Craft Brew Alliance Celebrates Four Medals from 2018 Great American Beer Festival®

Craft Brew Alliance, Inc. ("CBA”) (Nasdaq: BREW), a leading craft brewing company, today announced that Omission Brewing Co., Widmer Brothers Brewing, and strategic brewery partner Appalachian Mountain Brewery collected a total of four medals, including two gold medals from the 32^nd Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Competition. The top three winners in 102 beer-style categories were announced at an awards ceremony held September 22 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.

"With over 2,400 breweries and a lot of exceptional beers competing for medals at this year’s GABF, we’re incredibly proud to be bringing home four medals, including two gold medals,” said CBA Innovation Brewmaster Thomas Bleigh. "These wins, which represent both nationally available and regionally available beers, are a testament to the quality, creativity, consistency, and talent of our brewers and our commitment to being World Class Craft.”

Omission Brewing Co. received a gold medal for Pale Ale in the Classic English-Style Pale Ale category. Founded in 2012, Omission Brewing Co. is the first craft beer brand in the U.S. focused exclusively on brewing great-tasting beers with traditional beer ingredients, including malted barley, that are specially crafted to remove gluten.

Widmer Brothers Brewing’s flagship Hefeweizen earned a bronze medal in the American-Style Wheat Beer with Yeast category. Kurt and Rob Widmer first brewed their original American Hefeweizen in 1986, and the naturally cloudy wheat beer is one of the industry’s most-awarded beers, with dozens of medals, including nine GABF awards, over the past 32 years.

Appalachian Mountain Brewery, based in Boone, North Carolina, picked up two medals from GABF. The first release in the brewery’s new IPA series, Not an IPA (P.S. it’s an IPA), earned a silver medal in the competition’s second largest category, American-Style India Pale Ale, and their AMB Lager received a gold medal in the American-Style Lager or American-Style Malt Liquor category.

The 2018 GABF competition winners were selected by an international panel of 293 expert judges from 8,496 entries, received from 2,404 U.S. breweries, plus 101 Pro-Am and 49 Collaboration entries.

"The 32^nd edition of the GABF competition yielded a remarkable turnout of the country’s most exemplary beers,” said Chris Swersey, competition manager, Great American Beer Festival. "I’m continuously impressed by contenders’ talent and passion and would like to extend congratulations to this year’s winners for their excellence in brewing.”

For more GABF competition information, including the 2018 winners list and photos, visit GreatAmericanBeerFestival.com.

About Craft Brew Alliance

Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) is a leading craft brewing company that brews, brands, and brings to market world-class American craft beers.

Our distinctive portfolio combines the power of Kona Brewing Company, a dynamic, growing national craft beer brand, with strong regional breweries and innovative lifestyle brands, Appalachian Mountain Brewery, Cisco Brewers, Omission Brewing Co., Redhook Brewery, Square Mile Cider Co., Widmer Brothers Brewing, and Wynwood Brewing Co. CBA nurtures the growth and development of its brands in today’s increasingly competitive beer market through our state-of-the-art brewing and distribution capability, integrated sales and marketing infrastructure, and strong focus on partnerships, local community and sustainability.

Formed in 2008, CBA is headquartered in Portland, Oregon and operates breweries and brewpubs across the U.S. CBA beers are available in all 50 U.S. states and 30 different countries around the world. For more information about CBA and our brands, please visit www.craftbrew.com.

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