At the Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony this Saturday in Denver, our local brewery (or closest thing to it) did pretty darn well. Flying Dogwas recognized as Mid-Size Brewing Company of the Year, and brewmaster Bob Malone was awarded Brewer of the Year in the same category.

Flying Dog beers took four medals this year: three Golds and one Silver. Their Gold-medal-winning beers this year include Dogtoberfest, for German-style Marzen, Gonzo Imperial Porter, for imperial stout, and Horn Dog Vintage 2007, in the aged beer category. The brewery also picked up a Silver medal for their Barrel-Aged Gonzo, a wood-barrel-aged strong beer.

You lucky dogs can sample all four at a special tasting event this Thursday at the Mayflower Hotel between 5:30 and 8:30pm. Twenty bucks gets you beer and appetizers including duck, carmelized pears, pumpkin cake, and s’mores. No reservations necessary, but it’s a nice place so tuck in those shirts.

Out of all the American breweries that produce between 15,000 and 2 million barrels a year (which is around 80 craft brewing companies), ours was named THE BEST. The Lagerheads are not surprised. Flying Dog won us over last spring when we attended their first Brickskeller tasting since the brewery relocated from Denver to Frederick, MD. Their hard-hitting beers wowed us, and it was these beers that won them three out of four medals last weekend.

What other regional breweries won recognition at GABF this year? Devil’s Devils Backbone in Roseland, Virginia, did almost as well as Flying Dog, bringing back four medals (but only one Gold). For more details on local(ish) winners, check out David’s list at Musings Over a Pint.

If you are curious about how your favorite beers fared, or what beers in your favorite style are heralded as superior, you can download the complete list of all this year’s GABF medal-winning beers here. Warning: it may make you wish you lived on the West Coast.