For a craft brewer, winning a medal at the Great American Beer Festival is one of the most coveted prizes ever — the likely culmination of years of hard work and recipe tweaking in the quest for perfection.

But what about the men and women who determine who wins the gold, silver, and bronze medals? Over 100 volunteer GABF beer judges spend three days in small hotel conference rooms gazing at, smelling, tasting, and then drinking very small glasses of the same kinds of beers.

Then they grade them, figuring out which ones will move on in the competition and which need more work. They take copious notes, which get passed on to the brewers.

If it sounds like a lot of work, it is. But I talked to a handful of judges after being allowed to witness a real judging session this morning (for the old ale/strong ale category) and they told me they wouldn’t be anywhere else.

Take the case of Steve Parkes. He lives in Vermont but has been coming to Denver to be a GABF judge for the last 13 years. Since Wednesday, he has participated in 13 judging sessions, with the first one usually beginning around 9 a.m.

Parkes has sampled and graded about 115 samples of varying styles since Wednesday. (These include American-style Hefeweizen, Barleywine style ale, American Style IPA, Imperial IPA, American Cream Ale Style, Old Ale-Strong Ale, and American Belgo-style ale.)

That means Parkes and his fellow judges have to give every one of those 115 samples a thorough review for color and appearance, aroma, taste, and finish based on a very specific set of style guidelines.

In general, groups of three or four judges sample 10 to 12 beers at a time — which are numbered, not named, for fairness purposes. Those are pared down to the best three, when the process begins again, until only the three best remain.

Since most style entries have about 30-to-40 entrants (the American IPA category has over 100), the judging takes a long time and a lot of work. Each sample gets a report card.

I watched Parkes and six other judges spend about an hour Friday morning judging a round and they pay attention to everything — giving each beer a fair shot.

So I can vouch for the process. And understand how the medal winners are always top notch.

Saturday is when the medal winners are announced so check back later to see if the guys from the Ram in Boise or Victor-based Grand Teton Brewing win any medals.