Prost! Bitburger Pilsner Challenge Crowns Oregon Winner; Full Results
The Bitburger Pils Challenge ended a 3-day festival at Prost! Portland on Sunday, June 9th, crowning a champion pilsner from Oregon out of 12 breweries from across the U.S.. From Oregon: Gold Dot Beer, Von Ebert, Van Henion, Grand Fir. From Washington: Stoup, Lowercase. From California: Russian River, Highland Park, Moonlight. From Idaho: Bert’s Brewing. From Montana: Bayern Brewing. From Massachusettes: Jack’s Abbey.
Josh Pfriem releasing his pFriem + Bitburger + Prost collab West Coast Pilsner
Presented by Bitburger Brewery, a German pioneer having brewed the first pilsner beer in Germany in 1883 that was institutionalized by the supreme court in 1913. Since then “Pilsener” has no longer been a geographical specification, but a style specification. Their flagship Bitburger Super Pilsner is a standard style bearer of the German-style Pilsner category.
Conceived by Prost! co-owner Dan Hart, and first (and last) held in 2019, the event challenges U.S. Brewers to make the best original (brewed for this event) pilsner recipe which are judged by the public and a pro team of judges,weighted 50/50 against each other, to choose the champion. After a grueling but fun 4-days spent with the Bitburger and Pros! teams, the New School traveled from Portland to Hood River for their pFriem collaboration, to the opening judges reception, public tasting, and culminating to the sit-down formal judging that ultimately crowned GOLD DOT beer the winner.
The prize? A trip for 2 to Bitburg, Germany to experience the world renowned Birburger Brewery. In addition, the winning brewery will have the opportunity to host Brewmaster Dr. Stefan Menya of Bitburger at their home brewery to make a collaboration beer. Deschutes Brewery’s King Crispy (currently a mainstay release) was the 2019 Bitburger Challenge winner.
For the hundreds (thousands?) of Lager fans that attended the Bitburger Challenge, they were greeted with 3 x flights of 4 served on taster trays in 3-5oz pours, with an app accessible by QR code to rate beers in terms of appearance, aroma, mouthfeel, taste, and overall enjoyment. The tastings were completely blind, with neither the attendees or the staff with any knowledge of which beer was which.
For those tracking their own votes and wondering which was which, beers 1-12 were:
Gold Dot Beer
Grand Fir Brewing
Bert’s Brewing
Lowercase Brewing
Jack’s Abbey
Moonlight Brewing
Russian River Brewing
Stoup Brewing
Von Ebert Brewing
Highland Park Brewing
Bayern Brewing
Van Henion Brewing
After not one, but two rounds of judging, the pro-group of judges which included: myself (Ezra Johnson-Greenough of New School Beer), Bitburger Brewery owner Jan Niewodniczanski, Bitburger brewmaster Dr. Stefan Meyna, Chris Navarra (Prost! Seattle founder), Ben Edmunds (Breakside), Josh Pfriem (pFriem), Jeff Alworth (Beervana), Lucy Burningham (author and beer judge), Jake Harper (Deschutes Portland brewmaster and 2019 Bitburger Challenge winner), Brad Veltman (Crosby Hops, Jeff Clawson (Oregon State University), Andre Meunier, Dan Card (co-owner of Prost!), and Jeffrey Morgenthaler (mixologist and bar owner) Eventually narrowed the top two beers down to #7 and #1 with very close competition from #2 and #10.
Ultimately Gold Dot Beer out of McMinnville, Oregon’s new original recipe Pils de Pils was the winner. Russian River Brewing placed second, and Von Ebert Brewing placed third. We can also report from the judges table that Grand Fir Brewing and Highland Park Brewing were neck and neck for a third or fourth place finish.
Heater Allen Brewing / Gold Dot Beer’s Lisa Allen and Kevin Davey
When last held in 2019 there were 8 total breweries invited: 4 breweries from Washington (Georgetown, Reuben’s, Chuckanut, Aslan) and 4 from Oregon (Deschutes, Breakside, pFriem, Wayfinder). To make room for more breweries to participate and join in the fun, those breweries were not invited as competitors but many of the brewers were asked back as impartial judges. Following that model, an entirely new set of breweries would have the opportunity to participate in future years.
Post COVID, the Bitburger Challenge may become an annual event, or a traveling event held in different cities across the U.S. The potential is there to become a premiere Lager event that was born here in Portland. A short documentary was being filmed around this year’s festivities, and I am sure we will be seeing more of it to come, while we look forward to the Gold Dot + Bitburger collaboration beer.
