The Great American Beer Festival handed out hundreds of awards in dozens of categories this past weekend and for a large number of breweries, it was their first taste of victory at this prestigious beer competition. For others, the medals awarded only added to their growing stockpile of recognition and nowhere is this statement truer than with Delaware- based Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant. The Bronze Medal Iron Hill won for its Solzhenitsyn beer, in the Aged Beer category, was its 48th Great American Beer Festival medal, an impressive feat. Equally impressive is Iron Hill’s record-setting consecutive winning streak, which is now 22 years, the longest by an independent craft brewery in GABF history.
Iron Hill’s Director of Brewing Operations Mark Edelson echoes what most craft beer fans already know and agree on: Winning medals for 22 consecutive years is proof of Iron Hill’s resiliency in an ever- changing market, not to mention the brewery’s unyielding commitment to quality brew.
“We are proud to congratulate our brewers here at GABF and at home,” says Edelson. “The fact that all these years later we are still producing award-winning beers is a testament to the talent we’ve brought into the Iron Hill family over the past two decades.”
Edelson, co- founder Kevin Finn, and Iron Hill’s CEO Kim Boerema were present at the Award Ceremony and were joined by brewers from several of Iron Hill’s 15 locations. Iron Hill first participated in the Great American Beer Festival back in 1997, a year that included 1,700 total beers entered into the competition from 400 different breweries in 50 categories. This year, the Great American Beer Festival received 8,864 entries from 2,404 breweries and the awards were handed out among 102 categories. More entries means greater competition and a statistically smaller chance for victory, but Iron Hill continues to crush the odds, winning at least one medal every year its beers have been entered in the festival.
Iron Hill presently has locations in multiple East Coast states and plans to open its next location in Hershey, Pennsylvania in November, 2018. The continued excellence at Iron Hill is a true testament to the company’s commitment to the utmost level of quality and I fully expect to see more locations opened and more medals awarded in the future. We at Great Beer Now congratulate Iron Hill for yet another successful Great American Beer Festival and look forward to a visit of our own to one of Iron Hill’s many locations. Cheers to all!
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