List of Breweries at the 2009 GABF is now available

The list of breweries attending the 2009 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is now available on the GABF website. Here's the list of the breweries representing Texas this year which is probably the largest number there's ever been:

(512) Brewing Company
Covey Restaurant & Brewery
Fredericksburg Brewing Co. *
Freetail Brewing Co.
Humperdink's Restaurant & Brewery
Independence Brewing Co.
Live Oak Brewing Co.
Lovejoys
North by Northwest Restaurant & Brewery
Rahr & Sons Brewing
Real Ale Brewing Company
Saint Arnold Brewing Company *
Southern Star Brewing
Spoetzl Brewery
Uncle Billy's Brew & Que *

* Medal winners in last years competition.

The festival map should be available later this summer. The map is particularly useful for planing out your tasting strategy. Its pretty overwhelming to walk into the convention center and see rows and rows of breweries and beers that you've never tried or even heard of. If you're attending the festival this year, I suggest reviewing the list of breweries and marking the location of the ones you really want to try on the map before the festival begins. Then prioritize the ones you really want to try and visit them first. A lot of the popular beers can often be unavailable past the first or second tasting session.

The popular Saturday afternoon session is already 80% sold. All sessions have sold out for the past few years, so purchase your tickets soon if you haven't already.