Earlier this month, the 40th annual Great American Beer Festival took place in Denver, Colorado. The largest ticketed beer fest in the United States, the GABF featured 500 breweries pouring over 2,000 beers. It’s also a beer competition, and this year, 9,904 beers from 2,154 breweries were judged in 98 categories.

Each category awards gold, silver, and bronze medals, and the winning beers are regarded as the best examples of those styles in the country. Understandably, there’s always excitement and prestige for a brewery to earn a medal at this scale of competition.

This year, Oregon breweries won a total of 18 medals, with five of those belonging to Central Oregon brewers.

GoodLife Brewing Co., Sweet As! Pacific Ale

GoodLife won the silver medal for the style of American Wheat Beer, a category with 64 total entries. It has in fact won medals at the GABF before, earning gold in both 2017 and 2018 for Sweet As!

Sweet As! is the company’s flagship beer, and it’s an original, having been available since the brewery opened in 2011. Brewed with white wheat and New Zealand and Australian hops, it’s a crisp and drinkable 6% alcohol by volume.

Sunriver Brewing Co., Rippin NW Pale Ale

Sunriver is no stranger to GABF medals either, having earned five in three consecutive years from 2016 to 2018, starting with a silver for Rippin in 2016. This year, Rippin won gold in the American-style Pale Ale category, which had a total of 160 entries.

With 6% ABV and 50 IBUs, Rippin straddles the line between pale ale and IPA. It’s brightly hoppy with citrus and tropical fruit character, and like Sweet As!, is available year-round from Sunriver.

Deschutes Brewery Bend Pub, Otter Encounter Summer Ale

Overall, Deschutes won three medals at this year’s competition: two for beers brewed at the Portland location and the other, Otter Encounter, brewed here in Bend at the downtown pub. Otter Encounter earned a bronze medal in the English Ale category (with a total of 47 entries).

It’s a traditional English summer ale with English malt with a balancing medley of hops for an easy-drinking, sessionable pint. The summer seasonal was first brewed last year by pub brewer Robin Johnson. It’s not currently available, but Johnson guesses he will brew it again in February or March.

10 Barrel Brewing Co., Riviera and Gindulgence

10 Barrel earned two medals this year, both in sour beer categories, in which the company often has a strong showing.

Riviera is a gose, a German sour wheat ale typically brewed with salt and coriander. The brewery took a traditional approach, with Ukrainian coriander providing a light herbal-citrus aroma; it has 5.3% ABV and 5 IBUs. It picked up the bronze medal in the German Sour Ale category, which had a total of 33 entries.

Gindulgence won the gold medal in the Specialty Berliner-Style Weisse category, which had 68 entries in all. As the name suggests, it’s a gin-influenced sour, brewed with Oregon peaches and German chamomile before blending with Ransom Gin botanicals. It has 5.5% ABV and 5 IBUs.

Riviera is currently available on tap, while Gindulgence is available in cans as part of the brewery’s Tiny Haus series.

If you’re curious about trying some of the best beers in the country brewed locally, most of these are available right now. And if you’re interested in seeing the full list of winners, visit greatamericanbeerfestival.com.

Top 5 beers of the week

Koosah Fresh Hop IPA — Cascade Lakes Brewing 

Black Widow Porter — McMenamins Old St. Francis School 

Festbier — Von Ebert Brewing 

Cone Drips Azacca 2022 Fresh Hop — Boss Rambler Beer Club 

Pumpkin Patch Ale — Rogue Ales