Best of Georgia Beer 2018 – The Results

2018 brought many new breweries and amazing beers to Georgia and made for some stiff competition in this year’s awards. In several categories, only a handful of votes (sometimes less than 1%) separated the winners or bumped someone just out of the Top 3. Over 2,000 Georgia beer fans voted for their favorite beers, breweries, brewpubs, beer bars, bottle shops, beer fests, and even their favorite homebrewer.

On this week’s show, we share the results from the final voting round as we enjoy a sampling of the award-winning beers. We had several expected winners, as well as a few surprises. It’s great to see so many Georgia beers and breweries making everyone’s favorites list.

A few notes on the awards:

Only beers brewed in Georgia are eligible for an award.

For the “Best of 2018” categories, a brewery had to open, or a beer had to be released between Dec. 15, 2017 and Dec. 1, 2018.

Winners came from two rounds. A write-in nomination round and a final voting round comprised of the Top 10 (+/-) from the nomination round.

Beer Guys Radio Craft Beer Podcast Episode 157

Best of Georgia Beer 2018 – The Results

2017 Best of Georgia Beer Winners

2016 Best of Georgia Beer Winners

Best of Georgia Beer – The Winners

Best of 2018

Best New IPA

3) Cherry Street Juicy Suzy

2) Monday Night Locals Only

1) SweetWater 420 Strain G13

Best New Double / Imperial IPA

3) Variant Brewing Double Cashmere

2) Monday Night Cardigans of the Galaxy

1) Wild Leap Alpha Abstraction Vol. 3

Best New Wild / Sour Beer

3) Gate City Parti Starter

2) Monday Night Mischief Managed Raspberry

1) Pontoon Brewing Snozzberries Taste Like Snozzberries

Best New Stout

3) Creature Comforts Awaken, My Love

2) Wild Leap Rollin’ Deep Cinnamon Roll Stout

1) Three Taverns Morning Smack

Best New Lager

3) Pontoon Brewing Hazy River IPL

2) Atlanta Brewing Co. Homestand

1) Gate City Carl Black IPL

Best New “Something Different”

3) Reformation Alani (Beer-Wine Hybrid)

2) Gate City Feed the Bears (Braggot)

1) Monday Night Last Will and Testament (Bourbon barrel-aged Old Ale)

Best New Brewery

3) New Realm Brewing Co.

2) Reformation Brewing – Downtown Woodstock

1) Pontoon Brewing Co.

Honorable Mention: Savannah’s Two Tides Brewing Co. is making an excellent selection of IPAs and sours. They are very limited in distribution at this time but as they expand we’re sure more people will take notice. Their flagship Sixfoot IPA is one of our favorite beers in the state.

Best New Brewpub

1) Beacon Brewing Co.

Note: Beacon was the only nominee that met the criteria and received enough nominations to move ahead to the final voting. The other top nominees did not meet the requirements as a “new” brewpub. Many of them one in this category last year. Y’all gotta read the rules so you don’t waste your nominations!

Best Overall

Best IPA

3) Gate City Awe Juice

2) Chattabrewchee Crow Hop IPA

1) Creature Comforts Tropicalia

Best Double / Imperial IPA

3) Gate City OTP

2) Creature Comforts Cosmik Debris

1) Orpheus Transmigration of Souls

Best Wild / Sour Beer

3) Variant Raspberry Lemon Gose

2) Three Taverns Rapturous

1) Creature Comforts Athena

Best Stout

3) Orpheus Abandon All Hope

2) Scofflaw Vanilla Absentium

1) Wrecking Bar Mexican Siberius Maximus

Best Lager

3) Pontoon Hazy River IPL

2) Gate City Carl Black IPL

1) Creature Comforts Classic City Lager

Best “Something Different”

3) Second Self Thai Wheat

2) Gate City Feed the Bears

1) Monday Night Bourbon Barrel Drafty Kilt

Best Homebrewer

3) Hamp Covington (MAZURT Brewing)

2) Jon Shari (Little Cottage)

1) Jay Brantley

Note: Jay, my man… Congratulations on the win and also for being nominated in every single category in the awards. Best Brewery? Jay Brantley. Best Beer Bar? Jay Brantley. Best Beer Fest? Come on now, you know that’s Jay Brantley! You’ve got one hell of a fan club.

Best Brewery

3) Variant Brewing

2) Monday Night Brewing

1) Creature Comforts Brewing Co.

Best Brewpub

3) Torched Hop

2) Cherry Street Brewing C0-op

1) Wrecking Bar Brewpub

Best Beer Fest

3) Strong Beer Fest

2) Roswell Beer Fest

1) Decatur Beer Fest

Honorable Mentions: Day of the Juice just barely slid into 4th place in this year’s competition. It is an excellent festival and very much worthy of mention. If you didn’t hit Day of the Juice this year make sure to put The Juice Strikes Back on your calendar in 2019. Max Lager’s Old 320 Fest is another one of our favorite events. In addition to a great selection of beers, this event also features phenomenal food, which is great if you’re pounding samples at a beer fest.

Best Beer Bar

3) Truck & Tap

2) The Porter Beer Bar

1) Brick Store Pub

Best Bottle Shop

3) Ale Yeah!

2) Sprayberry Bottle Shop

1) Hop City

Best of Georgia Beer – The Winningest Winners

Most Total Wins

2) Monday Night Brewing | 6 wins (tie)

2) Creature Comforts Brewing Co. | 6 wins (tie)

1) Gate City Brewing | 7 wins

Most Points

1st place = 3 points, 2nd place = 2 points, 3rd place = 1 point

3) Gate City Brewing | 12 points

2) Monday Night Brewing | 13 points

1) Creature Comforts Brewing Co. | 15 points