FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Great American Beer Festival® Beer Evaluation Event Tests Perceptions Boulder, Colo. • 10.04.2002 - Today beer connoisseurs and media got their first ever glimpse of what makes American beer worthy of Great American Beer Festival (GABF) medals at downtown Denver’s Marriott City Center. This was the first time in 20 years that a GABF two-part media event challenged perceptions about craft beer with beer evaluation and beer, wine and food pairings. “Now that the festival has come of age by turning 21, we felt the time was right to demystify the judging process and show why beer judges, brewers and enthusiasts regard this competition as the best annual beer competition and festival,” Gatza said. “The Great American Beer Festival is clearly superior to any other competition because of the quality of judging and diversity of products the public can sample, and this media event shows why the GABF shares this elite pedestal.” What makes a beer worthy of a gold, silver and bronze medal? The festival’s Judge Manager Chris Swersey took beer connoisseurs and media through an American India Pale Ale evaluation with six world-class professional judges. “Evaluating beer happens on many levels,” Swersey said. “On a professional level, beer evaluation is a form of peer review. The results are public, so consumers can learn what beers meet a high level of quality and what beers exemplify certain styles as interpreted by the judges. When industry professionals acknowledge the excellence in products from around the market, the consumer can be sure that those products are the finest available.” Do beer characters enhance or compliment food flavors as wine characters do? Yes. During the second part of the media event, Garrett Oliver, internationally recognized beer, wine and food expert, showed how beer lifts spices and captures the powerful or subtle flavor in food – often times more than wine does. The first food pairing was a Shelburne Cheddar, a vegetarian, hard cheese without the rind made with milk of Brown Swiss cows. The wine was Chateau du Grand Vernay, a mild, fruit, driven, lighter bodied red, and the beer was Anderson Valley Hop Ottin’ India Pale Ale with a citrus aroma and an intense hoppy bite. The second pairing was a Chocolate Delight, a flourless bittersweet chocolate mousse paired with a Clocktower Australian Tawny Port, mellow fruity port with a soft finish, and a Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, rich cocoa flavor, velvety dark texture, medium bodied. “The complexity of beer flavors covers a far broader range than any other beverage,” Gatza said. “There is the perfect beer to go with any food. To date, the wine industry has successfully created an association of wine and food. However, many wines are limited by the relatively short range of flavor in any wine and the acidity of most wines. When the beer industry encourages people to match the appropriate beers with foods, the public will see how excellently they go together. Everyone knows that beer goes great with pizza and spicy foods, but when someone tries a smoked porter with a great steak, for example, that person will know that beer is the perfect compliment.” Breweries that market their medal-winning beers give consumers a high quality tasting experience – one they’ll carry to the dinner table. “The constantly evolving nature of the beer marketplace means that products continually improve,” Swersey said. “It's a dynamic environment, and for those that have followed the beer industry on a taste and flavor level over the last 15 years, it's never been better. Once a consumer figures out that they like ‘IPA's’, or ‘stouts’, or ‘pilseners’, or all the beers from a given brewery with a certain brewery signature, then they can start pairing beer with the types of foods they like.” For more information, contact the Association of Brewers at +1.303.447.0816 or visit www.beertown.org. # # # The Great American Beer Festival has been held every year since 1982 and is presented by the Association of Brewers, a not-for-profit educational and trade organization founded in 1978 that is devoted to making quality brewing and beer information available to anyone. The Association of Brewers also hosts the bi-annual World Beer Cup and is based in Boulder, Colo., U.S.A. Cindy Jones Sales and Marketing Director Association of Brewers 303.447.0816 x 144 cindy(a)aob.org The Great American Beer Festival October 3-5, 2002 Colorado Convention Center Visit www.beertown.org for details!