The 10 Most Intriguing Pours From the 2026 Great American Beer Festival

The 2026 Great American Beer Festival traded convention-center floors for open skies, heading outdoors for the first time at Denver’s Levitt Pavilion on October 10–11. Roughly 200 breweries poured some 1,500 beers, while warm, sunny weather made the grassy hillside a particularly inviting place to sample offerings from across the country.

Tasting everything was out of the question, but plenty of memorable beers made an impression. From exceptional lagers and powerhouse IPAs to a remarkable 30-year-old barleywine, these were our ten favorite pours of the weekend.

The final two selections came from PAIRED, GABF’s special ticketed experience featuring acclaimed chefs creating inventive small bites to complement specific beers and ciders. Held atop the hill overlooking Denver, PAIRED remains one of the festival’s most compelling attractions and is well worth the additional cost.

pFriem Family Brewers‘ Pacific Pilsner: Bright, Tropical, and Crisp

Hood River, Oregon

Hood River’s pFriem has earned a reputation for exceptional pilsners, and this 6.2% offering showed exactly why. A 2025 World Beer Cup gold medalist, Pacific Pilsner delivered remarkably bright notes of ripe guava and soft lime before finishing clean and dry, resetting the palate for another sip. We’ve come to expect great things from pFriem, and this was yet another reminder of why the brewery remains one of the country’s most reliable producers.

Kane Brewing Co.‘s Dripping Maple: A Dessert Stout Worth Seeking Out

Ocean, New Jersey

Outside of New Jersey, opportunities to drink Kane’s big, bold imperial stouts can be frustratingly scarce. Dripping Maple made the most of the occasion, delivering a decadent rush of rich maple flavor that made this barrel-aged dessert stout an ideal way to close out a day of drinking. Kane’s acclaimed A Night to End All Dawns was right up there, too, making for a formidable one-two punch from the New Jersey powerhouse.

Helper Beer‘s Toast!: A Lighter Touch on Munich Dunkel

Helper, Utah

Helper Beer may still be flying under the radar, but it’s quickly establishing itself among the country’s finest lager producers. Head brewer Jaron Anderson honed his craft under Kevin Templin of Templin Family Brewing, and the results speak for themselves. Helper’s Schloss Tor pilsner earned gold at the 2025 GABF, but it was Toast!, a Munich-style dunkel, that won us over this year.

Rich, layered flavors of toasted bread and malt gave the beer plenty of character without the heavier, overly roasty qualities that can make some American craft interpretations drink more like stouts. Lighter on the palate and wonderfully refreshing, Toast! transported us straight back to Munich.

Seedstock Brewery‘s Märzen: Rich Malt, Dry Finish

Denver, Colorado

Denver’s local breweries came out in force for GABF’s outdoor debut, and Seedstock delivered one of the weekend’s most impressive traditional lagers. Its Märzen struck that elusive balance between rich malt character and a crisp, dry finish.

Too many examples get one side of the equation right while neglecting the other, finishing either overly sweet or without sufficient malt depth. Seedstock managed both beautifully, producing a remarkably drinkable beer with all the character you’d hope for from the style. It’s easy to see why the brewery, located just off bustling Colfax Avenue, has become a local favorite.

UPP Liquids‘ UPP Yours: A Gold-Medal Cucumber Tart Ale

Bend, Oregon

Tonya Cornett and the UPP Liquids team have been on an extraordinary run at beer competitions, and 2026 brought more hardware: three gold medals, a silver, and Brewery and Brewer of the Year honors in the 251–500-barrel category.

UPP Yours, a cucumber tart ale, was among the weekend’s more unusual standouts. Light, refreshing, and thoroughly interesting, it offered a welcome departure from the familiar festival lineup. We sampled it on Saturday, a day before it took home gold in the Field Beer category. Clearly, the judges agreed.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.‘s 1996 Bigfoot: A Remarkable 30-Year-Old Pour

Chico, California

Talk about a lucky find. Sierra Nevada’s 1996 vintage of Bigfoot wasn’t listed on the festival’s published pour list, nor was it available throughout the day. We happened to catch it, giving us the rare opportunity to taste an American barleywine that had been aging for 30 years.

And what a treat it was. Lightly carbonated and intensely malty, this three-decade-old Bigfoot revealed layers of caramel and sherry, yet somehow retained a discernible presence of those classic American hops. How many beers can still boast recognizable hop character 30 years after brewing? An extraordinary pour from one of American craft beer’s most enduring names.

Ghost Town Brewing‘s Nose Goblin: An Imperial IPA With Bite

Oakland, California

Dank hop character, tropical fruit, and berries dominated this intense imperial IPA from Oakland’s Ghost Town Brewing. It was a formidable beer, packed with the kind of expressive hop character that has made Ghost Town one of the country’s most exciting IPA producers.

Frankly, the brewery’s entire lineup impressed us this year. Having producers of this caliber on the festival grounds remains a major draw for hop enthusiasts, and Ghost Town gave them plenty to celebrate.

Templin Family Brewing‘s Granary Kellerbier: A Taste of Franconia

Salt Lake City, Utah

This was our first pour on Saturday, and we couldn’t have made a much better choice. The festival’s new four-ounce pour option was particularly welcome for beers like Granary Kellerbier, which deserved more than a fleeting taste.

Subtle hop character, light bready malt, and a gentle tang from its unfiltered yeast profile combined for a beautifully expressive lager. Fresh, nuanced, and wonderfully drinkable, it transported us right back to Franconia. Sometimes, the simplest beers leave the strongest impressions.

Haykin Family Cider‘s 2024 Kermerrian: A French Cider Meets Colorado Bison

Aurora, Colorado

Haykin Family Cider continues to make a compelling case for its place among America’s finest cider producers, and its 2024 Kermerrian was further evidence. Made entirely from the historic French Kermerrien apple, this semi-dry cider delivered waves of caramel and lemon, with a gentle sweetness rounding out the finish.

It was also one of the highlights of PAIRED, where chefs Mara King and Kelly Whitaker matched the cider with bison onigiri featuring gochujang, cured egg yolk, kosho, and apple. The pairing brought together the cider’s fruit character and the dish’s savory complexity beautifully, demonstrating just how much potential there is in thoughtfully matching cider with food.

Riip Beer‘s Riip’n Greens: West Coast IPA Meets Hamachi

Huntington Beach, California

Riip’n Greens is a quintessential West Coast IPA from one of California’s finest producers, having earned Grand Champion honors at the 2024 Best of the West Coast IPA competition. It was easy to understand that distinction after our first sip.

Dank, pine-forward notes led the way, followed by green melon and a touch of diesel. There was a tremendous amount of punchy complexity here, and it proved an inspired match for chef Cody Cheetham’s hamachi crudo, which featured grapefruit, spruce, bergamot, and agrumato.

The beer’s assertive hop character played wonderfully against the delicate fish and bright, aromatic accompaniments. Each bite seemed to reveal another dimension of the IPA, while each sip brought something new out of the dish. The flavors bounced off one another in near-perfect harmony, making this one of the most memorable pairings of the entire festival.