Image from E9’s Facebook page.

139 Washington breweries submitted 950 beers for evaluation at the fourth annual Washington Beer Awards. Once the judges worked their way through all of the entries, there were three breweries that came out on top with the most medals. The results were announced at the Washington Brewers Festival this past weekend. Ten Pin Brewing took home the Small Brewery of the Year with four total medals, including two golds. E9 Brewery LLC won the Mid-Size Brewery of the Year with five medals, including two golds.  The Large Brewery of the Year was won by No-Li Brewhouse with five medals, which included one gold.

In total, 86 breweries were awarded medals in 56 category groupings.

Congrats to all of the winning breweries. Check out the full list of winners by category here.

Press Release:

Specialty Competitions LLC is proud to release the results of the fourth annual Washington Beer Awards^®.  This year 86 Washington breweries received recognition of gold, silver, and bronze medals in 56 award category groupings.

The results for this Washington-only professional beer competition were announced on June 18^th at the Washington Brewers Festival at Marymoor Park in Redmond where some of Washington’s best brewers received medals for their award winning beers.

The judging for the Washington Beer Awards was held on June 4^th at Elliott Bay Public House & Brewery in Lake City.  The panels of trained judges had to evaluate 950 beers from 139 breweries spanning over 110 unique styles from the Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines for technical and stylistic excellence.

The competition was held with the endorsement of the Washington Beer Commission as a way to celebrate Washington’s growing brewing culture and recognize excellence in the craft.  All of Washington’s craft breweries were invited to submit entries to the competition held in a similar format to other craft beer competitions like the Great American Beer Festival® and World Beer Cup®.

Three special awards, the Small, Mid-Sized and Large Breweries of the Year, were presented to breweries who won numerous medals in many categories.  Ten Pin Brewing took home the Small Brewery of the Year. E9 Brewery LLC won the Mid-Size Brewery of the Year with five medals, including two golds.  The Large Brewery of the Year was won by No-Li Brewhouse with five medals.

A few special awards were also providing recognizing some unique Washington brewing excellence.  E9 Brewery’s “Blackberry” was selected as the Best Washington Agricultural Product Inspired Beer for showcasing locally harvested blackberries in a barrel aged lambic.  Four Horsemen Brewery had their Black Plague Stout selected as the Best Washington Malt beer showcasing malts produced strictly in Washington.  Aslan Brewing Company won a gold in the “Pro-Am” category for a Vienna lager that was developed by a Washington homebrewer and scaled up for commercial production.

More information on the competition and the complete list of results can be found at www.wabeerawards.com/winners and a press release can be found at www.wabeerawards.com/press.  Watch for Washington’s award winning beers marked at your local craft beer bars and beer stores and get ready for the Washington Beer Awards to return in 2017 where new winners will be decided!