Texas breweries earn nine medals

Shiner Bock is a dark, Bavarian-style beer. Shiner Bock is a dark, Bavarian-style beer. Photo: Carlos Antonio Rios, Chronicle Photo: Carlos Antonio Rios, Chronicle Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Texas breweries earn nine medals 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

DENVER -- Texas breweries earned nine medals, including five gold, on Saturday at the Great American Beer Festival.

The Texas contingent was led by the Spoetzl Brewery, maker of the Shiner line, with three first-place medals.

Real Ale Brewing of Blanco, owned by Houston native Brad Farbstein, won two silver medals. That included a second-place for its best-selling Firemans #4.

No Houston breweries medaled in the crowded field.

The GABF judges received a record 4,338 entries from 666 breweries.

Texas winners were:

Gold - Austin brewpub Uncle Billy's Brew & Que-Lake Travis won first place in the kellerbier or zwickelbier category for Bottle Rocket.

Spoetzl's Shiner Oktoberfest won in the German-style Marzen category and its best-known beer, Shiner Bock, won in the American-style dark lager category. It also earned gold in the German-style schwarzbier category for its Bohemian Black Lager.

Peticolas Brewing of Dallas won gold in the classic English-style pale ale category for Royal Scandal.

Silver - Real Ale took silver for Firemans #4 in the golden or blonde ale category and for Hans' Pils in the German-style Pilsener category.

Fort Worth-based Rahr & Sons won silver in the Scotch ale category for Iron Thistle.

Bronze - Humperdinks Restaurant and Brewery of Dallas won third-place bronze in the American-style amber lager category for Uberbrau.