WOOSTER: When Paul Fryman walked into JAFB Wooster Brewery on Sunday afternoon, the craft beer drinkers gathered cheered.
Fryman had won a silver medal for his Wooster New Stout the day before at the 28th annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver. And his customers wanted to show their appreciation for their hometown, award-winning brewer.
“This town has a lot of pride,” Fryman said about the reaction. “People really appreciate and respect the brewery. So to win a national award is a neat thing for them.”
Although he won three medals at the event before while working at a brewery in New York, this was the first honor for JAFB Wooster, a seven-barrel production brewery and tasting room at 120 Beall Ave. that opened a little over two years ago.
It’s not easy to win at the Great American Beer Festival, billed as the largest commercial beer competition in the world. This year, there were more than 5,500 entries in the various style categories and only 234 breweries — including three others from Ohio — took home medals.
“They aren’t good odds,” said Fryman, who grew up in West Salem.
He recognizes that national medals can help boost a brewery’s reputation and drive sales.
“This is an industry where that goes a long way,” he said while sharing a beer Monday night at the brewery. “It really does.”
Elmer “Goose” Steingass, a founding member of the Wayne County Brew Club, said he’s pleased to see Fryman being honored.
“He’s working really hard at that place and he’s putting out some good product,” he said. “I’m really happy he’s being recognized for it.”
Fryman plans to put his silver medal on display at the brewery and, confident that more are coming, said: “I’m going to start a collection of them.”
He already has a giant belt framed and on display for winning last year’s Celebration of the Hop, an annual India pale ale and double IPA competition at Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon in North Olmsted.
Wooster New Stout, believe it or not, isn’t on tap right now. JAFB Wooster ran out of it right before the festival.
“I never run out of that beer,” Fryman said, with a laugh.
The timing isn’t great because the brewery is hosting its second anniversary customer appreciation party starting at 8 p.m. Saturday.
The Master Brewers Association of the Americas also is holding a district meeting in Wooster that same day, and brewers from the region are expected to visit his operation.
Fryman knows customers will be asking for Wooster New Stout, a foreign-style stout with about 6.4 percent alcohol by volume. But he’s sure they will find something else they’ll enjoy on the beer menu.
JAFB Wooster routinely offers 15 or 16 draft beers, ranging now from a cream ale to a saison to a Colombian coffee porter on nitro.
The good news is that Wooster New Stout is expected to be back on draft the weekend of Oct. 18.
JAFB Wooster — the JAFB stands for Just Another (expletive) Brewery — is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 3 p.m. to midnight Friday; 1 p.m. to midnight Saturday; and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Here’s a look at the other Ohio winners:
• Columbus Brewing Co. in Columbus won a gold for Creeper in the imperial India pale ale category and a bronze for Bodhi in the American-style IPA category.
Those two beers already have great followings among IPA fans and the new accolades certainly will bolster their already strong reputations. Columbus won in extremely competitive categories. There were 279 entries in the American-style IPA category and 135 in the imperial IPA category.
“I don’t expect to win those kind of things,” Columbus owner and brewer Eric Bean said. “It was pretty cool.”
• Fat Head’s won a gold for its AlpenGlow in the German-style wheat category.
The brewery — which has a brewpub in North Olmsted and production brewery in Middleburg Heights — continued an impressive medal streak. It has won an award at the Great American Beer Festival every year since 2009.
Co-owner and brewer Matt Cole is on an even more impressive streak. He’s won a medal at the event every year since 2005. He brewed at Rocky River Brewing Co. before opening Fat Head’s.
AlpenGlow also is a two-time winner, having taken home a silver medal in 2012.
“It justifies a lot of the hard work and effort that goes into this thing,” Cole said.
• Listermann Brewing Co. in Cincinnati won a bronze for its Nutcase Peanut Butter Porter in the specialty beer category. It was the first medal for Listermann.
“It was exciting,” Listermann’s Jason Brewer said. “It’s one of those things with all the breweries entered, you don’t expect to win.”
To see a rundown of all the Great American Beer Festival winners, go to www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/the-competition/winners/.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his beer blog at www.ohio.com/beer. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ.