As usual, NW breweries dominated, but there was good representation from around the country it seems. https://northamericanbrewers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-NABA-Winners-by-Category.pdf
Should still be on tap at most locations, I know it's still on at Milwaukie and Slabtown. The recipe is by yours truly, I still can't believe it won!
Great stuff. But why was Wanderlust silver in strong pale ales? And Wild Ride winning an awful lot. Like they are OK and a nice place to go in Redmond and Prineville. But really?
I was a judge but not in any categories that we entered. Sometimes there's just a better beer on the table. Some styles are more competitive than others, but the quality of the judging is generally strong and even more experienced than I am.
Breweries choose the entry category at registration, and Breakside must have thought Wanderlust would show best in Strong Pale vs. IPA. I think the Strong Pale category is a business decision by competition organizers to award more medals for hop-forward entries (NABA doesn’t, but GABF has a Juicy or Hazy Strong Pale Ale category too). Virtually nobody calls their beer a Strong Pale in the marketplace.
Ok to make up for bad mouthing Wild Ride was at the local and they had Three Sisters Red. It's a nice enough hop forward Oregon Red Ale..
Only Spokane brewery win seems to have been Uprise Brewing, which won gold for their "Mexican Lager." A little further afield, it looks like MickDuff's, in Sandpoint, ID picked up a couple medals, and Bombastic, in Hayden, ID, won bronze in the "chili beer" category for Murder, an imperial stout brewed with some peppers.
Swung by Dekum yesterday and was bummed this had kicked. Unsurprisingly, there were a good number of new to me beers to be had!
Ah that's a shame, but we are brewing it again next month to send to GABF! I'll let you know when it's back.
