Michigan’s Bill Wamby & Redwood Brewing Named Small Brewpub & Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year at Great American Beer Festival Competition

Five Michigan Mircrobrews Receive Individual Medals

(EAST LANSING, Mich) – It was a good year for Michigan craft brewers at the 27th Annual Great American Beer Festival Competition, held October 9-11, in Denver, CO. Bill Wamby and Redwood Brewing Company in Flint were named Small Brewpub Brewer of the Year and Small Brewpub of the Year, respectively. Redwood also snagged two of the five individual medals for Michigan craft beer, for its Munich Dark and Cream Stout.

The individual medal winners from Michigan include:

European-Style Dunkel (18 Entries)

• Gold Medal: Munich Dark, Redwood Brewing Company – Flint, Michigan


• Silver Medal: Bastone Munchner Dunkel – Bastone Brewing – Royal Oak, Michigan

German-Style Altbier (27 Entries)

• Gold Medal: The Detroit Dwarf, The Detroit Beer Company – Detroit, Michigan

French- and Belgian-Style Saison (37 Entries)

• Bronze Medal: Luciernaga, Jolly Pumpkin – Dexter, Michigan

Sweet Stout (19 Entries)

• Gold Medal: Cream Stout, Redwood Brewing Company – Flint, Michigan

The Great American Beer Festival invites industry professionals from around the world to sit together in small groups and, without knowing the brand name, taste beers in each specified style category. The ultimate goal of the Great American Beer Festival Judge Panel is to identify the three beers that best represent each beer-style category as described and adopted by the Great American Beer Festival.

Five different three-hour judging sessions take place over the three-day period during the week of the festival. Judges are assigned beers to evaluate in their specific area of expertise and never judge their own product or any product in which they have a concern. Breweries are awarded points based on medals won, and these points are tabulated to arrive at the results.

The Professional Judge Panel awards gold, silver or bronze medals that are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence. These awards are among the most coveted in the industry and heralded by the winning brewers in their national advertising. Medal distinctions are as follows:

• GOLD: A world-class beer that accurately exemplifies the specified style, displaying the proper balance of taste, aroma and appearance.


• SILVER: An excellent beer that may vary slightly from style parameters while maintaining close adherence to the style and displaying excellent taste, aroma and appearance.


• BRONZE: A fine example of the style that may vary slightly from style parameters and/or have minor deviations in taste, aroma or appearance.

The Great American Beer Festival is the granddaddy of all U.S. beer festivals, offering the largest collection of U.S. beer ever assembled. Sponsored by The Brewers Association, the festival features more than 1900 different beers from 400 breweries throughout the country. A highlight of the festival is that many of the beers are served by their makers, allowing aficionados the chance to meet many of their beer heroes.

The Brewers Association (www.beertown.org), which was established in 2005 by a merger of the Association of Brewers and the Brewers' Association of America. The organization’s goal is to unify the combined 88-year history of service and to promote and protect the U.S. craft brewing community's interests.

According to The Brewers Association, of the 1,463 breweries in the U.S. an astounding 1,420 are considered independent craft brewers, with 975 of these being brewpubs. American craft brewers (small, independent and traditional) have commanded attention in he beer world with 11% sales growth in the first half of 2008.

Michigan’s thriving brewing industry contributes over $24 million in wages with a total economic contribution of more than $133 million. In terms of overall number breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation – thus supporting its claim as “The Great Beer State.”

The Michigan Brewers Guild exists to unify the Michigan brewing community; to increase sales of Michigan-brewed beer through promotions, marketing, public awareness and consumer education; and to monitor and assure a healthy beer industry within the state. For more information, including a list of Michigan microbreweries, log on to www.michiganbrewersguild.org.