GABF 2026 Winners, Admiral Maltings Closes and Constellation's $75 Million Vodka Sports Drink in "Zombie Shark Fight"

The 2026 Great American Beer Festival went outdoors for the first time, craft maltster Admiral Maltings has shut down, and Constellation Brands paid $75 million for a vodka sports drink. The new Craft Beer Republic episode, "Zombie Shark Fight," welcomes back Erica of Neck Nosh for a GABF winners quiz, a Bourbon County Stout confession, an Eagle Park French fry scandal, and one very misspelled tattoo.

GABF 2026 Goes Outdoors

The Great American Beer Festival handed out its 2026 medals after holding the festival outdoors for the first time. After plenty of jokes about Denver in October being a coin flip between 90 degrees and 20, the weather landed near 80.

This year's competition drew 7,267 beer and cider entries, and 243 breweries and cideries took home medals. West Coast IPA was the biggest category with 277 entries, followed closely by hazy IPA with 260.

GABF 2026 IPA Winners

In West Coast IPA, silver went to Born Hoppy from Taproom Beer Co. in San Diego, and bronze went to Mosaic + Krush Cryo West Coast IPA from pFriem Family Brewers in Hood River, Oregon. Greg and Flex had some thoughts on that name.

In hazy IPA, silver went to Icy Fog from McMenamins in Portland, which got a big reaction from Erica, and bronze went to The Goat from New York Beer Project in Orchard Park, New York.

GABF 2026 Brewery of the Year Winners

Brewery of the Year is split up by how much beer a brewery makes, and the West Coast had a strong showing. Breakside Brewery in Milwaukie, Oregon, briefly gave Flex hope for Wisconsin.

• Up to 250 barrels: Blendery in Alexandria, Virginia

• 251 to 500 barrels: Up Liquids in Bend, Oregon

• 501 to 1,000 barrels: Cannonball Creek Brewing in Golden, Colorado

• 1,001 to 2,000 barrels: Craft Coast in Oceanside, California

• 2,001 to 5,000 barrels: Morgan Territory Brewing in Tracy, California

• 5,001 to 15,000 barrels: Fieldwork Brewing in Berkeley, California

• 15,001 to 100,000 barrels: Breakside Brewery in Milwaukie, Oregon

• Over 100,000 barrels: Goose Island

• Cider Maker of the Year: Snow Capped Cider

Rice Lager and Bourbon County Take Gold

Rice lager was one of this year's new GABF categories, drawing 110 entries, and gold went to Oni Girl from Masthead Brewing in Cleveland. Goose Island's 2025 Bourbon County Proprietor's Stout also won gold in the dessert or pastry beer category.

The GABF Weird Beer Names Quiz

Greg had Claude pull some of the strangest names from the GABF winners list and quizzed Flex and Erica on what style each one was. The answers were mostly wrong.

Zombie Shark Fight, the beer behind the episode title, sounded like a hazy IPA to everyone. It's actually an Italian-style pilsner from Green Cheek Beer Co. that took bronze. Satan's Pony from South Street Brewery in Charlottesville, Virginia, took gold as a Scottish-style ale, and Feral Garden Gnome from Liability Brewing in Greenville, South Carolina, took gold as a Belgian-style abbey ale. Shower Beer was the easy one: an American lager from Masthead Brewing that took gold.

Flex's Bourbon County Stout Confession

The Bourbon County news reminds Flex of a bottle his brother-in-law picked up for him at Costco a few years back. Flex let it sit in his fridge for months because he didn't want to drink it, after years of ragging on Goose Island. When he finally poured it, the joke was on Flex.

Admiral Maltings Shuts Down

Craft maltster Admiral Maltings has ceased operations, with its final batch of malt coming out of the kiln. In a social post, the company said it couldn't make and sell malt economically. Greg notes that plenty of the fancy brewers he knows use Admiral malt.

Constellation Brands Buys Spiked Aid for $75 Million

Constellation Brands bought Spiked Aid, a ready-to-drink brand that mixes sports drink flavors with a vodka base, for $75 million. It's zero sugar, 100 calories, and not carbonated. None of the three hosts had heard of it, and all three agree it sounds syrupy.

Erica's Advanced Cicerone Friend

Erica's friend Rachel is one of only 211 advanced cicerones in the world, and she still happily drinks Miller Lite and PBR. Erica used Rachel's credentials to tell a local brewery they were coming on a bar crawl, and the brewery set up a table, free tastings, and a tour. Erica also recaps her latest Beer Babes release, a seltzer brewed with Mindscape Fermentations.

The Eagle Park French Fry Revolt

Flex's favorite brewery, Eagle Park Brewing, once swapped out its famous French fries. The regulars revolted, and the new fries lasted about two to three weeks before the old ones came back.

Tattoos and Scooters

Greg and Erica are both fresh out of the tattoo chair, which reminds Flex of his script tattoo: he wrote "dying" on the paper, and the artist inked "DIEING" anyway. How Flex fixed it stays off the air.

The episode closes with a 29-year-old woman who fell off her motorized scooter, got help up from a witness, and scooted away anyway. Her breath readings came back over three times the legal limit. That gets Greg gushing about riding Lime scooters in San Francisco, until he remembers his boss offering to pay him to quit.

Beers We're Drinking

Erica: Sierra Nevada West Ghost

Erica is drinking West Ghost from Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., a 7.2% West Coast IPA with Amarillo, Citra, Idaho 7 and Magnum hops that she calls bright and true, in a can so cute Flex rates it ten out of ten without a sip.

Flex: Eagle Park Brewing Rectifier

Flex is drinking Rectifier from Eagle Park Brewing, a 7.8% West Coast IPA with Mosaic, Chinook, Simcoe and Cashmere hops that he calls a banger, smartly sold in 12-ounce cans.

Greg: Obercreek Brewing Company Sole Purpose

Greg is drinking Sole Purpose from Obercreek Brewing Company, a 5% single-hop Nelson hazy pale ale and a craft beer gift from Non-Murderer John that Greg calls world class.

Listen to Craft Beer Republic: Zombie Shark Fight

"Zombie Shark Fight" is available now from Craft Beer Republic, with Greg, Flex and Erica covering craft beer news, the 2026 GABF winners, Admiral Maltings, Constellation Brands, Goose Island Bourbon County, Sierra Nevada, Eagle Park Brewing and Obercreek Brewing Company. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app!