Here Are the Results of This Year’s Oregon Beer Awards

While many familiar, decorated names nabbed awards, this year’s competition saw a diverse lineup of breweries getting recognition.

FIR THE WIN: Grand Fir Brewing is best new brewery of 2023. (Chris Nesseth)
By Andi Prewitt

The Oregon Beer Awards returned to a sold-out Revolution Hall on Thursday, April 6, and based on the crowd’s rowdy enthusiasm, the state’s craft brewers—along with their biggest fans—were more than ready to celebrate the industry following another year of pandemic challenges.

Lines formed at the doors leading into the venue’s auditorium well before the WW-sponsored ceremony began—brewers and drinkers alike were looking to snag prime seats. Others hung out with beers near one of the venue’s many bars, greeting friends, some of whom they see often, others not since the last OBAs in 2022.

When registration for the Oscars of Oregon Beer closed at the end of February, there were nearly 1,100 entries in 30 categories. As usual, the class with the most entries was the India Pale Ale, with 100 submissions. Normally, Hazy or Juicy India Pale Ale is the second-most popular category; however, this time Fresh Hop IPA or Pale Ale bumped that into third place, since it got 71 entries compared to 54. Lagers also saw a bump in submissions, reflecting its rise in popularity both among brewers and drinkers, who have gravitated toward beers that are more sessionable and refreshing.

Winners were selected by dozens of judges during the state’s only double-blind tasting competition, held during two weekends in March. In addition, more than 200 industry professionals picked the area’s top brewpubs, bottle shops, beer bars and more in a balloting system.

The big winners of the night were Breakside and 10 Barrel, which both took home seven medals. And while many familiar, decorated names nabbed awards—Von Ebert, Wayfinder, Great Notion—this year’s competition saw a diverse lineup of breweries getting recognition, including Assembly, the Southeast Foster Road pub specializing in Detroit-style pies; Eugene’s often-underrated ColdFire; Van Henion, one of Bend’s newest Brands; and Weekend Beer out of Grants Pass.

Here is a complete list of the 2023 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

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