The Washington Beer Awards start accepting registrations tomorrow, June 30th.

image courtesy Washington Beer Awards.

Press Release

We are proud to invite you to enter the tenth Washington Beer Awards, the craft beer competition designed specifically to support Washington’s professional brewers.  This Washington-only competition provides an opportunity for all of Washington’s craft brewers to compete in a blind judging format.  It allows recognition of brewing excellence in Washington and provides feedback supporting future competition entry decisions.  Our goal is to provide an unbiased and affordable competition for Washington brewers and raise awareness of Washington craft beer both within the state and on the national level.  We have coordinated with the Washington Beer Commission and the Washington Brewers Guild who endorse this competition as a great way to promote Washington breweries. 

While current national competitions provide great recognition, the logistical challenges and costs of entering those competitions constrain brewer participation and have a fairly low medal-to-entry ratio (2022 GABF ~1:33).  Nearby states have awards programs supporting brand awareness that compete on the shelf next to local breweries placing Washington breweries at a competitive disadvantage. 

This competition provides an affordable venue for Washington brewers to compete locally and receive a higher caliber of judging than provided at many craft beer competitions.  We leverage invite-only trained judges with a focus on providing feedback tailored for the commercial community with detailed tasting observations assessed against the Brewers Association style guidelines used for entering other craft beer competitions.  While we've held the entry fee at $40 for the past 10 years, due to compounding inflation, the cost will go up to $50 per entry this year.

The competition will be held in early September with awards announcements synched up with the Washington Craft Beer Summit in early November.  Medals will be provided to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners and special awards will be provided to breweries with many winning beers. 

Our 2022 competition brought in 1,400 entries from 179 breweries all over the state and presented over 230 awards to Washington brewers.  We hope for the competition to grow this year permitting even more award categories and special awards including a Collaboration category as well as a Pro-Am competition and recognition of the Washington Breweries of the Year.  We will be holding a separate Fresh Hop competition in early October so keep that on your radar as well.
The competition is executed by the longest running organizers of the largest beer competitions in the Northwest.  With experience in professional competitions, knowledge of the needs of the craft brewing community, and ties to the local judging pool, we aim to provide the highest caliber of a beer competition from a non-partisan third party to ensure the legitimacy of your awards.

The registration period will be open from June 30th to July 21st with entries due between August 11th and August 25th.  Winners will be announced in a ceremony at the Washington Craft Beer Summit in early November.  Results will be posted online immediately afterwards.

Complete details and previous results for the Washington Beer Awards will be available at www.wabeerawards.com.  You can sign up to be kept in the loop on competition updates on the website, our e-mail list, and our Facebook page.

We hope to have your involvement and participation in the 2023 competition.

Cheers,
Mark Emiley and Peter Twigg
Washington Beer Awards
organizers@wabeerawards.com

Key Dates:
June 30th - July 21st: Online Registration is Open
July 24th - 27th: Entry Confirmation
August 1st: Invoices for Entry Fees will be mailed
August 11th – August 25th: Entry drop-off/mailing window
August 25th: Entry Fees Due
September 9th-10th: Blind Judging
November 3rd: Awards Ceremony - Washington Craft Beer Summit

Washington Beer Awards Competition Information

Here’s the basic information you need to know to enter the Washington Beer Awards.  Please see the complete rules on the competition website (www.wabeerawards.com) for all details on entering.

• Entering breweries must be a licensed commercial brewery in the state of Washington to participate in the Washington Brewers Awards. 

• Brewers may enter up to 10 beers per brewery location.  Each registered brewery location will be treated as a unique brewery for the brewery of the year awards.  Breweries with multiple locations must decide if they want to enter under one registration (with up to 10 entries) or separately.

• Entries are $50 / entry and require at least six (6) 12-ounce containers, four (4) 22-ounce containers, or the equivalent of at least 72 ounces and four bottles for each entry.  Acceptable package sizes must be between 10 and 32 ounces.  A minimum of 4 packages must be provided, regardless of container size.

• Breweries may register entries from June 30th through July 21st through a registration link available at www.wabeerawards.com/register in categories derived from the Brewers Association style guidelines published as of May 20th.  Any modifications to the guidelines will be posted in the registration process.  Categories may be joined into hybrid, consumer-relevant award categories to ensure competitiveness after final entry totals are known.  All entries will be judged for stylistic and technical merit in accordance with the Brewers Association style category entered by the brewer.

• Confirmation of entries and final award categories will be sent to the breweries following the registration period.  Final brewery entry decisions may be made at this time. 

• After confirmation, you will be invoiced for the competition fees and mailed a standard license agreement and bottle labels.  Payment and the license agreement must be submitted by August 25th.

• Entries will be accepted at drop/mail locations published on the competition website from August 11th through August 25th.  The main drop locations will be in the Seattle & Spokane area.  Distant breweries may coordinate group deliveries at their own discretion.  Additional drop locations may be posted.

• Bottles must be labeled with labels that will be e-mailed to you with your invoice and license agreement.  It is acceptable to put the label on top of pre-labeled bottles.

• Beers will be judged in accordance with the published competition style guidelines in a blind format by a panel of hand selected judges trained in sensory evaluation.  No brewery information will be provided to judges.

• Awards will be presented the weekend of the Washington Craft Beer Summit in early November.  Medals will be provided to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners and special awards will be provided to breweries with many winning beers.  Medals are provided to both the brewer and brewery in recognition of the importance of the craftsperson and the supporting company.  Judge tasting notes and awards will be mailed to breweries shortly following the awards ceremony.

The registration site, full competition rules, and everything you need to know to enter can be found at http://www.wabeerawards.com