This week the city of Denver will be set upon by all manner of beer geeks, beer makers, beer drinkers, beer writers . . . pretty much anyone with a stake in American craft beer will be at the 33rd Annual  Great American Beer Festival. Including us. Here, the enormity of this event (and, by extension, the growth of craft beer), by the numbers:

2 – GABF is actually 2 events – a massive beer judging competition, and a massive-er beer festival held at the Colorado Convention Center.

800 – number of attendees at the first GABF in 1982 (in Boulder, not Denver). That number no doubt included a healthy dose of leg warmers and Benetton shirts.

49,000 – number of attendees the festival has been capped at since 2009. It sold out again this year.

42 – number of minutes GABF took to sell out this year. That’s almost 20 tickets per second.

22, 40 – number of breweries and beers poured at the original event.

700, 3,500 – number of breweries and beers being poured at this year’s event.

4,809 – total number of beers entered for judging last year, a 12% increase from 2012.

89 – total categories of beer styles being judged this year

10 – beers we’ve entered for judging this year:
Hoppyum IPA
Jade IPA
IPA of the Month
People’s Porter
People’s Coffee Porter
Torch Pilsner
Carolina Blonde Ale
Cottonwood Pumpkin Ale
Baltic Porter
Sexual Chocolate

5 – number of beers we’re pouring at our GABF booth this year:
Jade IPA
September IPA of the Month
Cottonwood Pumpkin
Hoppyum IPA
Sexual Chocolate

7 – number of GABF medals Foothills has won over the years (including 2 gold)

V12 – Our booth number at GABF this year. Come see us!