Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival is the yearly festival and competition of the Brewers Association, the trade group of American craft brewers, held in Denver each autumn. The organisers call it “the premier U.S. beer competition, crowning the finest beverages in over 100 beer and cider styles”. For visitors, it is a tasting festival: breweries pour their beers and ciders, and you walk from one stand to the next.

Great American Beer Festival 2026

The 2026 festival took place on 10 and 11 October. For that edition, the organisers moved it outdoors for the first time, from the Colorado Convention Center, downtown, to the Levitt Pavilion, an open-air music venue in Ruby Hill Park, south-west of downtown. The dates of the 2027 edition had not been published when this page was checked, on 21 October 2026: the official FAQ gave them as “TBD”. Watch the official site, which announces each edition.

Tickets

In 2026 a ticket cost 66.53 dollars and covered one four-hour session. The price included a 3 dollar facility fee and 3.53 dollars of processing fees, so there was nothing to add at checkout. The Saturday session was shown as sold out on the ticket page on 29 September 2026, eleven days before the festival, and it still was on 6 October. The Sunday session was on sale at the same price on 29 September. Prices for the next edition had not been published on 21 October 2026.

What to taste

• American craft beer, side by side. With many breweries in one place, a session is a chance to compare styles you would otherwise taste one brewery at a time: pale ales and IPAs, the hop-forward styles American craft brewing is known for, but also lagers, stouts and sour beers.
• Cider. The organisers put cider next to beer, and the competition judges cider styles too.
• A plan helps. Four hours go fast. Pick a few styles or regions before you arrive and taste them in a row, rather than queueing at random.

Practical tips

• Eat first, drink water. A tasting session is a long afternoon on your feet, and the 2026 sessions were outdoors. Have a meal before, and alternate with water.
• Dress for October in Denver. The city sits about a mile above sea level, and an autumn afternoon can be warm in the sun and cool in the shade: bring layers.
• Leave the car. Use a taxi, a ride-hailing app or public transport, so nobody has to drive after the session.
• Check the venue before you book. The festival moved outdoors in 2026: confirm on the official site where the next edition is held, and how to get there.

Where to stay and budget

Downtown Denver, around Union Station, puts you close to the light rail and the A Line train from the airport. For one session, budget the ticket (66.53 dollars per person in 2026), plus transport and meals. Two sessions cost 133.06 dollars in 2026.

Combine with

In 2026, the following weekend brought the New York City Wine & Food Festival (15 to 18 October) and the Wellfleet OysterFest on Cape Cod (17 and 18 October) to the East Coast. New York has announced its 2027 edition for 14 to 17 October 2027. A distillery trip is another option: the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and the Jack Daniel Distillery in Tennessee run tours.