Didn’t make it to the 2008 GABF?  Me neither.  Dang.

I followed along at home, through blog posts and Twitter updates, and was amazed at the quantity and quality of coverage.  Beer Sage of BeerNews.org had a complete live-blog of the awards ceremony, and Craft Brew Cast was streaming podcasts from Denver.  As fun as it was to read about others’ experiences, you still can’t taste the beers from home.  That’s why I will DEFINITELY be going to the 2009 GABF.

This year, The AleSmith Brewing Crew of San Diego took home the coveted Best Small Brewery award, Simon Pesch of Pyramid Brewing took home the best Mid-Sized Brewing Company and Doug Muhleman of Anheuser-Busch won Best Large Brewing Company.

With ten and a half months until next year’s Great American Beer Festival, organizers at Beertown.org are already starting their search for volunteers.  And it’s a good thing they are starting now, since they need 2,500 people to help with set up, beer pouring, merchandise sales, security, volunteer coordination, and more.

The dates for next year’s GABF are Thursday through Saturday, September 24-26th, 2009.

Find more about volunteering for the Great American Beer Festival on the Beer Jobs Board, or at the Brewers Association website, beertown.org.

But if you really want to know what you’re getting yourself into, head over to Fermentally Challenged to see a firsthand account from one of this years volunteers!