Skip to main content
27th September 2018

Guild members triumph at NAGBW awards

John Holl

Guild of Beer Writers members triumphed at the annual awards organised by the North American Guild of Beer Writers (NAGBW), announced earlier this month within the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

Congratulations to members Christopher Barnes, Pete Brown, Claire Bullen, Matthew Curtis, Breandán Kearney,  John Holl and Eoghan Walsh,  took a total of 15 awards between them.

And the winners were:

Best Book

  1. Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out by Josh Noel
  2. Miracle Brew by Pete Brown
  3. Beer is for Everyone!: Of Drinking Age by Em Sauter

Best Blog

  1. Beer Travelist by Brian Spencer
  2. Beervana by Jeff Alworth
  3. Brussels Beer City by Eoghan Walsh

Honorable Mention: PeteBrown.net by Pete Brown

Best Short Form Writing

  1. Kettle souring is quicker, cheaper way to make sour beers, but don’t knock them for that by Zak Stambor, Chicago Tribune
  2. B-Roll: no. 393 by Claire Bullen, Good Beer Hunting
  3. Shanghai Postcard by Brian Spencer, Beer Travelist

Best Beer Review

  1. 12 Beers of Christmas by Tom Bedell, The A Position
  2. Ode to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale by John Holl, Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine
  3. Fundamentals #26 by Matthew Curtis, Hop Burns & Black

Honorable Mention: Beer Basics by Crystal and Tara Luxmore, Food & Drink

Best Technical Writing

  1. A surprise in the Yeast by John Holl, Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine
  2. Out of Control by Breandán Kearney, Belgian Beer & Food
  3. Homebrewing With Natural Spring Water by Dan Rabin, All About Beer

Best Beer and Food Writing

  1. GBH Provisions — Slow-Roasted Lamb Ribs with Ramp Yogurt Sauce and Burning Sky Saison Anniversaire by Claire Bullen and Matthew Curtis, Good Beer Hunting
  2. Pairing Food & Beer Without Rhyme or Reason by Zak Stambor, October
  3. Bittersweet Endings by Jeff Cioletti, FSR Magazine

Honorable Mention: Even Ugly Fruit is Beautiful to Atlas Brew Works by Sarah Jane Curran, craftbeer.com

Best Beer Commentary

  1. Parents, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up in Breweries (Or Bars) by Tara Nurin, Forbes
  2. Craft Beer Enters the Upside Down – A Design Analysis by Kyle Kastranec, Good Beer Hunting
  3. Boom in sugary pastry stouts anything but a sweet success for craft brewers by Josh Noel, Chicago Tribune

Best Business Writing

  1. Hop Vendors Swallow A Bitter Pill As They Confront An Oversaturated Market & Customers Who Can’t Pay by Tara Nurin, Forbes
  2. Reviews: Taking the Good with the Bad by John Holl, Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine
  3. How Ballast Point, once one of the fastest growing craft breweries, lost its mojo – and how it might get it back by Greg Trotter, Chicago Tribune

Best Historical Writing

  1. Craft Brewing and The Evolution of American Culture by Mike Kallenberger, The New Brewer
  2. Beer & the City // Surviving Brusselization: the Fate of Brasseries Atlas by Eoghan Walsh, Brussels Beer City
  3. A Stirring Tale Behind the Father of Homebrewing’s Famous Spoon by Marty Jones, craftbeer.com

Honorable Mention: Beer in the Shadow of War by Christopher Barnes, All About Beer

Best National or International Reporting

  1. A Nanoblendery Grows in Belgium: New Stirrings in the Old World of Lambic Beer by Gail Ann Williams & Steve Shapiro, Beer Advocate
  2. In Bermondsey, a Steady Heartbeat — The Kernel in London England by Claire Bullen, Good Beer Hunting
  3. Monumental — Remembering Michael Jackson’s Impact on Belgian Beer 10 Years After His Death by Breandán Kearney, Good Beer Hunting

Honorable Mention: Sexism in Beer: The Experiences of Women by Jeff Alworth, Beervana

Best Local Reporting

  1. Sonoma Pride: 50 breweries join Russian River’s fire relief cause by Alyssa Pereira, San Francisco Chronicle
  2. Barrel-aged beer battle: Is Goose Island or Revolution Chicago’s king? by Josh Noel, Chicago Tribune
  3. Brewing a Bunch by Crystal Luxmore, The Growler

Best Beer Podcast/Broadcast

  1. The Belgian Smaak Podcast by Breandán Kearney
  2. Good Beer Hunting Podcast by Matthew Curtis
  3. Good Beer Matters by Jeremy Storton

Honorable Mention: Tales from the Cask by Jennifer Balik, Chip Mims and Tony Walldroff

Best Beer and Travel Writing

  1. Brewing in the Land of the Thunder Dragon: The Farmhouse Beer Culture of Buddhist Bhutan by Martin Thibault
  2. The Fermenting Ecosystem: Scratch Brewing in Ava, Illinois by Grace Weitz
  3. Destinations: Honolulu, Hawaii by Alexander Gates