The 2nd annual Bitburger Challenge is returning to Portland, Oregon this June 7-9th after a 5-year hiatus. Presented by German lager masters Bitburger Brewery, and Portland German beer bar Prost!, the Bitburger Challenge is a competitive festival to brew the best original Pilsner.

Conceived by Prost! owner Dan Hart, the inaugural Bitburger Challenge in 2019 was a northwest competition to see who could brew the best German style Pils that closest holds up to the standard of the world renowned Bitburger Premium. That year there were 4 breweries from Washington (Georgetown, Reuben’s Brews, Chuckanut, Aslan) and 4 from Oregon (Deschutes, Breakside, pFriem, Wayfinder) who all brewed new/not previously existing original recipes. Entries are judged by the general public as well as a hand select selected panel of beer experts. Out of the extremely competitive group, Deschutes Brewery emerged victorious with their creation King Crispy, a beer now available year-round and in 6-packs.

This year the Prost! Bitburger Challenge is expanding to 12 breweries from across the U.S. with the winner receiving a trip for 2 to Bitburg, Germany to experience the world renowned brewery and brew a new collaboration with their Brewmaster Dr. Stefan Menya.

Their beer entry must be an original pils created solely for this event. No “flagship” or “core” pilsners are accepted and the beers will not be poured anywhere else until after the competition.

This year’s participants:

• Gold Dot-McMinnville OR

• Von Ebert-Portland, OR

• Van Henion-Bend, OR

• Grand Fir-Portland, OR

• Stoup-Seattle, WA

• Lowercase-Seattle, WA

• Russian River-Santa Rosa, CA

• Highland Park-Los Angelas, CA

• Moonlight-Santa Rosa, CA

• Berts Brewing-Boise,ID

• Bayern-Missoula, MT

• Jack’s Abbey-Framingham, MA

Judging:

With the purchase of a $30 score card and flight, the public will get to sample 3oz pours of all 12 entries and blind rate them on appearance, flavor, mouthfeel, and overall impression. When you submit your scorecard you receive a .3L pour of a special Bitburger Unfiltered Pilsner brewed exclusively for Prost! in a glass mug that you get to keep. T-shirts and hats will also be available for purchase.

In addition to public voting, Bitburger Owner Jan Niewodniczanski and Brewmaster Dr. Stefan Menya will preside over a panel of expert judges who will also evaluate the entries and enter their scores. The overall winning beer will be chosen 50/50 between the public and expert judging panels votes, and announced at 4pm on Sunday, June 9th at Prost!

Schedule:

FRIDAY, JUNE 7TH:

4-9pm: Guest judging will be underway with all 12 beers represented.

SATURDAY, JUNE 8TH:

Noon-9pm: Guest judging resumes.

SUNDAY, JUNE 9TH:

10am-Noon: Brewer’s Brunch at Stammtisch will be a ticketed event open to the public for prior purchase.

Noon-3:30pm: Final day of guest judging.

2pm: Professional judging panel will be sat somewhere visible to begin their tasting.

4pm: Awards ceremony and presentation of the trophy!

PROST!

4237 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR 97217