Brouwer's Cafe crowns this year's Hop Mob champion

On Thursday, February 6th Washington Hop Mob kicked off at Seattle’s Brouwer’s Cafe. The official kickoff event featured 36 of the Hop Mob beers on tap. That’s darn-near all of them. Learn more about Hop Mob and the beers here. Other events take place across the state over the coming days (see list below).

A panel of more than a dozen judges tasted their way through all 36 beers and eventually crowned the champion. Literally, the new “trophy” is a crown. It was a blind tasting, so nobody knew which beer they were drinking until the judging was complete. Favorites were pushed forward until a winner was determined. The list of the top beers is below.

Another great turnout for the Hop Mob kickoff event.

Speaking on behalf of my fellow judges, I am happy to report that there were no bad beers in the bunch, just some that we liked a bit more than others. I personally sampled no less than a dozen of the beers and can honestly say that I was not disappointed with a single one of them. In other words, I would have been happy with a pint of any of them.

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Sarah Verdieck (Bale Breaker Brewing) and Nat Pellman (Brouwer's Cafe). — Sarah Verdieck (Bale Breaker Brewing) and Nat Pellman (Brouwer’s Cafe).

Although beers of all styles were welcome and brewers were not required to brew Triple IPA this year, many breweries opted to stick with that style. Lots of Double IPA, too, mixed in with regular-strength IPAs, a CDA and even a Session IPA.

So, drumroll please, here are the judges’ favorites:

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FIRST PLACE

Bale Breaker Brewing, Mount St. Humulous TIPA. This is not the first year this beer has won. Although Triple IPA is a notoriously difficult style to brew, Bale Breaker has it nailed. This beer was not just the judges’ favorite, it was the top pick by a significant margin.

SECOND PLACE – There was a tie for second place, which is not surprising considering how hard it was to judge this competition.

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Georgetown Brewing, No Soup for You IIPA. Brewed with copious amounts of Columbus, Citra, Strata, Mosaic, and Idaho 7 hops.
Old Stove Brewing, Piston Hondo’s Comeback. A double IPA, dry-hopped three times with generous helpings of Columbus, Simcoe, and Citra.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The judges felt it was important to note two beers that just barely missed the top three:

Wandering Hop Brewing – Aggressive Prius, double IPA.
Reuben’s Brews – Blimey That’s Bitter! Triple IPA.

I am not kidding when I say that all of the participating breweries did a great job. I, along with the rest of the Hop Mob organizing committee, hoped that broadening the definition of a “hop mob beer” would result in more creative and better beers. We were right. We asked for a full expression of hop character and that’s what we got. A hop lover’s dream come true!

Get out there and attend one of the Washington Hop Mob Roadshow events:

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Woodinville)
Friday, February 7th
Hopheads Taproom

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Tacoma)
Friday, February 7th
Peaks and Pints

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Seattle)
Friday, February 7th
The Woods Tasting Room at Two Beers Brewing

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Bellingham)
Friday, February 7th
Aslan Depot

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Bremerton)
Friday, February 7th and Saturday, February 8th
Local Boys Taproom at Bremerton

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Renton)
Saturday, February 8th
Brewmaster’s Taproom

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Vancouver)
Saturday, February 8th
Final Draft Taphouse

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Kirkland)
Saturday, February 8th
Thirsty Hop

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Seattle)
Tuesday, February 11
The Growler Guys

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (West Seattle)
Thursday, February 13
Beveridge Place Pub

HOP MOB ROADSHOW EVENT (Marysville)
Thursday, February 13
5 Rights Brewing