Oregon Beer Awards 2024 Medal Winners & Recap
Oregon craft beer’s prestigious Oregon Beer Awards were announced at another sold-out ceremony at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon on Thursday, April 4th 2024. This was the 9th annual Oregon Beer Awards, which started as a much smaller event first held at the Doug Fir Lounge before expanding into the double-blind judged competition that has inspired similar awards across the country with their high competition standards and gala awards show inspired by the Oscars.
The 2024 Oregon Beer Awards succeeded despite the ongoing challenges the industry is facing and record recent closures. In the 2024 OBA competition there were 1,088 entries from 124 breweries across the state, this was only a small decrease from the previous year which saw 1,113 entries from 126 brewing companies.
2024 OBA STATS:
1,088 entries from 124 breweries across the state
84 judges
307 flights over 6 days
4 categories judged in 3 rounds; 22 categories will be judged in 2 rounds
Biggest categories: IPA (102), Hazy IPA (56), Pilsner (56), Fresh Hop Pale Ales & IPA (68), Fruited Mixed Culture (54)
If you consolidate categories into broader families, some interesting numbers emerge:
IPA and All Hoppy Ales - 392 entries (average category size: 49)
Classic Pub Styles (UK, North American, Red Beers, Dark Hoppy, Golden) - 229 entries (average size: 29)
Lagers - 191 entries (average size: 38)
Sour/Mixed Ferm - 102 entries (average size: 34)
Adjunct Specialty Beers - 113 entries (average size: 28)
Barrel Aged Strong Beers - 75 entries (average size: 38)
Median category size: 31
Average (mean) category size: 38
BIGGEST WINNERS OF 2024:
Sunriver Brewing Company had a very good, likely best year ever at the Oregon Beer Awards. Not only did they clean up with a whopping 7 bronze medals, but also 2 silvers, and 3 gold medals. It was enough for them to topple perennial winners in the large brewery of they year Breakside, pFriem and 10 Barrel, and become the 2024 champion in their category size.
Great Notion Brewing had their strongest showing yet, making the only full category sweep of the awards in the hazy or juicy beers with gold, silver, and bronze. Couple that with a silver medal in the Imperial/Double IPA category, and it pushed them over the edge for their first ever win as mid-sized brewery of the year.
Grand Fir Brewing continues to live up to the hype, the only 1-year-old brewery nabbed best new brewery in 2023, and now has captured the small brewing company of the year award in 2024. Their medal haul this year consisted of 3 gold medals and 1 silver, all in different categories that showcase their excellence in a variety of styles.
nebuleus continues to be the ultimate Oregon nano brewing success story, continuing their trend of cleaning up in the mixed-culture and fruited mixed-culture categories as they did since their big Oregon Beer Awards debut in 2022 when they came out of nowhere to win small brewery of the year. They very nearly did it again, virtually sweeping the mixed-culture category with silver and bronze, and their Collab with Upright Brewing winning gold, also winning gold in fruited mixed-culture.
Breakside Brewery always does well at the Oregon Beer Awards and is the brewery to beat in the large brewery of trecognition, 2024 was no exception as they came home with 9 medals total, including the most gold medals (4) of any brewery this year.
