On Sunday, October 16th the 7th annual Oregon Beer Awards Fresh Hop beer competition was held to recognize the best in Oregon brewed fresh hop harvest beers in 2022. The fresh hop dedicated portion of the competition is held every October separately from the main annual competition so that they can capture beers at the peak of seasonal ripeness and availability.

In 2016 the first OBA fresh hop competition was held in conjunction with the Hood River Hops Fest with just one category. In 2018 the entries were rising, and there were more breweries making styles other than IPA and Pale with fresh hops, so organizers added the “Other Fresh Hop” category. Despite the pandemic, the amount of fresh hop beers kept growing and in 2020 a third category for Hazy and Juicy was added.

The 2022 Oregon Beer Awards Fresh Hop competition was the largest one yet, with 135 beers entered from 54 different breweries. To put that number into perspective, the Great American Beer Festival only had 84 entries in the fresh hop category in 2022, and the Washington Beer Awards had virtually the same number of entries into their fresh hop competition. All beers were were evaluated double-blind, meaning neither the 17 industry judges nor the pourers no what the beers are.

Oregon Beer Awards recognizes gold, silver, and bronze medal winners in 3 different fresh hop categories. This year’s competition stands-out not only for the number of entries but in that all except for one (What Fresh Beast) of the 9 beers have never won a medal in the fresh hop category before.

Fresh Hop Pale Ales and India Pale Ales

This category is for all hop forward, West Coast styles of beer made with fresh hops. For the purpose of this competition, fresh hops are defined as newly harvested hops that have not been conventionally baled or stored.

🥇GOLD Ruse Brewing Songspire

🥈SILVER Migration Brewing Summer Chinook

🥉BRONZE Sunriver Brewing Doug Said So

Fresh Hop Hazy Pale Ales and India Pale Ales

🥇GOLD StormBreaker Brewing Set Freshies to Haze

🥈SILVER Breakside Brewery What Fresh Beast

🥉BRONZE Ruse Brewing Clever Weather

Other Fresh Hop Beers

A catch all category for any non-IPA beer styles in the fresh hop categories.

🥇GOLD Baerlic Brewing Fresh Hop Eastside Oatmeal Pilsner

🥈SILVER Deschutes Brewery Fresh Hop King Crispy

🥉BRONZE SteepleJack Brewing Fresh Hop Luminosa Single Farm Table Beer

The Oregon Beer Awards will announce their next statewide industry awards in a full set of categories at an awards ceremony at Revolution Hall in April, 2023.