PA Chefs, Craft Brewers Compete At Great American Beer Festival

PENNSYLVANIA — Some of the nation's greatest chefs and brewers are competing this week at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The event will feature a Keystone State chef and five of the state's tastiest breweries.

Now in its 40th year, the festival will feature more than 2,000 beers from 500 breweries, including Pennsylvania's Conshohocken Brewing Co. (Conshohocken), 2SP Brewing Company (Aston), Lion Brewery Inc. (Wilkes-Barre), Yards Brewing Company (Philadelphia), and Troegs Brewing Co. (Hershey).

Meanwhile Chef Brad Daniels, owner of Tresini Bar & Cucina in Ambler, will have two of his creations featured alongside two separate award-winning drinks.

At the Thursday-Saturday event, Daniels and others will be competing for gold, silver, or bronze medals and the coveted “Brewer of the Year” title.

Daniels' career started as a pasta cook for Marc Vetri, the James Beard Award winning chef. The Festival's site explains: "As the Vetri family grew so did Brad’s role. It was only a matter of time before the fire that started in his youth would drive him to open his own restaurant."

At the Festival, Daniels' spicy strawberry margherita piatto will be paired with a Barrel Aged Rose (an Italian Grape Ale) from Greenwood Village, Colorado's Spice Trade Brewing.

He'll also have his New Jersey Bison Polpetine paired with Spice Trade Brewing's Rabarbaro Quad, a Belgian Quad.

Hosted by the Brewers Association, the trade organization representing more than 5,600 small and independent American craft brewers, the festival is once again an in-person event at the Colorado Convention Center after two years of a pandemic-imposed hiatus.

The festival’s craft beer and food pairing event, PAIRED, is back with the in-person event. It pairs 25 chefs and 25 breweries collaborating on a tasting menu.

The craft beer festival, considered a beer lover’s bucket-list item, has grown exponentially over its 40-year history. Just 24 brewers brought 47 beers to the first Great American Beer Festival in 1982.

If you love beer and are in the Denver area, check for ticket availability.