The self appointed "state of craft beer" backed up that motto Thursday night with a strong showing at the 2018 World Beer Cup in Nashville.
"When we started with the awards it was one Colorado brewery after another," Launch Pad Brewery Owner David Levesque said. "We just looked at each other because Colorado was winning a lot of medals."
By the time it was over, Colorado brewers had won 28 of the 303 medals awarded. Launch Pad was one of them, earning a bronze medal in the 'session' category for its 'Peacekeeper Porter.' It's becoming a decorated recipe after having also won silver at Great American Beer Festival last year. Still, winning a World Beer Cup medal felt different to Levesque.
"Mexico was winning awards, Japan was winning awards, the UK and Canada were all winning awards in these categories we compete in," Levesque said. "You're competing against everybody in the world for these beer titles and I think that puts it on another level."
8,234 beers were considered for 303 possible medals in 101 beer-style categories. brewers from 66 countries were represented. Of the 2,515 breweries that participated, 807 were from outside the United States. Still, Colorado made it's mark. Radcraft's Emily Hutto believes that's a reflection of the maturity of Colorado's beer scene.
"I'm talking to a lot of people who look at Colorado as a very developed craft beer scene," Hutto said. "In order to compete in such a saturated beer state, you have to make great beer."
That's exactly what Levesque plans to do until the next World Beer Cup provides another chance to compete against the world's top brewers in 2020. Until then, Levesque's Launch Pad team is looking forward to getting back to Aurora and celebrating with their customers.