COMPLETE LIST OF 2024 OREGON BEER AWARDS WINNERS
Pilsner
🥇GOLD - Pilsner, by pFriem Family Brewers
🥈SILVER - King Crispy, by Deschutes Brewery
🥉BRONZE - Rivermark, by Sunriver Brewing Company
Golden, Blonde, and Other Light Ales
🥇GOLD - Van Henion Kolsch, by Van Henion Brewing
🥈SILVER - Sunrise Surfer, by Pelican Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Deseo, by Sunriver Brewing Company
Hoppy Lagers
🥇GOLD - Wonder Wander, Hetty Alice Brewing Company
🥈SILVER - Let's Play!, by Level Beer
🥉BRONZE - Sun Streak, by Sunriver Brewing Company
Fort George Brewery
Light German and European Lagers
🥇GOLD - Short Sands, by Fort George Brewery
🥈SILVER - Carnelian Eyes, by ForeLand Beer
🥉BRONZE - Let Them Drink Pilsner, by StormBreaker Brewing
Dark German and European Lagers
🥇GOLD Secret Secret, by Wayfinder Beer
🥈SILVER - Stout Lager, by Oregon City Brewing Co
🥉BRONZE - Schwarzbier, by Von Ebert Brewing
International Lagers
🥇GOLD - Japanese Lager, by pFriem Family Brewers
🥈SILVER - Bad Hombre, by Level Beer
🥉BRONZE - Bochi Bochi, by Crux Fermentation Project
Stout and Porter
🥇GOLD - Heartwood Stout, by Grand Fir Brewing
🥈SILVER - Motherboard Milk Stout, by Binary Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Lava Lands, by Sunriver Brewing Company
Classic UK Styles
🥇GOLD - First Chair, by Culmination Brewing
🥈SILVER - Drop Top Amber Ale, by Widmer Brothers Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Breakside ESB, by Breakside Brewery
Classic North American Styles
🥇GOLD - Upside Brown, by Falling Sky Brewing
🥈SILVER - Arago Amber, by 7 Devils Brewing Company
🥉BRONZE - Checkered Flannel Brown Ale, by Mt Tabor Brewing
Belgian Beers, German Wheat Beers, and Traditional Brett Beers
🥇GOLD - Zoigl-Weiss, by Zoiglhaus Brewing Company
🥈SILVER - Olaf's Warm Hugs, by Two-Shy Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Lily, by ColdFire Brewing
Red Beers
🥇GOLD - StormWalker Irish Red, by Falling Sky Brewing
🥈SILVER - Groundlings German-Style Alt, by Arch Rock Brewing Company
🥉BRONZE - Doc McLoughlin Scottish Ale, by Oregon City Brewing Co
Strong Beers
🥇GOLD - Breakside LIFE barleywine, Breakside Brewery
🥈SILVER - Bucket Hat Bobby Barleywine, Away Days Brewing Co
🥉BRONZE - GILTINE, by Oak Union Brewing
Sessionable Hoppy Beers
🥇GOLD - Bondi Beach Party, by Sunriver Brewing Company
🥈SILVER - Foxglove, by Grand Fir Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Breakside Woodlawn Pale Ale, by Breakside Brewery
India Pale Ale
🥇GOLD - Breakside Bayside IPA, by Breakside Brewery
🥈SILVER - Breakside Thriving Metropolis, by Breakside Brewery
🥉BRONZE - West Coast Hospitality, by Sunriver Brewing Company
Hazy or Juicy IPA
🥇GOLD - Dead End, by Great Notion Brewing
🥈SILVER - Haze Cadet, by Great Notion Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Return to Space, by Great Notion Brewing
Imperial India Pale Ale
🥇GOLD - Breakside Double Wanderlust, Breakside Brewery
🥈SILVER - Super Ripe, by Great Notion Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Critical Few, by Sunriver Brewing Company
Dark Hoppy Beers
🥇GOLD - Redside, by Grand Fir Brewing
🥈SILVER - Cinder Beast, by Sunriver Brewing Company
🥉BRONZE - Imperial Red Ale, by Steeplejack Brewing Company
Alesong Brewing & Blending picking up a gold in barrel-aged beer and a silver in fruited mixed-culture categories
Barrel-Aged Beers
🥇GOLD - Kentucky Kilt, by Alesong Brewing and Blending
