The breweries that collected the most hardware were no surprise Thursday night at the 2023 Oregon Beer Awards — perennial champs 10 Barrel Brewing and Breakside Brewery led the tally with seven medals each — but the night belonged to the smaller breweries that delivered some big surprises.
Among those winning gold medals were Sky High Brewing of Corvallis in the highly coveted Pilsner category; Ancestry Brewing of Tualatin in Golden, Blonde and Other Light Ales; Rosenstadt Brewing in Dark German and European Lagers; Threshold Brewing & Blending in Strong Beers; and Away Days Brewing in the Stout and Porter category.
And while not a gold, Falling Sky Brewing, a small brewery known mostly to Eugene locals, took silver against much bigger muscle in the Classic North American Styles category; start-up Fracture Brewing of Portland took silver in Hoppy Lager; and Assembly Brewing of Portland took bronze in Stout and Porter. Weekend Beer Co. of Grants Pass took bronze in Classic UK Styles, and Dirt Road Brewing of Philomath took bronze in Mixed-Culture Beers.
Grains of Wrath Brewing, which is based in Camas but also brews in Portland, won gold in the most-entered category, India Pale Ale, with Built for Speed. Bend Brewing of Bend garnered gold in Hazy or Juicy IPA with Day Use.
The medal count led to 10 Barrel earning Large Brewery of the Year, Grains of Wrath earning Medium Brewery of the Year, and Bierly Brewing of McMinnville earning Small Brewery of the Year.
The annual awards, sponsored by Willamette Week, were held Thursday night at Southeast Portland’s Revolution Hall after being judged over two weekends in March by over 80 judges. More than 1,100 beers were submitted by 126 brewing companies in 30 categories. Additionally, “Best” categories were selected by over 200 industry professionals through a ballot system.
Here is the full list of award winners:
Pilsner
Gold: Sky High Brewing & Pub Bohemian Pilsner
Silver: Deschutes Brewery King Crispy
Bronze: Breakside Brewery Noble Pilsner
Golden, Blonde, and Other Light Ales
Gold: Ancestry Brewing Kolsch
Silver: Buoy Beer Company Cream Ale
Bronze: 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Prazise
Hoppy Lager
Gold: ColdFire Brewing Italian Style Pilsner
Silver: Fracture Brewing Fracture West Coast Pilsner
Bronze: Buoy Beer Company Italian Pilsner
Light German and European Lagers
Gold :Van Henion Brewing Van Henion Helles Lager
Silver: Von Ebert Brewing Vienna Lager
Bronze: Breakside Brewery Vienna Lager
Dark German and European Lagers
Gold: Rosenstadt Dunkel
Silver: Grand Fir Brewing Ember
Bronze: Wayfinder Beer Hidden Hand Černé Pivo
International Lagers
Gold: Ex Novo Brewing Co. Milagro Oscuro
Silver: Breakside Brewery Double Hockey Sticks
Bronze: Occidental Brewing Company Japanese Dry-Style Lager
Stout and Porter
Gold: Away Days Brewing Co. Docklands Baltic Porter
Silver: StormBreaker Brewing Opacus Stout
Bronze: Assembly Brewing Doublin’ in Dublin
Classic UK Styles
Gold: Hopworks Urban Brewery Organic Velvet ESB
Silver: Steeplejack Brewing Company Witness Mark Ordinary Bitter Collab with Obelisk Beer and Wayfinder Beer
Bronze: Weekend Beer Co. Absobloodylutely
Classic North American Styles
Gold: Oakshire Brewing Line Dry Rye
Silver: Falling Sky Brewing Upside Brown
Bronze: Old Town Brewery Rye PA
Belgian Beers, German Wheat Beers, and Traditional Brett Beers
Gold: Worthy Brewing Farm Out
Silver: Ninkasi Brewing Company Belgian Quad
Bronze: Upright Brewing Scrap Iron
Red Beers
Gold: Rogue Ales & Spirits Dead Guy Ale
Silver: Block 15 Brewing Co. Charmed Life
Bronze: Old Town Brewery Red Ale
Strong Beers
Gold: Threshold Brewing & Blending Neptune
Silver: Wayfinder Beer Red Fang Malt Liquor
Bronze: Deschutes Brewery Co-Munichator
Sessionable Hoppy Beers
Gold: Sunriver Brewing Company Bondi Beach Party
Silver: Grains of Wrath Brewing Papermaker Pale
