2023 GABF Guided Routes | Best Barrel-Aged & High ABV Beers to Try at GABF

The Great American Beer Festival is finally back! With the insane multitude of beers being served on the festival floor, it can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. So PorchDrinking is once again here to help you navigate that lineup and help with planning your route at the fest. As part of that research, we’ve sifted through every beer pouring at this year’s fest to curate a series of themed routes to help you plan for your GABF based on various styles and flavors.

Earlier this week we featured the best Non-Alcoholic beers at the fest, and this morning we featured lower ABV Lagers, but now we turn up the octane to Barrel-Aged & high ABV beers. This year’s most prolific barrel-aged producers at the festival include Bottle Logic, Maplewood, More Brewing, Modern Times, Perennial, Prairie, Pure Project, Revolution, River North Brewery, and WeldWerks to name a few.  A few things to note, don’t sleep on some absolute bangers being poured in the United in Beer (State Guild), Heavy Medal, and Collab/Pro-Am sections, as there are beers/breweries that aren’t available anywhere else at the fest including some super hype breweries. Now we invite you to explore some of the crispiest Lagers that we know will be pouring at GABF.

Explore Additional Guided 2023 GABF Routes

2023 GABF Lager Route

2023 GABF Hoppy Beers Route

2023 GABF Sour/Wild/Saison Route (Coming Soon)

2023 GABF Chocolate Beers Route

2023 GABF Non-Alcoholic Beers Route

Best Barrel-Aged & High ABV Beers to Try At GABF

3 Floyds Brewing – Booth 5-18

AleSmith Brewing – Booth – 14-4

• Speedway Stout: Affogato Edition – 12% ABV
• Barrel-Aged Speedway Stout Coconut Vanilla Edition – 13.3% ABV

Allagash Brewing – Booth 7-25

Avery Brewing – Booth 1-4

• Thirty – 12% ABV
• Tweak – 13.1% ABV

Boneyard Brewing – Booth 4-20

• Wooden Femur Barrel-Aged Barleywine – 13.5 % ABV

Bottle Logic Brewing – Booth 14-14

• Arcane Rituals – 12% ABV
• Fundamental Observation – 12% ABV
• Voltaic Stack – 13.08% ABV – Bourbon-Maple Barrel Aged Imperial Stout

Breakside Brewing – Booth 4-22

• Breakside Finders Keepers Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout – 12.5% ABV
• Are You Afraid of the Dark – Imperial Stout Aged in Apple Brandy, Bourbon, and Rye Whiskey Barrels – 13.3% ABV

Dancing Gnome + Jackie O’s – Collab / Pro-Am (Friday Night Only)

• Way Way Way Up – 12.4% ABV -Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine brewed with Meadowfoam honey

Dogfish Head – Booth 11-11

• Oloroso Sherry 120 Minute IPA – 16% ABV

Dry Dock Brewing – Booth 93

• Pumpkin Bligh’s Barleywine – 13% ABV

False Idol Brewing – Booth 16-9

• Monstro Imperial Stout with Pistachio & Vanilla- 16% ABV
• 2022 Helm of Awe – A blend of our 10-12 months Barrel Aged Imperial Stout & Barrel Aged English Barleywine aged on Madagascar Vanilla Beans – 14% ABV

Firestone Walker Brewing – Booth 17-12

Firestone Walker + The Bruery – Collab / Pro-Am (Saturday Day Session Only)

• Heavy Things – 16.5% ABV – Barleywine co-fermented with maple syrup aged in brandy barrels

Fort George Brewery – Booth 5-4

• Matryoshka Barrel-Aged Russian Imperial Stout- 12.2% ABV

Four Sons Brewing – Booth 15-4

• Cookies & Cream Imperial Stout – 13.9% ABV

Great Divide Brewing – Booth 2-5

• Laws Whiskey House Barrel Aged Yeti Imperial Stout – 12.5% ABV

Heavy Riff Brewing – Booth 7-21

• Dear Agony – Barrel Aged Espresso Stout 2022 – 13% ABV
• Quadraphonic Euphoria – 13.2% ABV

Hoppin Frog Brewery – Booth 5-27

• Frogichlaus Swiss-Style Celebration Lager – 14.1% ABV

Maplewood Brewing – Booth 10-9

• Barrel Aged Cuppa – Neat – 13% ABV

Melvin Brewing – Booth 127

• Barrel Aged Ruckus – 11.5% ABV

Modern Times Beer – Booth 15-17

• Monsters’ Park: Vanilla – 13.5% ABV
• Modem Tones: Samoa Cookie Edition – 13.5% ABV

More Brewing – Booth 10-6

• Mehndi Special Reserve 2023 – 16% ABV

Monday Night Brewing – United in Beer Georgia Guild (Saturday Sessions Only)

• Tie XII Blended Barrel Aged Imperial Stout- 13.9% ABV

Perennial Artisan Ales – Booth 7-23

Prairie Artisan Ales – Booth 7-17

• This is the Way – 13.6% ABV
• Maple Bourbon Paradise – 13.5% ABV

Pure Project Brewing – Booth 17-8

Radiant Beer – Booth 17-7

• Luxurious Potential – Black Forest Cake-inspired Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout – 14.0% ABV

Ratio Beerworks – Booth 3-15

• Genius Wizard – Barrel Aged Imperial Stout – 14.8% ABV
• Barrel-Aged Barleywine – 11.0% ABV

Reuben’s Brews – Booth 5-9

• Three Ryes Men – 13.7% ABV

Revolution Brewing – Booth 10-2

• Deth’s Tar – 14.8% ABV
• Life Jacket – 15% ABV

River North Brewery – Booth 3-18

• 2019 Barrel Aged Father Time – 16.9% ABV
• Mr. Sandman XO – 14.7% ABV
• Last Guardian – 15.1% ABV
• Nightmare Fuel – 11.0% ABV

Roadhouse Brewing – Booth 124

• Not Your Ex-Step Brother-In-Law’s Beer Whiskey Barrel-Aged Strong Ale Aged with Cherries- 12.1% ABV

Samuel Adams – Booth 8-12

• Samuel Adams Utopias – 28% ABV

Sierra Nevada Brewing – Booth 16

• Barrel-Aged Narwhal – 12.0% ABV
• Trip In The Woods – Old Fashioned – 12% ABV

Sun King Brewery – Booth 10-16

• Polynesian Passion Barrel-aged Belgian-Style Tripel – 14% ABV
• Afternoon Delight Bourbon Barrel Aged Doppelbock – 11.5% ABV

The Bruery – Booth 12-4

• Melange a Trois – Blended Barrel-Aged Ale 17.9% ABV
• Scoops on Dunn – Double bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout with coffee, vanilla, cocoa powder, dolce de leche, and English toffee 19.1% ABV

The Lost Abbey – Booth 15-1

• 2012 Angel’s Share – 13% ABV

Third Eye Brewing – Booth 10-27

• Space Toast Continuum Imperial Stout with Maple, Cinnamon and Vanilla – 12.0% ABV
• Barrel-Aged Double Astral Chocolate Imperial Stout – 12.0% ABV

Verboten Brewing 

• Grow Old With You Barrel-Aged Barleywine –  Heavy Medal
• Others In Darkness Imperial Stout – 14.6% ABV – United in Beer Colorado Guild (Thursday and Friday only)

WeldWerks Brewing – Booth 48

• Medianoche: Amburana Vanilla Luar – 13.7% ABV
• 2023 Medianoche – 13.1% ABV
• Tropical Medianoche – 13.3% ABV

Wren House Brewing – Booth 16-24

• Triple Vanilla King Snake – 13.3% ABV