By Ed Westemeier
Enquirer contributor

Our region's annual fall microbrew festival, sponsored by BarrelHouse Brewing Co., is coming up Nov. 9. It's always a popular event among those of us who like to sample a wide range of beers without having to buy them in quantity. (For more on the festival, go to www.barrelhouse.com.)

While this is the only Greater Cincinnati event of its kind, I recognized quite a few Tristate beer lovers at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver (GABF), held Oct. 3-5. The Denver festival is one of the premier beer events in the world, and I was privileged to judge the competition for the first time. I thought you might like a behind-the-scenes look at how the Denver festival works.

This year's GABF saw some 1,800 beers from more than 300 breweries in competition for medals in 58 categories. How do judges decide which ones get the awards? With a lot of hard work, believe it or not.

This year, the GABF used about 90 judges - professional brewers, brewing scientists, beer writers and similarly qualified experts from several countries. The festival didn't open until Thursday evening, but judges had to arrive two days earlier.

We began our work that Tuesday evening (Oct. 1) with a review of the style categories, the rules for judging and a special calibration seminar, which is an opportunity to taste and smell scientifically controlled samples of beers with problems that put them just slightly out of style. During the session, everyone gets to comment, and it's a marvelous opportunity to get the palates of all the judges synchronized.

Judging began in earnest Wednesday morning. Three judges are assigned to evaluate 12 beers in a category, with a number of other three-judge panels also tasting similar beers. All 12 beers are set before each judge at once. Each 2-ounce sample arrives in a clear tasting cup, identified only by a number.

This was a first-round session, so we filled out a sheet of notes on each beer. This form asks for ratings and descriptions on color and appearance, aroma, bitterness, alcohol, style, flavor, balance, technical quality, carbonation and other comments. After individually completing the forms in silence, we agreed by consensus on the three best examples of our 12 beers to go on to a second round.

When all the first-round panels completed their work, the top three beers from each panel were assigned to a second round and presented to a panel of six judges who had been on a first-round panel in that style.

In a second round, new forms are not filled out, but the judges rank the beers to determine the first-, second- and third-place awards. In a few cases, the judges decide there is no entry that is good enough to qualify for a particular award, so you might see categories with only a gold and silver medal, or possibly even only a silver and bronze.

Most judges sit on one first-round panel and one second-round panel in each session, with two sessions a day. This generally means tasting 40 to 50 beers a day, although it's not unusual to actually drink only 1/2 ounce of each sample. All the judges I know make sure they have a hearty breakfast and lunch to avoid letting the alcohol affect their judgment.

Judging sessions are held morning and afternoon, Wednesday through Friday, and the awards are announced at the Saturday afternoon session. It's an enormous amount of work, but also an enjoyable time. I highly recommend a visit to the GABF.

There were no winners from Greater Cincinnati this year. But Cleveland Chophouse & Brewery took a first place in the Bohemian-style Pilsner category, and Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Cleveland won a first for its Edmund Fitzgerland Porter.

Samuel Adams, which is based in Boston but operates a brewery in Cincinnati, brought home a gold for its Double Bock in the German-style Doppelbock category, and McDoogin's Irish Stout, from Thirsty Dog in Akron, won a gold medal in the Classic Irish-Style Dry Stout category. (For a list of all the winners, go to http://www.beertown.org.)

I'll be at the BarrelHouse for the Nov. 9 festival, where I expect a much more relaxed atmosphere. I hope to see you there.

E-mail Ed Westemeier at hopfen@malz.com