Ska Brewing Wins 18th Great American Beer Festival Medal, First in Belgian Beer Category
Ska Brewing took its 18th Great American Beer Festival® award home on Sunday, the brewery’s first in a Belgian beer category: a bronze medal for WestSKAlle in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category.
Photo © Brewers Association
DURANGO, CO— Ska Brewing took its 18th Great American Beer Festival® award home on Sunday, the brewery’s first in a Belgian beer category: a bronze medal for WestSKAlle in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category.
Ska Brewing’s 18th Great American Beer Festival (GABF) medal joins four World Beer Cup medals, totaling 22 medals for Ska in two of the world’s most prestigious beer competitions. This award continues to showcase Ska’s brewers’ talents in brewing a wide variety of international beer styles.
The path of their 2026 GABF award winner, WestSKAlle, started several years earlier and several thousand miles away. In 2023, Ska took a group of longtime employees to Belgium to celebrate their 10-year anniversaries with the brewery. What could loosely be described as research at Belgian breweries and beer halls sparked a deeper interest in traditional Belgian beer styles back home in Durango.
Enter WestSKAlle, an amber-brown Trappist-style ale with a creamy head and aromas of caramel and dark fruit. The flavor is rich, balanced, and complex: herby, fruity, and deeply malty with a long, dry stone fruit finish.
“Taking our crew to Belgium reminded us how much history, technique and personality can exist in a single beer style,” said Ska Brewing Co-Founder Dave Thibodeau. “We came home wanting to explore some of those traditions ourselves. WestSKAlle grew out of that, so having this beer earn our first GABF medal in a Belgian category makes this one especially meaningful.”
Ska’s latest medal continues a run of international beer style awards, with its most recent GABF medals for beer styles rooted in four different brewing traditions: True Blonde Ale in the English-Style Pale Ale category; Oktoberfest in the Vienna-Style Lager category; Mexican Logger in the International-Style Pilsener category, and now WestSKAlle in the Belgian-Style Abbey Ale category.
“We’ve never wanted to be good at just one kind of beer,” Thibodeau said. “One of the best parts of brewing is getting interested in a style, figuring out what makes it great and then trying to do it justice. Sometimes that takes you to England, sometimes Austria, sometimes Belgium—and sometimes Mexico ends up here in Southwest Colorado through our curiosities. 22 GABF and World Beer Cup medals later, the mission remains pretty familiar: make great beer, keep learning, and try not to take ourselves too seriously while doing it.”
Contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com with media inquiries about Ska Brewing.
ABOUT SKA BREWING
Founded in the spirit of punk rock and a little bit of ska, Ska Brewing has been challenging the status quo and brewing beers that refuse to conform since 1995. From the iconic Mexican Logger to the rebellious Modus Hoperandi IPA, Ska Brewing is dedicated to crafting unforgettable beers and beverages that are as unique as the people who drink them. For more information, samples, or just to chat about how great peaches are, contact Ska Brewing at info@skabrewing.com or visit our website at www.skabrewing.com.
Barrels & Bottles Brewery Presents The Fifth Annual Krispy King Lager Competition
This renowned Great American Beer Festival pre-game is going down on Thursday, October 8 at Barrels & Bottles Brewery in Golden
2025 Krispy King Lager Competition winners: Cannonball Creek Brewing
GOLDEN, CO— Returning for its fifth year, the majestic Krispy King Lager Competition at Barrels & Bottles Brewery will serve its largest assortment of lagers yet— with 47 expressions from across the country competing for the crown. This renowned Great American Beer Festival® pre-game is going down on Thursday, October 8.
Brewers from more than 15 states will compete for the title of crispiest, cleanest, most excellent lager at this famed event, which will also feature live music from A-Mac of Kash'd, and emcee and DJ Matthew Rising. There will be eats from Woody's Wood Fired Pizza, onsite screen printing of Krispy King tees, and a DIY trucker hat station.
The 2026 celebration will include a brewer’s VIP tent with two lagers made by Cannonball Creek Brewing (the 2025 Krispy King champions) and Bierstadt Lagerhaus (returning judges and Krispy King supporters since day one). Cannonball Creek is serving an Italian Pilsner made with Adeena hops from Crosby Hops, malt from Root Shoot Malting, and yeast from the Brewing Science Institute (BSI). This lager will be canned and available for purchase to-go. The featured Bierstadt collaboration was made with hops from Charles Faram, Synergy Select Pils malt from Briess Malt, and yeast from BSI.
On the list of 2026 Krispy King competitors are more past winners Wayfinder Beer, as well as first-time participants Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant, Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co., Good Word Brewing, Lucky Envelope Brewing, Schilling Beer Co, Urban Roots Brewing, and Wooly Pig Farm Brewery. Nearly half of the breweries hail from Colorado, with entrants from across the state. Find the complete list of breweries bringing krispy lagers that are less than 5.5% ABV at krispykinglager.com.
The top five Krispy King Lager Competition winners will be announced at 7pm. The brewer that comes in first will earn the distinguished Krispy King crown and cape, and the reverence of lager lovers everywhere.
“Five years ago we just invited a few of our local brewery friends and drank some delicious, light, crispy lagers. We never thought this event would grow to what it is today,” say Barrels & Bottles Founders Abby and Zach George. “Now, we are still drinking delicious, light, crispy lagers with our old and new friends. We can't ask for much more than that!”
DAY OF DETAILS
When: Thursday, October 8 from 2 to 9pm
Where: Barrels & Bottles Brewery in Golden, Colorado at 1055 Orchard Street.
The Krispy King Lager Competition is open to the public and free to attend.
Transportation from Downtown Denver to Barrels & Bottles Brewery is currently being coordinated, and details will be available soon at krispykinglager.com. Guests are encouraged to travel safely via RTD Train Rail Station, Uber or Lyft, or designated drivers.
Media inquiring about Krispy King can contact Emily Hutto at hutto@radcraftbeer.com.
ABOUT BARRELS & BOTTLES BREWERY
Barrels & Bottles Brewery was formed in Abby and Zach George’s mind many years before they opened their first location in 2013. They met overseas and both found a passion for great people, food and drinks. Nowadays you can find them at their Camp George West location, either pouring you a beer, serving you food and or enjoying a pint with friends and neighbors. Learn more at barrelsbottles.com.