The Best Beer Events During GABF Week 2025

Every fall, the Great American Beer Festival draws tens of thousands of beer lovers into downtown Denver. With so many craft beer fans in one place at the same time, some fantastic events outside of the fest have popped up over the years. If you plan carefully and stay well-hydrated, there are some can’t-miss opportunities throughout GABF week — whether you have tickets to the main event or not. Here are some of the very best:

Belgian Brew Fest
Saturday, October 4, 1 to 4 p.m.
Bruz Beers
1675 West 67th Avenue
Bruz has been holding its Belgian Brew Fest since 2017, with a focus on bringing together breweries to showcase Belgian beer styles. “Belgian Beer Fest is a passion project for us,” says co-owner Charlie Gottenkieny. “We love Belgian-style beer, as do all of the participating breweries.” Gottenkieny adds that it will be a fun afternoon to come together and toast Belgian beer culture with food, live music and lots of great beer.

Bruz usually holds the fest earlier in the year but because it was chosen to host the Belgian Import Fest in June, the team decided to move the event to October. Now, it’s primed as a prelude to a jam-packed GABF week. Tickets are $60 and over fifteen breweries will be pouring Belgian-style offerings. Expect local favorites such as River North Brewery, Purpose Brewing, Our Mutual Friend, Milieu Fermentation and Primitive Beer. There will also be select imports on hand from the Duvel-Moortgat group, including Chouffe, Duvel, Boulevard Brewing and Brewery Ommegang. Tickets are $55 and include unlimited tastings. June’s Belgian Import Fest sold out days before the event, so don’t wait to grab tickets to the Brew Fest.

Krispy King Lager Competition
Wednesday, October 8, 2 to 8 p.m.
Barrels & Bottles Brewery
1055 Orchard Street, Golden
Krispy King is in its fourth year, and it continues to grow as craft lager continues to garner heavy interest. Festival organizers Abby and Zach George, owners of Barrels & Bottles, along with head brewer Chris Munda, have hit the nail on the head with Krispy King. “We never imagined when we started this in 2022 that it would grow to what it is today,” says Abby George. “It’s a pretty cool feeling when people tell us that this is their go-to event outside GABF.”

From national heavy-hitter lager breweries such as Enegren Brewing, Chuckanut Brewery, Cloudburst Brewing, Breakside Brewery, Jack’s Abby, Wayfinder Beer and Firestone Walker Brewing, to local lager makers like Fritz Family, Elevation Beer, Glenwood Canyon Brewing and Seedstock Brewery, this event is packed with excellent lagers.

It’s part competition — 45 breweries will vie for a top prize that includes a full pallet of grain from BSG Craft Brewing, with other prizes being donated by Inland Island Yeast and Hop Head Farms. It’s also part festival — patrons can show up beginning at 2 p.m. to purchase any of the 45 beers in the competition on draft. Winners are announced at 6 p.m. Three bands will perform, along with a handful of vendors, including a cigar lounge, and Shuck Brothers will serve oysters and lobster rolls alongside the Barrels & Bottles kitchen. The event is free to attend, with the beers sold individually.

Pints for Prostates’ Rare Beer Tasting: Last Call
Thursday, October 9, noon to 4 p.m.
Bierstadt Lagerhaus
2875 Blake Street
Pints for Prostates is hosting its final tasting this year. The event, which always sells out and raises money for prostate cancer, costs $200 and also includes a popular, free health screening.

So why is the event ending after its sixteenth edition? There are many reasons, but chief among them is that organizer Rick Lyke wants to go out on a strong note. “I’d rather have you asking me that question than having you ask in the future, why did I do this last one?” he notes. Lyke started the festival in 2008, when he was 48 years old. He didn’t know if it would succeed, and he didn’t plan to host the event for over a decade. “This is our largest fundraiser, and it’s a lot of pressure to have last-minute ticket buyers,” he notes of the shift in events in recent years.

A lot has changed in the beer market overall since Lyke started this festival, too. It’s easier than ever to get coveted barrel-aged beers and special releases from around the country, with improved boutique distribution in many states and sites like Tavour becoming popular. Some of the attendees are, as Lyke says, “not getting any younger.” Still, with 20-25 percent new attendees each year, the Rare Beer Tasting will go down as one of the few smoothly run, profitable fundraisers that is closing up shop on a high note.

This year’s event has the usual pristine lineup, with around 55 breweries pouring and at least eight new additions. Among the first-time pourers are Indiana’s Pax Verum, lager expert Schilling Beer from New Hampshire, Virginia’s Benchtop Brewing, New Jersey’s Carton Brewery, and Downshift Brewing out of New Mexico. “We’re known for special barrel-aged beers and higher ABV beers, but we’re not a barrel-aged festival, we’re not a big beer festival. Our approach is to always have something for everybody,” says Lyke.

The free prostate cancer screening will be back, out in front of the venue. This is free to anyone with a prostate, even non-ticket-holders, and it typically attracts 100 to 150 people per year.

Paired
Thursday, October 9, 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Friday, October 10, 5:30 to 9 p.m.
Colorado Convention Center
700 14th Street
Dozens of top chefs team up to pair small bites with 2-ounce samples of craft beer at this event. This simple, but powerful premise makes Paired one of the best events of GABF week. Big Grove Brewery’s executive chef, Sean Towley, agrees. “This is the sixth year I’ve been involved, and every time there is something new from the chefs and brewers involved,” he says. Towley isn’t actually a drinker himself — he relies on tasting notes from his team. “I’m very good at conceptualizing flavors in my head,” he says. Instead of being paired with the beer from Big Grove, Towley actually pairs up with another brewery, while Big Grove’s beer is paired with another chef’s dish. This creates some added challenges, but also allows for additional creativity.

Attendees can expect to see beer from Allagash Brewing, Highland Park Brewery, Dogfish Head Brewery, KANE Brewing, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Outer Range Brewing, Other Half Brewing, Schilling Beer and more. Tickets can be purchased for $129 per session, or combined with a GABF experience for $199.

Great American Beer Festival
Thursday, October 9, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Friday, October 10, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 11, 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Colorado Convention Center
700 14th Street
The main event of the week is the big festival. New this year is a distilling experience, billed as showcasing a curated selection of distilled spirits from over twenty producers in the form of .25-ounce samples. The festival has retooled and adapted in recent years, adding Experience Areas — places where patrons can participate in entertainment options like dancing and lawn games. The entire fest itself, once solely about the beer, now resembles something a bit closer to Germany’s Oktoberfest — a place where beer is the primary focus, but there are enough ancillary components that even non-beer drinkers might attend to sample cider, seltzer and non-alcoholic options.

Tickets range from $85 for the Thursday session to $95 for Friday or Saturday. A full 3-day pass costs $220. Designated driver tickets cost $35 per session.