🥈SILVER - Bourbon Barrel Aged Barleywine , by pFriem Family Brewers
🥉BRONZE - Wood Series: Applejack Brandy Quad, by Sunriver Brewing Company
Barrel-Aged Stouts
🥇GOLD - Breakside Are You Afraid of the Dark?, by Breakside Brewery
🥈SILVER - Wood Series: Bourbon Barrel Vanilla Stout, by Sunriver Brewing Company
🥉BRONZE - Matyroshka '24 w/ Vanilla, Cacao, Date, Almond, by Fort George Brewery
Flavored Beers
🥇GOLD - Midnight Crave, by Bevel Craft Brewing
🥈SILVER - Mamut, by Great Notion Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Friar's Festivus, by Monkless Belgian Ales
Fruit Beers
🥇GOLD - Heart Island, by Grand Fir Brewing
🥈SILVER - Sunset Serenade Raspberry Hibiscus Saison, by MadCow Brewing Company
🥉BRONZE - Rum Barrel Aged Coconut Porter, by pFriem Family Brewers
Coffee and Smoke Beers
🥇GOLD - Rauch Marzen, by Von Ebert Brewing
🥈SILVER - Bamberg Obsession, by McMenamins Old Saint Francis School
🥉BRONZE - Mocha Cow, by Sunriver Brewing Company
10 Barrel Brewing winning the second gold for Agrio Morado
Experimental and Historical Beers
🥇GOLD - Agrio Morado, by 10 Barrel Brewing Co
🥈SILVER - Paloma, by Migration Brewing Company
🥉BRONZE - ODDLY SPECIFIC, by Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery
American Sour Beers
🥇GOLD - The Beer Formerly Known as La Tache, by The Ale Apothecary
🥈SILVER - Riviera, 10 Barrel Brewing Co
🥉BRONZE - Lilikoi No Ka 'Oi, by Oregon City Brewing Co
Mixed Culture Beers
🥇GOLD - Forest Flor, by Upright Brewing
🥈SILVER - sitka spruce, by nebuleus
🥉BRONZE - i would like a refund, by nebuleus (Living Haus Beer collab)
Ruse Brewing, nebuleus beer, Living Haus Beer
Fruited Mixed Culture Beers
🥇GOLD - corner slice, by nebuleus (Ruse Brewing collab)
🥈SILVER - Raspberry Parliament, by Alesong Brewing and Blending
🥉BRONZE - Cerise Rouge, by ColdFire Brewing
Fresh Hop Pale Ales and India Pale Ales
🥇GOLD - Bondi Fresh Hop- Strata, by Sunriver Brewing Company
🥈SILVER - Fresh Hop Crystal Double Wanderlust, by Breakside Brewery
🥉BRONZE - Fresh Hop Mosaic Volatile Substance, by Von Ebert Brewing
Fresh Hop Hazy Pale Ales and India Pale Ales
🥇GOLD - Sediments of Memory, by Ruse Brewing
🥈SILVER - Papyrus Iris, by Ruse Brewing
🥉BRONZE - Fresh Hop Talus Logic, by Breakside Brewery
Other Fresh Hop Beers
🥇GOLD - Fuzztail Fresh Hop Luminosa, by Sunriver Brewing Company
🥈SILVER - Altered State, by Wayfinder Beer
🥉BRONZE - Dad Moon Rising, by Ruse Brewing
Large brewery of the year - Sunriver Brewing Company
Brewery of the Year: Large
Sunriver Brewing Company
Brewery of the Year: Medium
Great Notion Brewing
Brewery of the Year: Small
Grand Fir Brewing
small brewery of the year - Grand Fir Brewing
2024 OBA ACADEMY WINNERS
The OBA academy awards are non-beer categories that are chosen by the Oregon beer industry at large through a voting application process followed by collecting ballots and tallying the winners.
Best New Brewery
Obelisk Beer
Best Bottle Shop
Belmont Station
The Beermongers, winners for 2024 best beer bar or taphouse
Best Beer Bar or Taphouse
The Beermongers
Best Brewpub Experience
Fort George Brewery
Best Branding and Labels
Wayfinder Beer
Craft Advocate of the Year
Ben Edmunds
Hall of Fame
Darron Welch
Regional Brewing Company of the Year:
North Coast: Fort George Brewery
Willamette: Block 15 Brewing
Central: pFriem Family Brewers
Eastern: Barley Brown's Brew Pub
Southern: Arch Rock Brewing