For the first time since 2007, Longmont breweries went home empty-handed at the Great American Beer Festival.
Out of 1300 breweries competing in the GABF, 243 from across the United States won 336 medals. The four Longmont breweries participating — Bootstrap Brewing Company, Left Hand Brewing Company, Dry Dock Brewing Company, and Wibby Brewing — weren’t one of them. In all, Longmont had 18 beers up for judgment. The snub is a historic one, especially for a city whose breweries have won 58 medals since scoring its first in 1994.
Left Hand dominant:
Left Hand has won more than half of Longmont’s medals — 32, in all. In fact, it’s the fifth-most decorated in all of Colorado. Only The Sandlot Brewery (47), Coors Brewing Company (43), Rock Bottom Brewery (36), and New Belgium Brewing Company (33) have more.
Prior to 2026, Left Hand had won a medal in four consecutive years, including two golds: the Breakfast in Brussels (Barley Wine) in 2025 and the Sawtooth Ale (Amber) in 2023.
The Sawtooth is Left Hand’s most decorated beer: It’s won 7 GABF medals, four of which are gold.
Only four times since 1994 has a Longmont brewery failed to win at least one medal: 2002, 2005-2007.
Besides Left Hand, Oskar Blues Brewery and Boostrap have won the most medals in Longmont with eight. Pumphouse is next with five medals.
Fun fact:
A silver lining for Left Hand — They may only have one GABF medal since 2025, but they’ve acquired two breweries in the same timeframe: Dry Dock and Bootstrap.
Tongue-in-cheek fun fact:
It’s unclear whether the merger has improved beer quality. Pre-merger, Dry Dock and Bootstrap had combined for 35 medals (27 from Dry Dock). Post-merger, zero.