Great American Beer Festival – 37th annual

The Great American Beer Festival is hands-down one of the biggest and best beer festivals in the nation. It comes to downtown Denver annually just after the summer season ends, usually between mid September and early October.

Breweries compete head to head for awards and are judged by the festival’s Professional Judge Panel. The Convention Center hosts this remarkable event for three sud-soaked days, with an attendance around 50,000. Every year the Great American Beer Festival sells out fast and this year is no exception. It’s held by the Brewer’s Association in Denver.

Denver’s 2018 Great American Beer Fest

Beer enthusiasts hail from all over flock to the Mile High City to enjoy more than 2000 beers from over 400 different breweries. There are over eighty different types of beer styles to choose from, from lagers to ales and porters to pilsners.

This year’s brew festival is held from Thursday-Saturday, September 20th to 22nd, 2018.

At the festival

• Beer & Food Pavilion – Beer and food pairings by expert chefs and brewers.
• Brewers Studio Pavilion – Leaders in the brewing industry share stories and beers.
• You Be The Judge – 20 people sessions led by professional beer judges.
• Silent Disco – Grab a headset and dance at the back of the hall to a live DJ.
• Designated Driver Lounge – DD’s taste craft brewed sodas and receive other special gifts.
• Bookstore – Learn about beer, brewing, cooking with beer, etc.
• Merchandise – A 30 foot wall of t-shirts.

Tickets for GABF

While there are a large number of these prized processions sold, they sell quickly, generally within hours, making it one of Denver’s premier celebrations, and easily Colorado’s biggest homage to beer.

This year’s tickets went on sale for members on August 1st at 10am and non-members on August 2nd at 10am. On first day of sale members can buy two tickets each, and non-members can buy up to 4 tickets per session per ticket buyer. Tickets are sold via ticketmaster.com. Once tickets sellout, the black market comes alive, from Craiglist to Stubhub, and the street value goes up as eager beer fans compete for entry.

Details

Address: Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St, Denver

Date: Thur-Sat, September 20-22, 2018

Website: greatamericanbeerfestival.com