There's no shortage of great beer in the Twin Cities, so it should come as no surprise that two local breweries left the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver with medals.

The Freehouse in Minneapolis won a gold medal in the Rye Beer category for its No. 68 Red Lager. The malt-forward lager also won the best in show at the Minnesota Brewers Cup earlier this year. Visit Freehouse at 701 Washington Av. N., freehousempls.com.

And Surly Brewing Company's refreshing ale Lemonade was awarded a bronze medal in the American Fruit Beer category. Get a taste at Surly's beer hall, 520 Malcolm Av. SE., Mpls., surlybrewing.com).

At last weekend's event, the Brewers Association, which represents the nation's small and independent brewers, handed out 303 medals to 263 breweries. Top-tier brews spanning 99 beer categories across 175 beer styles received gold, silver and bronze medals. The competition is stiff: there were more than 2,000 breweries represented from all 50 states (and Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico), with nearly 9,300 beers entered.

The competition is the nation's largest, with both a public tasting event and a judged competition. Find the full list of winners on the festival's website. And mark your calendars for next year's event, Oct. 10-12 in downtown Denver.