DRINK

Oregon Beer Awards Name New Fresh Hop Winners

Judges tried 123 fresh hop beers from 46 breweries statewide.

By Rachel Saslow
Ruse_TT-24web_BG18_ (Thomas Teal) (THOMAS_TEAL)

The annual Oregon Beer Awards ceremony won’t happen until spring, but fresh hop results are already in. A team of 25 judges evaluated fresh hop beers from across Oregon this weekend so they could taste them at their peak freshness. The judges tried 123 fresh hop beers from 46 breweries statewide.

The Pacific Northwest is hop-growing paradise. Oregon is the second-largest hop-producing state in the U.S., according to the Oregon Beverage Alliance, behind Washington and ahead of Idaho.

Beers entered into the OBA Fresh Hop categories may be any style, color or strength, according to the contest rules, but must include fresh hops at some point during the brewing or fermentation process. The OBAs define fresh hops as “newly harvested hops that have not been conventionally baled or stored.”

Here are the winners of the 2025–26 fresh hop competition:

Fresh Hop Pale Ales and India Pale Ales

Gold: Breakside Brewery, Fresh Hop Bayside IPA

Silver: Grand Fir Brewing, Queens of the Cone Age

Bronze: Sunriver Brewing Company, Fresh Hop Rippin

Fresh Hop Hazy Pale Ales and India Pale

Gold: Bend Brewing Co., Keyboard Warrior

Silver: Von Ebert Brewing, Fresh Hop Sector 7 - Perrault Farms Krush

Bronze: StormBreaker Brewing, Set Freshies To Haze

Other Fresh Hop Beers

Gold: Ruse Brewing, Red Rain

Silver: Deschutes Brewery, Fresh Hop King Crispy

Bronze: Bend Brewing Co., FH Oregon Summer Ale

Rachel Saslow

Rachel Saslow

Rachel Saslow is an arts and culture reporter. Before joining WW, she wrote the Arts Beat column for The Washington Post. She is always down for karaoke night.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

Help us dig deeper.

Support