Fair warning: If you have good taste in adult beverages, this post will probably make your mouth water.

The Great American Beer Festival — as the name would indicate — is the country’s largest gathering of breweries each year, drawing hundreds of entrants to Denver for samplings and judgment. This year’s event — which begins this Friday, Oct. 9, and runs through the weekend – boasts 400 breweries, 1,800 beers and, for the second time, a fantasy contest.

The Beer Mapping Project is hosting its second “Fantasy Draught,” whereby beer fans select participating breweries and score points for the medals they earn in the GABF judging. A gold is worth 3 points, a silver 2 and a bronze 1. The 2007 event included 75 beer style categories and 222 total medals.

Anyone is eligible to take part in the competition that is mostly for fun. (The winner “will likely end up with a T-shirt and a book or some similar prizes,” according to the announcement blog post.)

Miller has already been chosen first overall among the 216 picks to date. Last year’s Large Brewing Company Brewer of the Year, though — which, disturbingly, was Pabst — slid to the sixth slot. Among the sleepers still available could be Gunnison Brewery in Gunnison, Colo., which took the gold medal a year ago in the “Herb and Spice Beer” category.

(As for the festival itself, you can bet that attending at least once is on my bucket list.)