over the country. In the craft beer industry, the Great American Beer Festival is a BIG deal. Among those 106 different tasting categories is one very important one…the gluten-free beer category. Every year, gluten free (and non gluten free breweries) submit beers brewed with alternative grains to the gluten-free category in hopes of placing in the top 3.

The gluten free beer category seems to date back to 2007, so I’ve compiled a list of all the winners for each year since in a handy GABF Winners Guide below.

And a BIG congratulations to all of the breweries listed below!

Great American Beer Festival 2019 gluten free beer category
Photo © Brewers Association

Past Winners (2007-2019)

Gluten-Free Beer Category


2019

Category 22: Gluten-Free Beer – 59 Entries

???? Boombastic Hazy IPA, Holidaily Brewing Co., Golden, CO

???? Co-Conspirator Apricot Sour, Revelation Craft Brewing Co., Rehoboth Beach, DE

???? Grandpa’s Nap, Evasion Brewing – Production Facility, McMinnville, OR

2018 

Category 21: Gluten-Free Beer – 38 Entries

???? Puckerberry, High Hops Brewery, Windsor, CO

???? Aurochs Blonde Ale, Aurochs Brewing Co., Emsworth, PA

???? Dark Ale, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR

2017

Category 22: Gluten-Free Beer – 33 Entries

???? Dark Ale, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR

???? Meteor Shower Blonde Ale, Ghostfish Brewing Co., Seattle, WA

???? Co-Conspirator Apricot Sour, Revelation Craft Brewing Co., Rehoboth Beach, DE

Great American Beer Festival 2019 gluten free beer category judging tasting
Photo © Brewers Association

2016

Category 22: Gluten-Free Beer – 37 Entries

???? Dark Ale, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR

???? Copperhead, Greenview Brewing, Madison, WI

???? Grapefruit IPA, Ghostfish Brewing Company, Seattle, WA

2015

Category: 21 Gluten-Free Beer – 24 Entries

???? Watchstander Stout, Ghostfish Brewing Co., Seattle, WA

???? IPA No. 5, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR

???? Ghostfish Grapefruit IPA, Ghostfish Brewing Co., Seattle, WA

2014

Category: 20 Gluten-Free Beer – 20 Entries

???? Dark Ale, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR

???? Glutart, Bonfire Brewing, Eagle, CO

???? Liberation Gluten Free, Shine Brewing Co., Boulder, CO

Photo © Brewers Association gluten free beer category GABF
Photo © Brewers Association

2013

Category 17: Gluten-Free Beer, 14 Entries

???? Harvester Brewing IPA No. 1, Harvester Brewing, Portland, OR

???? Gluten Free, Deschutes Brewery Bend Public House, Bend, OR

???? Gluten-Free Brown Ale, New Planet Beer Co., Boulder, CO

2012

Category: 17 Gluten-Free Beer, 20 Entries

???? Nikki’s Gluten Free Honey Pale Ale, Rock Bottom Arlington, Arlington, VA

???? Brown, New Planet Beer Co., Boulder, CO

???? Pale Ale, Harvester Brewing, Portland, OR

2011

Category: 16 Gluten-Free Beer – 15 Entries

???? Gluten-Free Lemon Pale, Strange Brewing Co., Denver, CO

???? New Grist, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI

???? Seeley Axe White, Kettlehouse Brewing Co., Missoula, MT

gabf 2019 gluten free beer
Photo © Brewers Association

2010

Category: 14 Gluten Free Beer – 13 Entries

???? Celia Pale Ale, The Alchemist, Waterbury, VT

???? Gluten Free, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR

???? 3R Raspberry Ale, New Planet Beer Co., Boulder, CO

2009

Category: 14 Gluten Free Beer, 10 Entries

???? Celia Framboise, The Alchemist, Waterbury, VT

???? Redbridge, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Saint Louis, MO

???? Celia IPA, The Alchemist, Waterbury, VT

2008

Category: 13 Gluten-Free Beer – 10 Entries

???? Redbridge, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., St. Louis, MO

???? New Grist, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI

???? Chinquapin Butte Golden Ale, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR

2007

Category: 12 Gluten Free Beer – 8 Entries

???? RedBridge, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., St. Louis, MO

???? New Grist, Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee, WI

???? Shakparo Ale, Sprecher Brewing Co., Glendale, WI

P.S. Like what I do for the gluten free beer community? Consider buying me a beer for my efforts! ;)

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