Cincinnati-based Brink Brewing Co. had been open for only eight months, but Kelly Montgomery had no qualms about entering his beers into competition at the 2017 Great American Beer Festival.
“That’s my Super Bowl trophy,” says Montgomery, cofounder and head brewer. “I don’t care about much else.”
His ambition was no surprise to his business partners, most of whom are family and knew his long-standing penchant for entering brewing competitions. (His English-style dark mild, Hold the Reins, took home a GABF gold medal that first year.) Beginning in his homebrew days, Montgomery had a lofty and, by his own admission, “weird” goal: to win a homebrew medal in every style of beer. Once he medaled in one style category, he’d move on to the next.