Winners and Hall of Famers
The fabulous awards-ceremony hosts, Joe Saunders of Old Town (L) and Ben Love of Gigantic (R). Photo by Ezra Johnson-Greenough.
Winners of the Oregon Beer Awards (OBA) were announced last night, and if you’re curious have a look at the list here. Breakside, Culmination, and Immersion won best breweries of the year (large, medium, and small), and Breakside (12), 10 Barrel (7), and Sunriver (5) took home the most medals—though a number of other breweries also took home multiple medals. Over 1,200 beers were judged in 30 categories. Have a look to see how your faves did.
The OBA are not especially well-known outside the state, and you might imagine they’re a small event on the annual calendar. To Oregon breweries, however, there is serious pride involved. A majority of the judges are brewers, so this is in many ways a peer-reviewed blind-tasting. It’s also one of the more interesting competitions in that the categories don’t follow GABF/BJCP guidelines. Fest organizers have reconsidered what styles make sense conceptually and from a consumer standpoint, and although I have a quibble or two, they are a vast improvement on the sprawling and picayune categories of the GABF. Winning an award here really means something to local breweries, perhaps second only to GABF medals.
Also of note: Rob and Kurt Widmer were named this year’s Hall of Fame inductees. Below is a nice video honoring them. (And can I say it’s time for Teri Fahrendorf to go into the HOF? The more women I see in brewhouses, the more her contribution and legacy seems to grow. Consider me on a campaign for her for 2021.)
Congrats to the winners—