BILLINGS- If you have ever been to Uberbrew in Billings and sampled the Alpha Force Double Tap black ale, you were sipping on a gold medal winner.
The local ale took home the gold medal in the American style black ale category at the Great American Beer Festival, which is held annually in Denver.
Founded in 1982, the 2018 festival represents the largest collection of American beer ever served in a public tasting.
The festival ran September 20-22 and featured 2,404 breweries, entering 8,496 beers, in 102 different categories, being judged by 293 judges.
Festival-goers could sample 4,000 of the beers from 800 of the breweries on the festival grounds.
The American style black ale category had 47 total entries.
Other Montana Breweries being rewarded for their excellence were Lewis and Clark Brewing in Helena, which took home a gold and a silver, and Philipsburg Brewing Company in Philipsburg, which grabbed one bronze medal.
Those looking forward to the 2019 Great American Beer Festival can pencil Oct. 3-5 into their calenders.