Bronze: Breakside Brewery Cuddle Puddle
India Pale Ale
Gold: Grains of Wrath Brewing Built For Speed
Silver: Von Ebert Brewing Wave Decay
Bronze: ColdFire Brewing Skyline Dreams
Hazy or Juicy IPA
Gold: Bend Brewing Co. Day Use
Silver: Great Notion Brewing Van Beer
Bronze: Ruse Brewing Star Senders
Imperial India Pale Ale
Gold: Sunriver Brewing Company High Desert Diesel
Silver: McMenamins Old Saint Francis School Down On The Street
Bronze: Breakside Brewery West Coast, Best Coast
Dark Hoppy Beers
Gold: Von Ebert Brewing Waning Echoes
Silver: Grains of Wrath Brewing Falling Up
Bronze: Grand Fir Brewing Silvertip IRA
Barrel-Aged Beers
Gold: Monkless Belgian Ales La Trinidad
Silver: Boneyard Beer Wooden Femur
Bronze: 10 Barrel Brewing Co.Peach Deface
Barrel-Aged Stouts
Gold: Breakside Brewery The Trappings and the Suits of Woe
Silver: Fort George Brewery Matryoshka 2023 With Coconut
Bronze: Alesong Brewing & Blending Senor Rhino
Flavored Beers
Gold: Deschutes Brewery Hachimitsu Mai
Silver: Oregon City Brewing Co. Dash o’ Bitters
Bronze: Sunriver Brewing Company Cocoa Cow
Fruit Beers
Gold: Great Notion Brewing Pineapple Juice Invader
Silver: Public Coast Brewing Co. Coconut Brown Ale
Bronze: 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Sugar High
Coffee and Smoke Beers
Gold: ForeLand Beer Mashes to Ashes
Silver: Steeplejack Brewing Company Amelia Grodziskie
Bronze: Mt. Hood Brewing Co. Multorporter Smoked Porter
Experimental and Historical Beers
Gold: 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Agrio Morado
Silver: 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Marionberry Cheesecake
Bronze: Great Notion Brewing Pot of Gold
American Sour Beers
Gold: 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Riviera
Silver: Cascade Brewing Staying Hoptimistic
Bronze: 10 Barrel Brewing Co. Gindulgence
Mixed-Culture Beers
Gold: Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery Traveling Companions
Silver: nebuleus Spruce for New Avenues
Bronze: Dirt Road Brewing Flanders Red
Fruited Mixed-Culture Beers
Gold: Alesong Brewing & Blending Raspberry Parliament
Silver: nebuleus names.mean.nothing.b1
Bronze: pFriem Family Brewers pFriemsters Union Abrikoos
Gluten-Free Beers
Gold: Bierly Brewing Blackbird Stout
Silver: Bierly Brewing Rendezvous Double IPA
Bronze: Ground Breaker Brewing Inclusion
Fresh Hop Pale Ales and India Pale Ales
Gold: Ruse Brewing Songspire
Silver: Migration Brewing Company Summer Chinook
Bronze: Sunriver Brewing Company Doug Said So
Fresh Hop Hazy Pale Ales and India Pale Ales
Gold: StormBreaker Brewing Set Freshies to Haze
Silver: Breakside Brewery Breakside What Fresh Beast
Bronze: Ruse Brewing Clever Weather
Other Fresh Hop Beers
Gold: Baerlic Brewing Company East Side Pilsner
Silver: Deschutes Brewery Fresh Hop King Crispy
Bronze: Steeplejack Brewing Company Fresh Hop Luminosa Single Farm Table Beer
Brewery of the Year: Large
10 Barrel Brewing Co.
Brewery of the Year: Medium
Grains of Wrath Brewing
Brewery of the Year: Small
Bierly Brewing
Best New Brewery
Grand Fir Brewing
Best Bottle Shop
Belmont Station
Best Beer Bar or Taphouse
Loyal Legion
Best Brewpub Experience
Wayfinder Beer
Fort George Brewery
Best Labels/Branding
Block 15 Brewing Co.
Craft Advocate of the Year
Former U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
Hall of Fame
Gail Goschie
Karl Ockert
Regional Brewing Company of the Year North Coast
Fort George Brewery
Regional Brewing Company of the Year Willamette
Block 15 Brewing Co.
Regional Brewing Company of the Year Central
pFriem Family Brewers
Regional Brewing Company of the Year Eastern
Barley Brown’s Brew Pub
Regional Brewing Company of the Year Southern
Arch Rock Brewing Company
— Andre Meunier; ameunier@oregonian.com; sign up for my weekly newsletter Oregon Brews and News, and follow me on Instagram, where I’m @oregonianbeerguy