These NC breweries took home gold medals at national beer competition

Several North Carolina breweries took home medals from the Great American Beer Festival in Denver this weekend, including some gold medals for Triangle breweries.

The festival is held every other year and is regarded as one of the more prestigious beer festivals. Earlier this year, local breweries also stood out nationally at the U.S. Open Beer Championships.

Raleigh’s Lynwood Brewing Concern won gold and silver medals at the Great American Beer Festival. It was named the country’s third best brewery at the U.S. Open Beer Championship.

Lynwood won a gold medal in the American/Belgo-style ale category with its Saison Du Bois. Its Mosaic Pale Ale took home silver in the American-style pale ale category.

Bond Brothers Beer Co. in Cary won a silver medal in the increasingly competitive sour ale category with its Disenchantment Blend #1.

Lonerider Brewing Co. in Raleigh took home a bronze medal in the German-style Dopplebock category for its Goldie’s Big Bock.

Outside the Triangle, Wedge Brewing Co. in Asheville won the gold medal in German-style maerzen beers for its Asheville Lager, and New Sarum Brewing in Salisbury won a gold medal in the herb-and-spice-beer category for its Lemon Balm and Beets Wheat.

Other non-Triangle breweries winning silver or bronze medals include: Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery (Farmville), Sycamore Brewing (Charlotte), Hillman Beer (Asheville), BearWaters Brewing Co. (Canton), Foothills Brewing (Winston-Salem) and Currahee Brewing Co. (Franklin).

Here’s the full list of winners.

Another impressive result came from Charlotte-based Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, which won a bronze medal in the Hefeweizen category for its Hornets Nest.

Olde Mecklenburg became one of just three breweries in the United States to win medals at this competition and at the German festival European Beer Star earlier this year, when it took home a gold medal for its Fat Boy Baltic Porter. The NC Beer Guys blog noted the distinction.

Olde Mecklenburg has branched out in state politics as well as beer. It was one of the driving forces this year behind the “craft freedom” push at the N.C. General Assembly. While the effort attracted bipartisan support in favor of limiting the power of beer distributors, it ultimately failed because of strong opposition from the distributors’ lobby.

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 3:11 PM with the headline "These NC breweries took home gold medals at national beer competition."