Brew babe

Tickets may have disappeared for the Great American Beer Festival quicker than Britney Spears’ credibility, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have an opportunity to indulge, and more importantly learn about all this years fest has to offer. Sitting down with Julia Herz, Director of the Craft Beer Program for the Boulder, CO based Brewers Association (the key organizer for the GABF), we got schooled up on just how big this fest really is. She is a recognized beer judge herself, which just made us fall even more in love with her.

Where does the GABF fit in the worldwide spectrum of beer tastings and beer festivals?
Historically and today it fits in as a Mecca for the beer industry. It not only helped grow the interest in beer, which in turn grew the interest in beer festivals, but globally it is looked to as a defining moment for the state of the product. When a beer wins a gold medal at the GABF, it means they make the best example of that beer style and the trends start to follow and look to that. It is also been a keystone of education. Tasting is believing.

What does a medal at GABF mean to a brewer?
It will get you on the map, staying on the map is a different matter.  That beer is going to be highly sought after, but you have to continue producing that quality.

Even Budweiser is making craft beers now. Is that a sign of the times? Is the education in the beer sector creeping out into the public sector? It seems people are demanding higher quality.
Absolutely.  What we have today is a more advanced palate as consumers. 20-30 years ago light American lager is about all there was to choose from. In 1978 there were only 42 brewing companies. Today we have over 13,000 beer brands and 1400 breweries, with 1420 of the 1463 being the independent craft brewers. People also have also started to have a large interest in local ingredients. This has allowed for the freshest and best quality beer—the way the brewer intended for them to taste. The craft brewers have evolved as well, we have some now that are 40 years old—the key reason the United States is being looked to as one of the best beer producing countries in the world.

Where does the Colorado beer community fit into the grand beer scheme? Why is the GABF here every year for the past 27?
The Brewers Association started the event here, which actually started as the American Home Brewers Association in 1978; and because that’s where they started they wanted something in their own community. But it has stayed because Colorado beer drinkers became educated very quickly. And where there is one successful brewery, there is always more to come.  Good beer brewers breed more good brewers, and that always breeds good beer lovers. Colorado has become known for its advanced beer culture; its renowned and is also one of the largest beer producing states in the country.

There seems to be more and more “beer parings” on menus these days. Is this a trend we can expect to continue?
Definitely. Today’s chefs grew up with craft beers, so they are incorporating them more and more. You look at something like wine that is one of the cornerstones of beverage and food pairings—it has a great history, we can visit local wineries, it has a culture and it is something that restaurants have been working with for years.  But if you look at what really spread the interest in wine, it was the pairings with French food. You have to consider what we are eating today—we are going to Thai restaurants, Indian food and Chinese—all of those types of foods, and several other cultural foods, beer goes better with. I have a lot of respect and enjoy wine, but beer picks up where wine leaves off on a lot of these menus. Beer compliments and contrasts the food, whereas wine just usually contrasts. The beer can often have a lot more to offer with the vast diversity in the food we are consuming today so restaurants are going with it.

Beer’s cheaper too…
Exactly. You can get a world-class beer for reasonably cheap, where if you want the best wine, well, the average American might not be able to afford it. Beer can be much more accessible, which means there can be a lot more to explore.

How does the 2008 GABF rank in terms of the past 27?
This is the largest commercial beer competition the Brewers Association has ever put on, this beer this festival. We also put on the World Beer Cup, which is international, was the largest ever this past spring, but with the 2008 we have now even surpassed that.  It is going to be amazing.