Wichita brewery wins the city’s third ever gold medal at ‘Academy Awards’ of craft beer
The Great American Beer Festival — whose awards ceremony is widely considered the Academy Awards of the craft beer industry — happened last week, and this year, only two Kansas breweries placed.
But one of them was from Wichita — and the brewery brought home only the third gold medal ever to be won at the festival by a Wichita brewery.
Wichita Brewing Company, which has two brewpubs and a canning warehouse in Wichita, earned a coveted gold medal at the event in Denver.
The brewery won gold in the “Old Ale or Strong Ale or Barley Wine” category for a barley wine called Chris Barley in a Little Coat. WBC tapped the beverage earlier this week and it’s available at its brewpubs at 8815 W. 13th S. and 535 N. Woodlawn.
WBC describes the winner as a “rich and complex English Barleywine” that is “packed full of toasted specialty malts to give it a depth unlike anything else.” Its name is a tribute to late comedian Chris Farley — specifically to a scene from the 1995 film “Tommy Boy.”
The only other Kansas brewery to place this year was Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Co. from Hays, which took silver in the Oatmeal Stout category for its No. 06 Oatmeal Stout.
Last year, Wichita brewers were shut out of the awards, which were announced through a virtual ceremony. But local brewers have won several medals in the past. WBC got a silver in 2017 for its Shaven Yak, an English-Style Brown Ale. Central Standard Brewing has also won several over the years, including a gold in 2019 for its Standard Issue Belgian Saison and another gold in 2018 for its Norwegian Raw Ale, which won in the Historical Beer category.
Hopping Gnome also earned a silver in 2018 for its Sepia Amber.
At this year’s festival, 290 medals were awarded to 265 breweries from around the country. There were 9,680 entries from 2,192 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 11:15 AM.
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