Talking with beer judge Bryan Pearson about GABF past and present

By Monica Parpal Stockbridge

In the craft brewing world, there’s no greater celebration than the Great American Beer Festival (GABF). The original GABF was held in Boulder in 1982 with 24 breweries, 47 beers and 800 attendees. In recent years, the festival has featured over 4,000 different beers from over 800 breweries around the nation, and demand for tickets has skyrocketed.
The festival also includes a beer competition (now in its 34th year), in which brewers from around the nation compete for bronze, silver and gold distinction in over 91 beer style categories. Judging began in late September and will continue over two-plus weeks in Boulder.
“In the first year, there were 13 categories being judged, and this year we have 91 categories,” says Ann Obenchain, marketing director for the Brewers Association. “It’s another example of how the growth of craft beer has really changed.”
This year’s Great American Beer Festival will look a lot different than in years past. For the first time in its 38-year history, the GABF festival will be held virtually — a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that still plagues much of the globe.
Of course, the beer competition will look a little different this year, too. Bryan Pearson has been a GABF judge since 2006. A homebrewer turned professional brewer in three different states, today he’s a self-described “yeast farmer” propagating yeast at the Brewing Science Institute (BSI) in Woodland, Colorado, and selling it to brewers all over the world.

Pearson’s experience and expertise lends perfectly to being a GABF judge. It all starts with filling out an application — “basically a resume of your experience in the beer industry,” Pearson says — plus three letters of recommendation from other industry professionals. “If you are accepted, then they’ll put you on the list.”
Over the past 20 years, Pearson has seen the total number of judges greatly increase. These days, the list of judges might include beer journalists, suppliers of ingredients, educators and others in the industry, both based in the U.S. and internationally.
“Now we’re getting up over 300 judges per event,” he says. “I see a lot of the same faces that I’ve seen for over 20 years, and there’s always some new blood,” he says.
Logistics have grown as well, involving beer collection points around the country, and beer stewards and table captains managing the logistics of tasting.
When it comes to tasting, organizers attempt to schedule bold beers for later in the day, with no more than 12 beers in a flight. The Brewers Association lays out beer style guidelines, and then the judges take notes anonymously and evaluate each beer based on those guidelines. These criteria include things like appearance, clarity, carbonation, aroma, mouthfeel, bitterness, finish and overall drinkability. After the judges have evaluated all 12, they have a discussion.
“The goal is to come to a unanimous decision on the three you feel are best to advance to next round,” he says. The judges work back and forth and decide whether a beer should advance or not. And eventually they land on a bronze, silver and gold winner.
Pre-COVID, all of this happened during six sessions over three days of judging. A typical day started by 9 a.m., with a lunch break at noon and more judging from 1 to 4 p.m. This year, due to numerous health and safety considerations, there will be only about 100 judges, and the judging was spread out to cover more than two weeks.

Regardless, it’s no easy feat to preserve your palate over the course of three days. For starters, there’s no smoking during the judging or the breaks. As an individual, Bryan makes sure that he starts his day with a relatively bland breakfast. “I don’t want to eat a lot of spicy food, I don’t want to drink orange juice, I don’t want to drink coffee,” he says. “I’ll go back to my room before heading down to the judging sessions, and I’ll brush my teeth without toothpaste.”
During the judging, there are policies against scented deodorants, cologne and even scented hand soap. On the tables are bottled water with minimal chlorine, as well as “appropriately plain” matzah bread. “The Brewers Association does a fantastic job of being aware of those details,” Pearson says, “and they’re very receptive to judges’ recommendations.”
Of course, different people perceive tastes differently. “Sometimes you’ll get a judge that says ‘I smell a little bit of soap. That smells like soap to me.’ And another judge will say ‘No, that’s not soap, I get a really nice coriander-like aroma.’ The two judges are smelling the same chemical compound, but their brains are interpreting them differently,” Pearson explains. This can lead to arguments, but the judges discuss and decide together which beers advance. “There has to be a unanimous decision,” he says.
Pearson hopes to continue judging as long as he’s in the industry. One of the things he looks forward to most is the camaraderie. “These people have become my friends,” he says. “It’s also interesting just to see how the competition evolves, how the beer styles evolve and how taste preferences evolve.”
While this year’s competition and festival details have been altered considerably, Pearson will judge once again. “I have some confidence in the state and CDC guidelines,” he says. “If they feel that it’s low risk, and the Brewers Association follows the guidelines well, then I feel okay.”

Monica Parpal Stockbridge writes about food, travel and technology in Colorado and beyond. Read more of her work at monicastockbridge.com

GABF 2020

The 2020 GABF was originally scheduled for September 24-26 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, but a May announcement confirmed that it would move to a fully virtual online experience on October 16-17.
This year, GABF tickets will transform into “passports,” or digital savings booklets good for special deals or experiences at participating breweries from October 1 to October 18. These deals may include a free 6-ounce sample, discounts on curbside pickup or delivery, merchandise and more.
“Different breweries are going to have different situations during that time, so we want to give them as much flexibility as possible and drive business to them,” Obenchain says.
The passports grant access to the virtual festival, which will include interviews, happy hours and educational content broadcast over the Brewing Network during October 16 and 17. The passport is $20, or $49 to add a commemorative t-shirt.
The GABF competition will also still take place, and despite the pandemic there are currently more than 8,000 anticipated entries. Awards will be announced over live-stream on the Brewing Network on Friday, October 16.
Tickets for the 2020 Great American Beer Festival are now available at greatamericanbeerfestival.com.