We now have results from the recently concluded Best of The West Coast IPA Throwdown. The competition was conducted by the Oregon Brewers Guild. Not confined to just Oregon-brewed beer, the Throwdown invited all U.S. breweries to submit beer for empirical evaluation. The goal of the competition was to identify and celebrate the best West Coast IPAs brewed in the USA.
The West Coast IPA Throwdown focuses on one style of beer only: West Coast IPA. To reflect and celebrate the diversity of the style, organizers broke down West Coast IPA into several sub-categories. Judges awarded silver and gold medals to qualifying beers in each category. Gold medalists in each category competed against each other for a Category Championship, and the Category Champions competed for the Grand Champion/Best In Show IPA award.
The usual caveat applies. We know which beers won but we do not know which beers were and were not entered. If your favorites didn’t win, perhaps it wasn’t even in the competition.
Here are some high-level stats:
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- 131 beers were entered by breweries in 13 states.
- Beers were judged in triplicate in preliminary and trophy rounds by judges representing 5 different states.
- 36 beers met the medal criteria
- 14 silver medals.
- 10 standalone gold medals.
- 12 gold medals that were also category winners.
- California breweries scored the most awards (17).
GOLD MEDALS:
- Breakside Brewing (OR), Breakside IPA.
- Fieldwork Brewing (CA), Ticket to Anywhere.
- Grains of Wrath (WA), Built for Speed.
- Half Moon Bay Brewing (CA), Full Swing.
- Hop Dogma Brewing (CA), Alpha Dank.
- ISM Brewing (CA), Western Standard Time.
- North Park Beer (CA), Get On My Lawn.
- North Park Beer (CA), The Coast With The Most.
- Trap Door Brewing (WA), Trap Door IPA.
- Westbound and Down Brewing (CO), Westbound IPA.
SILVER MEDALS
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- Beachwood Brewing (CA), Hyperspeed.
- Block 15 Brewing (OR), Deep Seek.
- Breakside Brewing (OR), Wanderlust.
- Cloudburst Brewing (WA), Until Eternity.
- Fieldwork Brewing (CA), Middle Out.
- Fieldwork Brewing (CA), Westcoast Slang.
- Grand Fir Brewing (OR), Ponga
- North Park Brewing (CA), Hop Fu!
- Pelican Brewing (OR), Hoppa Don’t Preach.
- Slice Beer Company (CA), Chronic Quest.
- Sunriver Brewing (OR), Whatever You Do, Don’t Call it That!
- Sunriver Brewing (OR), Always Sunny in Yakima.
- Taproom Beer Co. (CA), Modern Love.
- Vice Beer Co. (WA), Linoleum.
CHAMPION IPAs
- Grand Champion: Riip Beer Company (CA), Riip’n Green.
- Grand Champion Runner Up: Grains of Wrath (WA), Destination Funeral.
- Very Small Brewery Champ: Brujos Brewing (OR), Sixes.
- Small Brewery Champ: Trap Door Brewing (WA), D.R.E.A.M. Jr.
- Medium Brewery Champ: Cerebral Brewing (CO), Gasoline Rainbows v10.
- Small Regional Champ: Pinthouse Brewing (TX), Mosaic Takedown.
- Large Regional Champ: Breakside Brewing (OR), Bayside.
- Very Large Brewery Champ: Boneyard Beer (OR), Hop on the Party Bus.
- Champion Traditional American: McMenamins (Bend, OR), Brewing in Stereo.
- Champion West Coast Below 6.7%: Grains of Wrath (WA), Destination Funeral.
- Champion West Coast Above 6.7%: Riip Beer Co (CA), Riip’n Greens.
- Champion International: Hop Dogma (CA), Muka Laka Hiki.
- Champion Flagship: Beachwood Brewing (CA), Amalgamator.
- Champion Oregon Hop IPA: Ghost Townn Brewing (CA), Vine Breaker.
