Awards Season, Floyd and Alworth Edition

Ah, December, the time of awards. Outside Portland, the "Bung Awards" probably don't mean anything, but here, they're a pretty big deal. The Oregon Brew Crew, an ostensible homebrew club (but actually also an advocacy group for good beer--and easily one of the five most important reasons the city is known as Beervana), offers up annual awards to "to acknowledge, honor, and occasionally, share a laugh with many members and craft beer industry personalities." There are bungs for homebrewing, beer appreciation, service to the beer industry, and--important to this particular post--the "Pulp Bung," awarded to a writer. This year, for the first time, the Brew Crew named me. It's a huge honor and an award I've coveted since I wrote for Willamette Week. Thanks, Brew Crewers!

The second award goes to Ninkasi Believer, who won Wired Magazine's months-long beer bracketed taste-off.

A red brew in a tourney full of wheat beers and IPAs. But with its easy 6.9 percent ABV and rich profile, the Believer garnered much support of skeptics as the night wore on. Devin declared that he “didn’t expect to like it, yet I loved it!” Peter said it “was just right. No messing about.” Brian Noble found it “nice and hoppy, but with a good body to back it up.” One unnamed voter found the Full Boar “too subtle; Ninkasi had much stronger flavor.” Brian Mossop of PLoS summed it up best, saying, “I did not vote for this beer in the first rounds, but the Double Red made me into a believer.”

Ironically, one of the beers Believer had to crush under its heel to win was Total Domination. Not bad.