Record Number of Texas Breweries Attending 2012 GABF

There will be a record 578 breweries serving 2,700 beers (the biggest selection ever) in the festival hall at the 2012 Great American Beer Festival (GABF). There are 676 breweries entered into the competition with 154 first-time entrants.  84 categories of beer will be judged, covering 135 beer styles, as well as the GABF Pro-Am.

Texas has its largest showing ever with 30 breweries listed, up from the previous year of 22.

(512) Brewing Company - Austin
Adelbert's Brewery - Austin
Austin Beerworks - Austin
Black Star Co-op Pub and Brewery - Austin
Circle Brewing Company - Austin
Cornel's Brewing Company - Beaumont
Deep Ellum Brewing Company - Dallas
Flix Brewhouse - Round Rock
Fredericksburg Brewing Company, Inc. - Fredericksburg
Freetail Brewing Co. - San Antonio
Hops & Grain Brewing - Austin
Humperdinks Restaurant and Brewery - Dallas 
Independence Brewing Co. - Austin
Jester King Craft Brewery - Austin
Karbach Brewing Co. - Houston
Live Oak Brewing Co. - Austin
No Label Brewing Co - Katy
North by Northwest - Austin
Pedernales Brewing Company - Fredericksburg 
Peticolas Brewing Company - Dallas
Rahr & Sons Brewing - Fort Worth
Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling - San Antonio
Real Ale Brewing Company - Blanco
Rogness Brewing Company - Pflugerville
Saint Arnold Brewing Company - Houston
Southern Star Brewing Company - Conroe
Spoetzl Brewery - Shiner
Thirsty Planet Brewing - Austin
Uncle Billy`s Brew & Que - Austin
Uncle Billy`s Brew & Que - Austin (Lake Travis)

Four breweries from Texas took home medals last year, including a Silver to a brewery on its first appearance at the festival:

Gold (American-Style Amber Lager): Uberbrau - Humperdink's Restaurant and Brewery
Silver (English-Style Summer Ale): Peacemaker - Austin Beerworks
Silver (Kellerbier or Zwickelbier): Bottle Rocket Lager - Uncle Billy's Brew & Que on Lake Travis
Bronze (Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale): Barton Kriek - North by Northwest

The map of the 2012 GABF convention floor is available on the website. The brewery tasting booths are arranged by region of the country and the attending breweries from Texas are in the Southwest section. If you have any specific breweries and beers that are a "must try", I strongly suggest you download the .pdf file and print the the map and mark the location of those booths. It can be overwhelming and chaotic in the convention center (particularly if this is your first time) and you will definitely miss out on some great beers if you just wander up and down the rows (save that for after you've got to the ones you wanted).  Have a smartphone? Make sure you download the free GABF app for iPhone and Android.