Hazy IPA Overtakes American IPA in Number of GABF Entries

For the first time in the competition's history, the Great American Beer Festival will allow three new hazy beer styles to enter into competition.

As one of the most popular (and populous) style categories, this was expected to alter the landscape of the GABF irrevocably. In a recent release from the Brewers Association, that change has been quantified.

The "Juicy or Hazy IPA" style received the highest number of entries to the competition this year, overtaking "American-Style India Pale Ale" as the number one category in this year's GABF. 414 Hazy IPAs were submitted versus 331 American IPAs -- the first time in 10 years that American IPA was no the the number one category.

The full release from the Brewers Association regarding this news is below.

After a trio of juicy hazy styles made its debut into the Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines earlier this year, one thing is clear: the haze craze is here to stay.

The proof? The 2018 Great American Beer Festival Competition is right around the corner and even though it’s the first time “Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale,” “Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale” and “Juicy or Hazy Imperial or Double India Pale Ale” will be judged and awarded medals, it’s already the top entered beer style—dethroning American-Style India Pale Ales who have historically had the highest number of entries.

The 2018 total sum of all three of the new juicy hazy styles is statistically staggering: 706 entries, divided as following:

·         Juicy or Hazy IPA: 414

·         Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale: 131

·         Juicy or Hazy Double IPA: 161

Full details can be found on the Brewers Association website. Official competition statistics will be published after the GABF Awards Ceremony on Saturday, September 22.