California’s Riip Beer walked away with the Grand Champion IPA award for its Danky Doodle Dandy at the inaugural Best of the West Coast IPA National Throwdown, organized by the Oregon Brewers Guild (OBG).
“The guild is thrilled to announce this new event,” says Ben Edmunds, the guild‘s board president and brewmaster at Breakside in Portland. “We’ve long thought that a competition would be a fun event for the OBG to host, and there’s no better way to make that happen than by celebrating excellence within the most popular craft style in the U.S.”
Open to brewers across the country, the competition received 200 entries in its first year, awarding 27 medals in six categories. Rather than the usual three-medal system—bronze, silver, and gold—the organizers opted to allow multiple silvers or golds if merited, plus a category champion. The guild announced the winners August 6 on its Facebook page and via the New School beer and cider blog.