El Toro Brewing Company has won another coveted medal at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival, the largest national beer competition that recognizes outstanding beers produced in the country.
El Toro’s William Jones Wheat Beer picked up a Silver Medal in the American Wheat Ale or Lager category. This is not the first medal for this beer at this event. In 1997 William Jones Wheat Beer brought home a Gold. Other medals from previous Great American Beer festivals include a Gold Medal in 1994 for El Toro Oro Golden Ale in the Classic English Pale Ale category, a Silver Medal in 1996 for Poppy Jasper Amber Ale in the English-Style Brown Ale category, and a Bronze Medal in 2003 for El Toro Oro Golden Ale in the English-Style Summer Ale category.
“The awards ceremony is the highlight of all the events at the Great American Beer Festival. It is pretty much the climax of the entire festival season,” said Geno Acevedo, owner of El Toro Brewing Company. To be surrounded by the thousand or so peers, friends and beer fans gathered around the stage and hear your beer announced as a winner is one of the most exciting moments that can happen to a brewer. Then having beer guru Charlie Papazian hang that medal around your neck is really a thrill! Of course the real satisfaction is in the glass!”
The top three winners in the competition’s 69 beer-style categories were announced Sept. 30 at the 25th Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.
Competition winners were selected by an international panel of brewing experts from a field of 2,443 entries received from 450 American breweries. More than 1,200 breweries were invited to compete. “The Great American Beer Festival is the premier judging event for the American craft beer industry,” said Nancy Johnson, festival director. “It’s exciting being the 25th celebration, that this is our biggest showing of entries. That’s proof positive that being chosen a winner, no matter if gold, silver or bronze is truly an accomplishment. “
