The Annual Oregon Beer Awards Returned in Person on April 6. Here Are the Results.

The ceremony was filled with surprises, a whole lot of rowdy drinking, and purple fringe.

Oregon Beer Awards 2022 Photo by Sam Gehrke.
By Andi Prewitt

The Oregon Beer Awards returned to a sold-out Revolution Hall last night, and based on the crowd’s rowdy enthusiasm, the state’s craft brewing industry was more than ready for an in-person gathering.

Lines formed at the doors leading into the venue’s auditorium an hour before the Willamette Week-sponsored ceremony began—brewers and drinkers alike were looking to snag prime seats, while others milled about the many bars, doling out handshakes and hugs to friends.

Once the awards began, the audience briefly fell quiet for a video introducing this year’s MCs: Gigantic Brewing’s Ben Love and Natalie Baldwin of Breakside Brewery, who took the role of co-host for the first time. Both rocked purple fringe outfits created by Baldwin.

This was the second-largest OBAs ever, with more than 1,000 entries by 123 breweries. Winners were selected by 72 judges—some of whom traveled across the country to participate—during the state’s only double-blind tasting competition. In addition to that, more than 200 industry professionals picked the area’s top brewpubs, bottle shops, beer bars and more in a balloting system.

The big winner of the night was Breakside, which took home 11 medals along with the title of Large Brewery of the Year. 10 Barrel Brewing also performed well, nabbing seven medals, while pFriem Family Brewers in Hood River and Portland’s Wayfinder now each have five more medals to add to their collections.

Oregon Beer Awards 2022 Photo by Sam Gehrke.

Perhaps the big surprise of the night was the winner of Small Brewery of the Year.

Nebuleus Beer, which focuses on mixed-culture and barrel-aged concoctions, using fruit sourced from local farms, isn’t yet widely known. Owners Timothy Crook and Rachel Olen are active on the Nebuleus’ Instagram account, which is where you’ll hear about new releases and pickup locations. Though you’ll need to act fast if you intend to buy any bottles: The batches are small and now certain to be more in demand than ever thanks to the brewery’s big win.

Oregon Beer Awards 2022 Photo by Sam Gehrke.

The night wasn’t without a little controversy. One of the beers submitted in the competition—Deschutes Non-Alcoholic Black Butte Porter—earned a silver medal in the Gluten Free and Non-Alcoholic Beers category. The judging committee had no idea, but that beer is actually produced and packaged in Colorado, making it ineligible for the OBAs—an oversight on the part of the submitting brewery. That fact only came to the attention of the ceremony’s organizers, however, after the award was announced. The medal has since been rescinded, and the other two medals for that category remain in place.

Related: Oregon’s Beer Industry Now Faces More Challenges Than Ever. Here’s Why It Still Sees the Glass as Half Full.

Here is a complete list of the 2022 winners:

