With the “Super Bowl for breweries” taking place in their backyard this week, five local craft brewers will be on hand to see and be seen at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

The event, Thursday through Saturday at the Colorado Convention Center, is expected to draw 49,000 beer enthusiasts. At their fingertips: samples of 2,800 beers from 600 of the nation’s breweries.

“It’s a huge deal,” said Dustin Kennard, co-owner of Crow Hop Brewing in downtown Loveland. “It’s kind of like the Super Bowl for breweries.”

Kennard will be pouring Crow Hop brews at a GABF booth this week and hoping for recognition from judges for the beers they entered in the annual competition.

Winners will be announced Saturday morning.

The brewery at 217 E. Third St. opened a few weeks after last year’s festival, and though they had sent in their materials to participate, organizers said they weren’t eligible yet, he said.

So Kennard and his partners are looking forward to their first festival as business participants.

“When Mike (Noonan) and I were brewing in my garage downtown for years, we considered it kind of a dream of ours to be a part of GABF,” he said. “It’s almost not real.

“It’s just a real cool atmosphere, with all those different beer selections to try,” Kennard said. Participants can check out beer from breweries around the country, and conversely, get exposure for their own brews.

Crow Hop Brewing

Crow Hop has entered three beers in the competition:

• Rado’s Red, an Irish red ale.

• Window Screen Wheat, an American wheat beer.

• Kaleidoscope, a “pro-am” beer made in collaboration with homebrewer Tim Schafer of Thornton.

At their booth, Crow Hop representatives will be pouring samples of those three beers plus three others.

City Star Brewing

City Star in Berthoud won attention at GABF last year with a gold and a bronze medal, according to co-owner and head brewer John Way.

This year, its third in the competition, City Star entered:

• Six Shooter Pale Ale.

• Bandit Brown, an English-style brown ale, which won gold at GABF last year. “We’re crossing our fingers hopefully to do the same this year,” Way said.

• Night Watchman, a robust porter.

• Harley’s Honey Wheat, an American-style wheat beer.

• Mule Kick, a strong ale that won bronze last year.

Grimm Brothers Brewhouse

As a brand-new craft brewery, Grimm Brothers walked off with a gold medal in its first competition in 2011.

That honor, for its Little Red Cap, gave it instant credibility, said Russell Fruits, whose title at the Loveland brewery is beer evangelist.

Grimm Brothers won two more medals in the next two years, “which really gives us leverage,” he said.

In addition to pouring their beers at the event and hoping for medals, Grimm Brothers and the other Loveland breweries have planned releases of some of their special brews this week.

“A lot of people are in town,” checking out the local breweries, “and they want to try some special beers,” Fruits said.

Grimm Brothers has entered the maximum number of beers in the competition:

• Little Red Cap, an altbier.

• Fearless Youth, a Munich dunkel.

• Three Golden Hairs, a pilsner.

• Master Thief, a German porter.

• Randolf, a specialty Gose-style beer.

Loveland Aleworks

This 2-year-old downtown Loveland brewery has entered six beers in the contest, according to spokesman Zach Andersson, and will be ready for GABF attendees to check out its taproom.

“We’re trying to attract visitors to all of the different breweries here in town, as many of the GABF attendees head up to Fort Collins for tastings and special tappings,” he said in a press release. “We are becoming a beer destination alongside Fort Collins.”

Entered in the competition:

• American sour ale with raspberries.

• Belgian Dubbel.

• Coconut Porter.

• IPA.

• Hefeweizen, a Bavarian-style wheat beer.

• Baltic Porter, a pro-am beer brewed with Loveland residents Abe and Laura Pilato.

Verboten Brewing

Verboten, which took home two awards from the World Beer Cup competition in Denver this past spring, has entered these beers at GABF:

• In Love with Summer, a strawberry-rhubarb wheat beer.

• Pure Imagination, the double oatmeal stout that won a silver medal at the World Beer Cup.

• Angry Banjo, a Kentucky common beer.

• Mountain Man, an imperial rye ale aged in bourbon barrels.

• Roll in Ze’ Hay, a gose-style beer.

• Crossroads, a pro-am wee heavy/strong scotch ale brewed with Gerry and Johnnie Lynch.

Contact Reporter-Herald Staff Writer Craig Young at 970-635-3634 or cyoung@reporter-herald.com. Follow him at twitter.com/CraigYoungRH.