Battle Creek’s Territorial Brewing Wins Another Award

Territorial Brewing Company has won a bronze medal at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Competition in Denver, Colorado.  It’s the largest commercial beer competition in the world and a symbol of brewing excellence, presented by the Brewers Association.

Berry, Berry, Quite Contrary won the prize in the American-Style Fruit Beer category. Tim Davis, Owner and Head of Brewing Operations at Territorial describes the beer. “It’s a cranberry-raspberry fermented beer.  We call it a fruit-rose lager.  It has a beautiful red color from the cranberries and raspberries.  It’s very dry and has a perceived sweetness from the fruit.  It’s highly carbonated.”

Davis acknowledges that there’s been a tremendous trend lately toward hard seltzers.  “This is probably the closest we’ll come to doing a hard seltzer product at Territorial Brewing Company. This is definitely still a beer.”  Davis says they are getting ready to brew some more Berry, Berry, Quite Contrary.  He says it takes longer to make.

Davis says the recent award was a real boost for him and the staff.  “With everything going on right now, it’s very easy for morale to get low when you’re trying to deal with pandemic restrictions and be as safe as possible.  To win this award right now is a very big deal for us.”

Territorial Brewing Company opened in 2014 at 256 Helmer Road.  They moved from their original location on Helmer Road last December, as they bought the former Springbrook Golf Course and the restaurant located there.   They were barely settled when the pandemic hit.

“We’re doing the best we can.  We’ve had a lot of great support from our customers and the community, and that’s the only reason we’re still here.  We weren’t going to open our beer garden until next year, but because of the pandemic, we kind of pushed that up and expedited it.  It’s not yet what it will be, but we now have the largest beer garden in North America.’

Territorial Brewing Company

• 1600 Avenue A
• Springfield, Michigan 49037
• Open 11am-11pm
• Sunday Brunch at 11 am.  Open for Dinner and Lunch.
• Closed Monday.

Check them out on Facebook. 

Territorial previously won a Gold medal for BC Lite in the World Cup competition.

The Great American Beer Festival is the granddaddy of all U.S. beer festivals, offering the largest collection of U.S. beer ever assembled. The judging panel awards gold, silver, or bronze medals that are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence.   They award bronze medals for beers they consider to be “a fine example of the style that may vary slightly from style parameters and/or have minor deviations in taste, aroma or appearance”.

Judges for the 34th edition of the competition evaluated 8,806 entries from 1,7i20 breweries from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. Socially distanced judging took place in 35 sessions over 18 days, with strict safety measures in place.

Formed in 1997, the Michigan Brewers Guild represents nearly 300 member breweries (a number that increases every month). The Guild is a passionate beer community that believes in quality artisanship, bold character, fun, responsibility, and pushing the boundaries. The mission of the Guild is to promote and protect the Michigan beer industry with an overarching goal to help locally brewed beer attain 20% of all beer sales in the state by 2025.

The West Michigan Tourist Association says Michigan’s brewing industry contributes more than 21,000 full-time jobs and $872 million in labor income, with a total economic impact of over $2.5 billion. In terms of the overall number of breweries, microbreweries, and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation—supporting its title as “The Great Beer State.”