Pilsner

Gold pFriem Family Brewers Pilsner

Silver Heater Allen Pils

Bronze Worthy Brewing Sol Power Pils


Golden, Blonde and Other Light Ales

Gold Baerlic Beer Dad Beer

Silver Gratitude Brewing Livin’ La Vida Kolscha

Bronze Breakside Brewery Breakside Wentworth by the Sea


Hoppy Lagers

Gold Sasquatch Brewery

Silver Gigantic Brewing Project Pilsner Motueka

Bronze Wayfinder Beer Terrifica Horror Pils


Light German and European Lagers

Gold Grains of Wrath Frost Hammer

Silver Grains of Wrath Vienna Lager

Bronze pFriem Family Brewers Kellerbier


Dark German and European Lagers

Gold Bend Brewing Company Black Diamond Dark Lager

Silver 10 Barrel Brewing Portland Dementor’s Kiss

Bronze Wayfinder Beer Hidden Hand cerne pivo


Stout and Porter

Gold ForeLand Beer Strand Plain

Silver Block 15 Brewing Favorable Fortune

Bronze Thunder Island Brewing Mrs. Pierce’s Porter


Classic U.K. Styles

Gold Steeplejack Brewing Alewife

Silver Hopworks Urban Brewery Velvet ESB

Bronze Breakside Brewery Breakside ESB


Classic North American Styles

Gold Falling Sky Brewing Upside Brown Ale

Silver 10 Barrel Brewing Twheat

Bronze Wayfinder Beer Red Fang Malt Liquor


Belgian Beers, German Wheat Beers and Traditional Brett Beers

Gold ForeLand Beer Rain Harvester

Silver Sunriver Brewing Wild Series: Gin Fizz

Bronze Von Ebert Brewing Islands in the Stream


Red Beers

Gold StormBreaker Brewing ALTerior Motive

Silver Away Days Brewing Brits Abroad Red Ale

Bronze Sunriver Brewing Tootle’s Marbles


Strong Beers

Gold Fort George Brewery Cavatica

Silver Wayfinder Beer Gravity Drop Baltic Porter

Bronze Migration Brewing Frankie


Sessionable Hoppy Beers

Gold Breakside Brewery Breakside Woodlawn Pale Ale

Silver Sunriver Brewing Bondi Beach Party

Bronze Breakside Brewery Breakside Rainbows & Unicorns


India Pale Ale

Gold Breakside Brewery Breakside Wanderjack

Silver pFriem Family Brewers IPA

Bronze Breakside Brewery Breakside Evan Is My Homie


Hazy or Juicy IPA

Gold Great Notion Brewing Love and Ritual

Silver Mountain View Brewing Hazy Perspective

Bronze Ascendent Beer Awesome Sauce


Imperial India Pale Ale

Gold Ruse Brewing Interpreter

Silver Oakshire Brewing A Life Beyond the Dream

Bronze McMenamins Old Saint Francis School Hop Pillow


Dark Hoppy Beers

Gold Ecliptic Brewing 2021 Orange Giant Barleywine: Triple Dry Hopped Edition

Silver Grains of Wrath Perpetual Dawn

Bronze Grains of Wrath Falling Up


Barrel-Aged Beers

Gold 10 Barrel Brewing Portland Slice of Heaven

Silver Deschutes Brewery Maskerade (collaboration with AleSong Brewing & Blending

Bronze pFriem Family Brewers Rye Whiskey Barrel Aged Imperial Brown


Barrel-Aged Stouts

Gold Breakside Brewery Breakside Cute Metal

Silver AleSong Brewing & Blending Coconut Rhino Suit

Bronze Breakside Brewery Breakside Space Music


Flavored Beers

Gold Upright Brewing Flora Rustica

Silver Wayfinder Beer Corpo Seco Pumpkin Ale

Bronze Sunriver Brewing Cocoa Cow


Fruit Beers

Gold Public Coast Brewing Coconut Brown Ale

Silver 10 Barrel Brewing Passionate Envy

Bronze MadCow Brewing Huckleberry Cream Ale


Coffee and Smoke Beers

Gold Level Beer Smokey the Beer

Silver pFriem Family Brewers pFriemsters Union Double Maple Pecan Smoked Porter

Bronze 7 Devils Brewing McCollough Mocha Stout


Experimental and Historical Beers

Gold Migration Brewing Paloma

Silver Breakside Brewery Breakside Unbearable Lightness

Bronze 10 Barrel Brewing Agrio Morado


Pastry or Dessert Beer

Gold 10 Barrel Brewing Marionberry Cheesecake

Silver Great Notion Brewing Yeti Sno Ball Fight

Bronze Ex Novo Brewing Kill the Sun With Coconut, Chocolate and Toasted Amonds


Specialty India Pale Ale

Gold Great Notion Brewing Synesthesia

Silver 10 Barrel Brewing Equatorial Haze

Bronze Silver Moon Brewing Cosmic Chill


American Sour Beers

Gold ColdFire Brewing Live!

Silver Weekend Beer Pretty Fly for a Cacti

Bronze Cascade Brewing Rose City Sour


Mixed-Culture Beers

Gold Nebuleus Beer sitka spruce

Silver AleSong Brewing & Blending Farmhouse Cuvee

Bronze AleSong Brewing & Blending Touch of Brett ‘21


Fruit Mixed-Culture Beers

Gold Oregon City Brewing Coming to Fruition: Cherry

Silver Upright Brewing Four Play

Bronze Nebuleus Beer honey haven


Gluten-Free and Non-Alcoholic Beers

Gold Deschutes Brewery Hop Dipped IPA

Bronze Mutantis Brewery & Bottle Shop Extra Terrestrial Pub Ale


Fresh Hop Pale Ales and India Pale Ales

Gold Breakside Brewery Fresh Hop Chinook IPA

Silver Migration Brewing Fresh Coast IPA

Bronze Breakside Brewery Fresh Hop Strata Wanderjack


Fresh Hop Hazy Pale Ales and India Pale Ales

Gold Deschutes Brewery Strut Your Strata

Silver McMenamins Old Saint Francis School Little Green Bag

Bronze Ruse Brewing Identical Truths


Other Fresh Hop Beers

Gold Baerlic Brewing Pioneer ESB

Silver Breakside Brewery Fresh Hop Sterling Pilsner

Bronze Zoiglhaus Brewing Fresh Hop Kolsch


Brewery of the Year, Large: Breakside Brewery

Brewery of the Year, Medium: Grains of Wrath

Brewery of the Year, Small: Nebuleus Beer


Best Bottle Shop: John’s Marketplace Southeast Powell Boulevard

Best Beer Bar or Taphouse: The Beermongers

Best Beer Bar or Taphouse; Lombard House

Best Brewpub Experience: Wayfinder Beer

Best New Brewery: SteepleJack Brewing

Best Branding/Labels: Upright Brewing

Craft Advocate of the Year: Christina LaRue, Oregon Brewers Guild Executive Director

Hall of Fame: Teri Fahrendorf, Art Larrance, Alan Sprints

Excellence in Brewery Operations Western Oregon: Breakside Brewery

Excellence in Brewery Operations Central Oregon: pFriem Family Brewers

Excellence in Brewery Operations Eastern Oregon: Barley Brown’s Beer

Excellence in Brewery Operations Southern Oregon: Caldera Brewing


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