Who makes the best IPA in Colorado? New homegrown beer competition will soon find out.

States like Texas, Minnesota and North Carolina host annual beer competitions that celebrate the best pours from local breweries. Given Colorado’s reputation as the “state of craft beer,” brewers here believe a similar contest is warranted to toast an industry that bolsters the local economy to the tune of $2.5 billion per year.

That sentiment is what inspired the new Colorado Brewers Cup, a first-of-its-kind competition organized by the state brewers guild. The inaugural event took shape in the fall and winter, and the winners will be announced on Jan. 24, coinciding with the conclusion of the Colorado Craft Brewers Summit in Aurora.

According to Shawnee Adelson, executive director of the Colorado Brewers Guild, several brewers had floated the idea for a homegrown competition over the last couple of years. And when she polled the guild’s members in 2024, they “overwhelmingly” supported the idea.

Matt Hess, founder of Denver’s River North Brewery, was one of those in favor of the event. While his brewery is no stranger to placing at the esteemed Great American Beer Festival awards each fall, he hopes a local competition will encourage participation from smaller beer makers and bring the industry as a whole together. At $45 per entry, Hess said the Colorado Brewers Cup is more accessible financially than other events.

“We’re very fortunate to be able to host the Great American Beer Fest every year, which is a very large nationwide competition, but with the way I think Colorado beer drinkers are going these days, doing something local or within our own state is a lot more meaningful,” he said.

Jake Gardner, co-owner and director of brewing operations at Westbound & Down Brewing Co., agrees since the awards will help craft beer fans identify which breweries locally make the best version of their favorite style.

Drinkers using the GABF awards as an indicator need to travel to California to drink the best India pale ales, as operators in that state routinely dominate the hoppy beer accolades. After the Colorado Brewers Cup, several breweries will earn recognition for their prowess making American-style IPAs, hazy pale ales and IPAs, and experimental hoppy beers.

That recognition is especially important in the doldrums of Dry January, Adelson said.

Eligibility to enter the cup was limited to dues-paying members of the guild. About half of its roughly 300 member breweries participated in the inaugural event, Adelson said.

The Colorado Brewers Cup is intentionally smaller than other high-profile contests, with 26 categories where companies can win gold, silver or bronze medals. (For comparison, GABF has more than 100 categories.) Part of that design was because it is a first-year event, Adelson said, but also because the guild wanted the competition to be, well, competitive.

In many instances, judges tasted substyles of beer head-to-head under broader categories. For example, the wood and aged beer category includes stouts, sours, and recipes brewed with fruit. Similarly, red ales, brown ales, black ales, and California Commons all fall under the malty North American beers category.

There are exceptions, however, dictated by the areas where Colorado beer makers thrive. Kölsch stands alone in its own category, Adelson said, because there are a fair number of local breweries that excel in that style.