MillerCoors Breweries Earn Two Gold Medals At 2015 Great American Beer Festival

With two gold medals at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival presented by the Brewers Association, MillerCoors now has 208 medals at the prestigious national event, more than any other brewer. Continuing with its strong tradition of quality, MillerCoors saw Coors Brewing Company win for Coors Banquet and AC Golden Brewing Company win for Ctayt, a Russian Imperial Stout aged in white oak whiskey barrels.

“At MillerCoors we pride ourselves on rigorous quality standards, paired with some of the most creative brewing minds in America,” said Dr. David Ryder, head brewmaster at MillerCoors. “And while we make sure every beer that leaves our breweries meets our high standards, it’s always nice to have the industry recognize that quality with gold medals.”

Coors Brewing Company has been competing at the Great American Beer Festival since the event’s inception in 1982. In that time, the brewery has taken home 38 medals. Coors Banquet — brewed since 1873 only in Golden, Colo., exclusively with Rocky Mountain water from the Clear Creek watershed and high-country barley — won this year over 55 entrants in the American-Style Lager or Light Lager category.

Coming off of its “Large Brewing Company of the Year” award in 2014, AC Golden, a small incubation brewery in Golden, continues its winning tradition and takes home a gold medal for its Ctayt beer. Beating out 128 other entries, Ctayt took top honors in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout category. This win continues a seven year streak of winning at least one medal for AC Golden.

“We’re extremely proud of the beers we’re putting out of the AC Golden Hidden Barrel Collection,” said Jeff Nickel, head brewer of the AC Golden Brewing Company. “We’re honored to have been awarded medals each of the past seven years and are particularly proud to see Ctayt continue the tradition with a gold medal this year.”

Since 1996, MillerCoors has won a combined 288 medals at the Great American Beer Festival and the bi-annual World Beer Cup, also hosted by the Brewers Association. The Great American Beer Festival was held in Denver September 24-26. This year, 275 medals were awarded to some of the best commercial breweries across 145 different beer style categories. As always, the Festival saw stiff competition with 6,647 beers entering from 50 states plus Washington, D.C. As the signature event in the U.S. brewing industry, its medals are recognized as among the most respected in the business.

About MillerCoors
Through its diverse collection of storied breweries, MillerCoors brings American beer drinkers an unmatched selection of the highest quality beers steeped in centuries of brewing heritage. Miller Brewing Company and Coors Brewing Company offer domestic favorites such as Coors Light, Miller Lite, Miller High Life and Coors Banquet. Tenth and Blake Beer Company, our craft and import division, offers beers such as Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy from sixth-generation Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company and Blue Moon Belgian White from modern craft pioneer Blue Moon Brewing Company, which celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year. Tenth and Blake also operates Crispin Cider Company, an artisanal maker of pear and apple ciders using fresh-pressed American juice, and imports world-renowned beers such as Italy’s Peroni Nastro Azzurro, the Czech Republic’s Pilsner Urquell and the Netherlands’ Grolsch. MillerCoors also offers pioneering new brands such as the Redd’s Apple and Redd’s Wicked Apple franchises and Smith & Forge Hard Cider. MillerCoors seeks to become America’s best beer company through an uncompromising promise of quality, a keen focus on innovation and a deep commitment to sustainability. MillerCoors is a joint venture of SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Company. Learn more at MillerCoors.com, at facebook.com/MillerCoors or on Twitter through @MillerCoors.