Promote Your Win

Award-winning brewing companies are encouraged to use their Great American Beer Festival® (GABF®) awards in public relations and advertising campaigns. Each award-winning brewing company planning to make any reference to the Great American Beer Festival in any promotion is required to sign a licensing agreement with the Brewers Association, which was a part of the registration process.

This licensing agreement allows only for promotion of awards won from the GABF® competition and does not grant permission to utilize post-event judge feedback in any public or promotional manner, including information on an entry’s advancement through the various rounds of judging, or any other information conveyed on judge feedback. This information is confidential and for internal brewery use only.

The guidelines for using the Great American Beer Festival name and trademark are outlined in the Post Event Publicity Rules below. To preserve the integrity of the Great American Beer Festival and the credibility of its results for all those concerned, reference to Great American Beer Festival awards are governed by these rules:

1. Always have your artwork pre-approved by the Brewers Association.
   Allow 21 business days for submissions. 
   A submission is not deemed to be received until it has been acknowledged in writing or/and by e-mail and assigned a submission number. The first 5 submissions per award winning brand shall be at no charge. The sixth and any subsequent submissions will be charged an administrative fee of $200 per submission. Requests for approval can be emailed to the GABF team.
2. In all cases, reference to an award must include a mention of the category in which the award was received. Category must be referenced in a font size equal to the size used to reference the award. See # 8.
3. In all cases, reference to an award must specify the type of award received (i.e., gold; silver; bronze ). Type of award must be referenced in a font size equal to the size used to reference the award. See # 8.
4. In all cases, reference to an award must include a mention of the year it was received. The year must be referenced in a font size equal to the size used to reference the award. See # 8.
5. In all cases, reference to an award must include the name of the beer and brewery exactly as entered in the Great American Beer Festival for the year in which the award was received. See the winners list for exact wording on competition entries.
6. If a brewery has more than one location and submits entries from multiple locations, only the location which submitted the winning entry may “wear” the medal. In all promotions of the win, the location is required to be included in the callouts. 
7. Reference to an award must state the name of any alcohol beverage industry member directly or indirectly owning 25% or more interest (including stock or other equity interest) in the winning brewing company. This requirement does not apply to ownership by an alcohol beverage industry member producing less than six million barrels annually (as calculated using “controlled group” rules of 26 U.S.C. § 5051). The name of the industry member must appear in direct conjunction with the reference to the award and in a manner reasonably calculated to inform the public of the ownership of the winning brewing company. Situations triggering this requirement include those where the winning brewer is part of a “controlled group” of brewers with a combined production in excess of six million barrels, with the threshold for finding a “controlled group” being an interest of 25% or greater, and also includes direct or indirect ownership by a winery, distillery, alcohol beverage distributor, or alcohol beverage importer.
8. All of the above required items must be in a font size large enough to be read in the format in which they are presented, and in direct conjunction with the reference to the award.
   • The Great American Beer Festival mark shall be presented in English language. Additional statements in other languages may be made, if the statements do not conflict with, and are not contradictory to, the requirements of this subpart.
9. Always use the ® when using the Great American Beer Festival medal logo. It is a registered trademark of the Brewers Association. When writing the words “Great American Beer Festival” or “GABF” an ® must  be used after first mention. The GABF logo is not available for use.
10. Promotions or any other mentions of the Great American Beer Festival and Great American Beer Festival awards may not mention other brewing companies aside from disclosures required by paragraph 6 above, nor the name of any judge or judges serving as a part of the Great American Beer Festival judging or evaluation. Ads that make reference to other brewing companies either by name or by reference will not receive approval, except as to required comply with paragraph 7 above.
11. The Great American Beer Festival mark includes the words and design elements and should appear exactly as it appears on the art supplied by the Brewers Association. The mark may not be changed in any manner. The standard license signed by winning breweries includes permission to use the Great  American Beer Festival mark only in pre-approved advertising/promotions (print/web, etc.) The standard license does not grant permission to use the GABF mark on any merchandise promoting the win (shirts, hats, glassware, etc.). Individual arrangements can be made for non standard uses.
12. These rules do not waive any right to trademark or copyright material of the Great American Beer Festival. The Great American Beer Festival logo, copyright, or trademark material may be used only with written permission of the Great American Beer Festival.
13. Failure of any brewing company, or of any person acting on a brewing company’s behalf or at a brewing company’s direction, to comply with these rules may result in suspension from participation in the Great American Beer Festival for a duration to be determined at the absolute discretion of the Great American Beer Festival Rules Committee. In no event shall a suspension be terminated while a brewing company remains in violation.

Email the GABF team with any questions about the agreement.