KVCC, Six Local Brewers Win Medals At 2021 at Major Beer Festival

Kalamazoo Valley Community College and six Michigan brewers all picked up some hardware at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival. The winners were announced on Friday, September 10th.

As a point of local pride, all of the Michigan medal winners are from West or Southwest Michigan.

The gold medal winner was Fennville's Waypost Brewing for "Saison", their classic saison (a pale ale that is highly carbonated, fruity, spicy, and often bottle conditioned) beer.

Among the four silver medal winners was a rising local favorite from Bell's, No, Yeah! and beers from smaller brewers: "Iron Lion: Blonde" a Belgian or French-style ale from Albion Malleable Brewing, "Küsterer Original Weissbier" from Cedar Springs Brewing in Kent County, Penetrator from Territorial Brewing in Springfield/Battle Creek, a German-Style Doppelbock.

But here's something that probably has the students in Texas Township crowing, Kalamazoo Valley Community College's beer program picked up a bronze medal for "Sunflower", and contemporary gose style beer. (According to wikipedia, it's pronounced "goze-uh", "a warm fermented beer...usually brewed with at least 50% of the grain bill being malted wheat. Dominant flavors in gose include a lemon sourness, a herbal characteristic, and a strong saltiness (the result of either local water sources or added salt)...Gose beers typically do not have prominent hop bitterness, flavors, or aroma. The beers typically have a moderate alcohol content of 4 to 5% ABV.)

KVCC was the first school in the country to offer a sustainable brewing degree, in 2015. The program is tied to a continuing program at Western Michigan University.

The seventh medal winner, a bronze, went to Bridgman's Transient Artisan Ales for their Cask Aged Rye Lagger.

Get our free mobile app

Zymurgy's 2020 Top Ten Beers In The U.S....In Their Own Words.

Bell's Brewery Again Tops Zymurgy's 2020 Top Ten Beers In The U.S With Two Beers

LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.

LOOK: What major laws were passed the year you were born?

Data for this list was acquired from trusted online sources and news outlets. Read on to discover what major law was passed the year you were born and learn its name, the vote count (where relevant), and its impact and significance.

Filed Under: beer

Categories: Articles, Beer & Wine