The final day of the GABF is greeted with a mixture of relief and sorrow by many. We are relieved that tomorrow we can sleep in, stay off our feet and begin the process of physical recovery from days of living the rock-star lifestyle of no sleep, excessive partying and often a general lack of nutrition in our diets. We are also sad that tomorrow we will board planes or pile into cars to make our journeys back to where we came from. I think right now this sense of grief is setting in. I absolutely love the people in the beer industry, so many of them are people I gladly call friends, but the reality of life is that we see each other so rarely it alone is cause for more long nights of excessive celebration.

I am on the couch now, my feet are up and I can hear the rain gently tapping on the wrought-iron fence outside. It is after 2:00 AM and I have just returned back from my fourth consecutive night at Falling Rock where I was happy to sit with Don Younger of Horse Brass for a few drinks, stories and general people-watching. I was also fortunate to sit downstairs with Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, along with Matt Brindlyson of Firestone Walker (Matt took home six more GABF medals today). Perhaps in this position of contemplation you’ll permit me a recollection of the day’s events, at least partially.

The day started with the Samuel Adams Longshot brunch where this year’s longshot winner was announced. This was a catered event and I was happy to have my first real breakfast of the week. I sat with James Spencer and Andy Sparks of Basic Brewing, which was the first time we’d met face-to-face after years of email and phone conversations. I enjoyed my breakfast with a Black Lager that was a bit too cold, but otherwise thoroughly enjoyable. With breakfast done it was time to crown the champions, which will be discussed in greater detail another time.

For the first time this week I found myself with about an hour with nothing to do and nowhere to be, so naturally I sat in the media room at the Convention Center and typed up the post for yesterday. When it was near time for the doors to open I packed up and headed back upstairs to meet up again with James and Andy for a fun on-camera piece I was invited to be part of. The video shoot took a bit longer than expected, but I loved the one-on-one time with the duo behind one of the beer’s premier video shows.

Once the video shoot was complete I again found myself with time on my hands, so I made a rare stop into the DRAFT VIP booth on the festival floor to take a seat, talk with folks and snack on some veggies. The winners for the festival had just been announced and there was a bit of a buzz about the results, mainly that the brewers of Northern California didn’t fair nearly as well as we’re all accustom to (See: Moylans/Marin with 7 medals on ’07 and none in ’08). For me I presented that this is a good thing, a very good thing I think, because I see this as a testament of the brewers across America elevating their game to make for more parity and a general improvement in quality. Yes, if anything could be gleaned from 2008 GABF it is that the state of American brewing is in good hands with the men and women who are pushing themselves and each other to achieve something greater.

It was with this firmly established in my mind that I bid ado to the floors of the Great American Beer Festival. I would still have more to do in Denver, but this was it for sessions. Thank you Denver, the Brewers Association and the thousands of peopled needed to pull an event like this off with grace – volunteers, you get an extra thanks for the smiles and warmth you shared while on your shift. To my GABF friends, those I don’t see nearly enough, I look forward to seeing you next time over a great beer.

Next Up: DRAFT’s Dinner Series with Sierra Nevada
See Also: DRAFT Video series from GABF