The Seattle Weekly has their annual “Best of Seattle Awards” results posted, and a few local breweries took home honors. The winners in beer-related categories follow, along with an excerpt from each writeup. Please follow each link for the full writeup.

Best Guide to Homebrewing – Alejandro Brown of Big Al Brewing

Belly up to the bar in the tasting room, and he’ll give you tips and tricks on getting perfect batches from the booze fermenting in your garage. And if you bring in a Mason jar, he’ll even give you a little yeast to get you started.

Best Brewpub – Big Time Brewery

Instead they come for the sausage, red onion, and roasted red pepper pizza, as well as for the Scarlet Fire IPA, a beer so flavorful that if it were bubble gum and you chewed into it, it would squirt on contact…

Best Microbrewery – Big Al Brewing

Brown could serve his beer out of a stained pup tent and we’d be happy; that he maintains a tasting room and multipurpose loft (which frequently exhibits work by local artists) is just ice around the keg.

Best Not-So-New Local Beer That’s Just Beginning to Appear on Tap – Fremont Brewing Company

Their best brew is their first, Universale Ale: both light and full-bodied, this hop-rich pale ale is smooth, well-balanced, and touched with a hit of malted sweetness.