Nashville brewery wins big at global craft beer competition

Raise a glass to local brew, Nashville. One of the city's craft breweries scored a prize Saturday at the celebrated Great American Beer Festival. 

Cumberland Punch, a beer from East Nashville Beer Works, brought home silver in the "American-Style Wheat Beer" category at the annual competition, hosted in Denver. Judges selected the self-described "crushable wheat beer with a slight hop and smooth, refreshing citrus finish" out of 80 entries in the category. 

Known anecdotally as the "Super Bowl of craft beer," the Great American Beer Festival welcomed 2,295 breweries and 9,497 competing beers to its annual Colorado competition. Critiqued by 322 judges from 18 countries, a total 318 beers from 283 breweries earned awards. 

“This year’s GABF competition was the largest and most competitive to date,” GABF competition manager Chris Swersey said in a news release. “The beers and talent were as impressive as ever, and we congratulate this year’s winners for their achievements in brewing.”

Tennessee earned three total medals, with Chattanooga's Hutton & Smith winning twice: A silver in "German-Style Maerzen" for its "Rocktoberfest" brew and bronze in "Scotch Ale" for its strong-drinking staple Wee Heavy Metal. 

Try it yourself

• East Nashville Beer Works: 320 E Trinity Lane; eastnashbeerworks.com. 
• Hutton and Smith: 431 E. M. L. King Blvd #120, Chattanooga; huttonandsmithbrewing.com.