The GABF Pro-Am competition pairs an award-winning homebrewer with a commercial brewery, who collaborate on a single beer to be poured at the Great American Beer Festival, and to compete against other collaborative Pro-Am beers from around the country.
In 2016, 88 Pro-Am teams competed for top honors and bragging rights. As at home, so with the pros – the winning recipes used BSG ingredients. Read on to see what went into these medal-winning formulations.
Just Rye’te – 2016 GABF Pro-Am Gold Medal Winner
Clifton Ellis and Panther Island Brewing
Batch volume: 11 gallons
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.011
Color: 6° SRM
IBU: 50
Abv%: 6.5%
Mash
17 lb Rahr 2-row
2 lb Flaked Rye
1.8 lb Caravienne
10 oz 40°L Crystal Malt
Mash at 150°F for 60 minutes
Boil
1 oz Citra (13%aa) @ first wort hop
0.25 oz Magnum (13%aa) @ 60 min
1 oz Citra (13%aa) @ 15 min
1 oz Citra (13%aa) @ 10 min
1.5 oz Citra (13%aa) @ 5 min
2 oz Citra (13%aa) @ flameout
2 lb Orange Blossom Honey @ flameout
Fermentation
Wyeast 1272 American Ale II, 1.0-1.5×107 cells/mL
Ferment at 68°F, ramp to 70-72° towards end of primary
Rack to secondary and dry hop with 6 oz Citra for 5-7 days at 70-72°F, or until desired level of dry hop is met
Vernal Equinox – 2016 GABF Pro-Am Silver Medal Winner
Gary Layton and Starr Hill Brewery
“The orginal recipe came about from experimenting with hop combinations. I went through several different combinations and finally hit the nail right on the head with Equinox* and Galaxy”
– Gary Layton
*n.b – in September 2016, the Hop Breeding Company officially changed the name of their Equinox/HBC366 hop variety to Ekuanot™.
“In my opinion, the most important part of executing this recipe was raw material selection: going for high quality Maris Otter and crystals was extremely important.”
– Robbie O’Cain, brewer at Starr Hill
Batch volume: 5.5 gallons
OG: 1.063
FG: 1.017
Color: 8° SRM
IBU: 60
Abv%: 6.1%
Mash
10.75 lb Simpsons Maris Otter
0.5 lb Crisp 20°L Crystal Malt
0.5 lb Crisp 40°L Crystal Malt
0.5 lb Melanoidin Malt
Mash at 154°F for 60 minutes
Boil
0.5 oz Equinox/Ekuanot™ (15%aa) @ 60 min
0.5 oz Equinox/Ekuanot™ (15%aa) @ 30 min
0.5 oz Galaxy (14%aa) @ 30 min
0.5 oz Equinox/Ekuanot™ (15%aa) @ whirlpool
0.5 oz Galaxy (14%aa) @ whirlpool
Fermentation
Wyeast 1968 London ESB
Ferment at 68°F for 7 days
Crash to 32°F for 7 days
Rack and package
The Kölsch Experiment – 2016 GABF Pro-Am Bronze Medal Winner
Shawn Miller and Altitude Chophouse & Brewery
Batch volume: 5 gallons
OG: 1.051
FG: 1.010
Color: 4° SRM
IBU: 29
Abv%: 5.3%
Mash
8.75 lb Weyermann® Pilsner Malt
1 lb White Wheat Malt
0.5 lb Acidulated Malt
Mash at 152°F for 60 minutes. Batch sparge with 168°F water.
Boil
1.25 oz Saaz (4.8%aa) @ 90 min
0.5 oz Hallertauer (2.7%aa) @ 10 min
0.5 oz Saaz (4.8%aa) @ whirlpool for 5 min
Fermentation
White Labs WLP029 German Ale/Kölsch
Ferment at 63°F for 2 weeks, then keg and carbonate.