Two Greater Cincinnati breweries walked out of the largest commercial craft beer competition in the world with gold medals this past weekend.
Brink Brewing in College Hill and Third Eye Brewing in Sharonville brought home the gold from the Great American Beer Festival. Mason-based Sonder Brewing scored its first GABF medal, as well, taking bronze in the wood- or barrel-aged sour beer category with French 75, a gin barrel-aged wild ale.
Brink struck gold with Father G’s Bees Honey Brown Ale, which was deemed the bee’s knees among the honey beers at GABF.
Third Eye Brewing’s Higher Purpose Milk Stout earned its first GABF gold medal in the sweet stout/cream stout category, which was won in each of the previous three years by Brink's Moozie Milk Stout. Higher Purpose also won gold in the U.S. Open Beer Championship just a week prior.
Higher Purpose is known as the “Maya beer” at Third Eye. Third Eye co-founders Tom and Bonnie Collins lost their daughter, Maya, to leukemia after a 6 ½ year battle in 2017. Of each purchase of Higher Purpose, 10% goes to the Live Like Maya Foundation, which is dedicated to funding pediatric cancer research, providing financial assistance to families of children battling cancer and continuing Maya's legacy of fostering kindness and goodwill within the community.
