The only Denver brewery to go Chuck Norris on this year’s Great American Beer Festival judging was none other than Wit’s End Brewing Company—a by-the-bootstraps operation in Denver’s Valverde neighborhood that, against all odds, took gold in the Belgian-style Blonde Ale category. The beer that won—Jean-Claude Van Blond—took on a nearly unbeatable field comprised of 43 fierce competitors, and kicked their asses.

Winning a gold medal at the GABF is a deal much bigger than one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Hummers, and while festival judges can be wilier than an English supervillain, it’s not too difficult to understand why they adjudicated this brew so highly.

At first glance, Van Blond sports a snow white head and a hazy fire color. Served in a becher-style glass, the brew gives off pleasant aromas of clove and faint wisps of banana. The ale’s aromas find their way onto the taste buds, with subtle layers added from the Belgian yeast strain. Bitterness is almost hidden, making it a very smooth-drinking brew with very little aftertaste and a dry finish. Other Belgian styles—and attempts at blonde ales for that matter—can overpower drinkers with outlandish, Stallone-esque flavors and aromas. However, this beer is an excellent example of refinement and complexity—it’s more Kelly LeBrock than Steven Seagal. Very lightly carbonated, Van Blond—at 6.5 % ABV—rates very high on the drinkability scale.

Van Blond would pair with shellfish about as well as Samuel L. Jackson and a Quentin Tarantino script. Wild game—especially venison—could also go well with this beer.

One of Wit’s End’s core offerings, Van Blond is currently available at the brewery’s taproom, which will take a little Lara-Croft-style exploring to find. Once inside, the taproom is vintage Denver craft beer scenery. There’s a bar top, several tables and stools and most of the fermentation takes place in the same room. Four of the brewery’s fermenters, by the way, are named after the main characters on The A-Team. (Where’s Amy, guys?)

The Wit’s End crew has been making fine beers going on three years now and their recognition for Van Blond—which also took a bronze medal at the 2014 World Beer Cup—is well-earned. It’s a great beer. But it’s also a hard-earned validation that their rag-tag start, dedication to craft and will to succeed has figuratively planted them atop the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rocky-style.

Photo via Wit's End Brewing