Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs April 11

The subject of Northwest-style IPA is, like the subject of barbecue, vexed and fraught with controversy. What constitutes a great Northwest IPA? Who makes the best in the Pacific Northwest? Everyone seems to have his or her favorite, and everyone’s an expert. Throughout February, we polled the public, asking what the top 64 Northwest-style IPAs brewed in Oregon and Washington are. You chimed in. On Friday, April 4, we launched the Tournament of Beers: Northwest IPAs, pitting 64 IPAs against each other Monday-Friday, like the NCAA Basketball Tournament, only with voting on Peaks & Pints’ Instagram Stories. It’s the sixth day of action, and we’re deep into the First Round. Let’s look at yesterday’s results and today’s four games.

Thursday, April 10, First Round Northwest IPA Games results

GAME 1, SOUTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

7 Seas Brewing IPA (#1 seed) vs. Camp Colvos Brewing Buckhorn IPA (#16 seed)

Camp Colvos Brewing and its Buckhorn IPA kept a steady push on 7 Seas Brewing’s IPA from the opening tip-off until the final buzzer. You could throw a petrified hop from 7 Seas to Camp Colvos. The battle drove the construction workers bonkers, but a few cashed in on Camp Colvos’ half-off Buckhorn pints offer via their Instagram reel.  With 59 percent of the vote, Buckhorn IPA moves into the Second Round.

GAME 2, SOUTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

Backwoods Brewing Logyard IPA (#8 seed) vs. Talking Cedar Pacific Northwest IPA (#9 seed)

Backwoods Brewing was mentioned almost immediately when discussing the Tournament of Beer in planning meetings, which seemed like many moons ago. The Columbia Gorge craft beer company has a following, and everyone knows it. They are expanding like crazy, including a future 19-acre resort property called “Party Acres.” This brewery is as Pacific Northwest as they come, with logs in the taproom and Logyards flowing from the taps. But this isn’t the Tournament of Logs. It’s the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs and Talking Cedar Brewery also has wood. And votes. It was a seesaw battle with Talking Cedar pulling away at the end and winning by ONE vote and a date with Camp Colvos Buckhorn in the Second Round.

GAME 3, NORTHERN OREGON REGION

Von Ebert Brewing Volatile Substance IPA (#6 seed) vs. Ferment Brewing Take Me To The River (#11 seed)

It was classic volcano versus water. An age-old drama that continues today is the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, Dempo in Indonesia, and Volatile Substance IPA versus Take Me To The River. In 2021, Von Ebert’s flagship IPA, Volatile Substance, became the third Oregon brewery in a decade to win gold at GABF, capping a year that started with a gold for the same beer at the Oregon Beer Awards. Ferment’s Take Me To the River flows with all the hop overtones: citrus, herbal, floral, fruity, pine. On the Tournament of Beer court, water puts out fire with Ferment grabbing 52 percent of the votes.

GAME 4, NORTHERN OREGON REGION

pFriem Family Brewers IPA (#3 seed) vs. StormBreaker Brewing Oregon IPA (#14 seed)

In yesterday’s only blowout game, pFriem IPA grabbed 79 percent of the votes over StormBreaker Oregon IPA. The traffic along Highway 84 was extra heavy with Uber drivers as folks traveled back and forth between the two breweries. It’s possible that pFriem didn’t know it was doing well in the Tournament as they were busy winning Large Brewery of the Year at the Oregon Beer Awards last night. Congratulations! Also, Congrats to StromBreaker for taking gold for your Opacus Stout, StormBreaker!

The following are advancing to the Second Round:

Camp Colvos Buckhorn

Talking Cedar Pacific Northwest

Ferment Take Me To The River

pFriem IPA

OK, wipe the foam off your upper lip and dive into today’s Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs First Round battles. Vote for one IPA per game on our Instagram Stories. Voting for today’s Northwest IPA battles ends at midnight.

Friday, April 11, First Round Northwest IPA Games

GAME 1, NORTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

Player: House IPA (#7 seed)

Team: Hellbent Brewing, Seattle

Player Stats: On May 30, 2015, Hellbent opened in Seattle’s Lake City neighborhood, transforming a 70s-era Chinese restaurant into a 20-barrel brewery and tavern with an event space, game room, and patio. Our love affair with Hellbent began that day as we soaked in sunrays and IBUs sunk in a couch in the brewery’s back parking lot. Good times. It wasn’t until a sample bottle of Dang! Citra IPA made it to our 2016 Thanksgiving dinner, where we pledged our undying love. In 2021, Hellbent partners Jack Guinn, Chris Giles, Randy Embernate, and Brian Young opened a taproom at Pybus Market in Wenatchee. Their House IPA is a copper-colored, super hop-infused ale with citrus, pungent pine, and tropical fruit aromas.

ABV: 7%, Hops: Simcoe, Chinook, Cascade, Amarillo

Player: Eagle Harbor IPA (#10 seed)

Team: Bainbridge Brewing, Bainbridge Island

Player Stats: Bainbridge Brewing was founded by law school graduate Russell Everett and his father, Chuck, in the Coppertop Sportsman Business Park on Sportsman Club Road. Head Brewer Russell was an award-winning homebrewer, former professional brewer, and recovering lawyer intent on turning the microbrewery of his dreams into a hoppy reality. A graduate of Bainbridge High School, he returned to create something special for the Island and the West Sound community. Since opening, the brewery has developed a well-earned reputation for the quality of its beers, reflected in a string of Washington Beer Awards. Eagle Harbor IPA eschews obfuscation by focusing on classic NW hops, Cascade and Centennial, with newer varieties such as Azacca and Amarillo to complement them, backed up by a solid base of NW Pale Ale malt, wheat, C-40, and Aromatic.

ABV: 6%, Hops: Cascade, Centennial, Azacca, Amarillo

VOTE ON PEAKS & PINTS’ INSTAGRAM STORIES >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

GAME 2, NORTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

Player: Pourhouse IPA (#2 seed)

Team: Rainy Daze Brewing, Poulsbo

Player Stats: You know the story. Twenty-year homebrewer and member of the West Sound Brewers, a notable homebrew club in Kitsap County, Washington, Mike Montoney scores a brew system from closed Battenkill Brewing of Poulsbo, apprentices on a professional with Brad Ginn and Mark Hood of Sound Brewery, goes on to open 1.5-barrel Rainy Daze Brewing with Michael Painter on Olympic View Loop near Bangor in 2012, delivers his first keg, a cask of Jack Got Baked, at the Great Pumpkin Beer Festival, moves into Sound Brewing’s former 7-barrel building in Poulsbo in 2016, wins a bunch of awards including the 2017 Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer with his Goat Boater IPA, the public nominates his Northwest-style IPA flagship Pourhouse IPA into the 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs with its citrusy aroma and an assertive bitterness and take on Dru Bru windy Shot IPA in the First Round on Friday, April 11.

ABV: 6.7%, Hops: Sabro, Kohatu, Mosaic

Player: Windy Shot (#2 seed)

Team: Dru Bru, Snoqualmie Pass

Player Stats: Dru Ernst, his wife, and several partners opened Dru Bru Tap Room & Brewery in December 2014 with the intent to brew European-influenced craft beer lower in alcohol content, which makes sense since he brews on a mountain pass surrounded by outdoor activities. His love for German beer arose after spending a summer in the country with his former exchange student. His love for brewing arose after discovering a friend’s homebrewing hobby. Ernst, a civil engineer grad from Gonzaga, homebrewed for 10 years before trading in traffic circles for a 15-barrel steam-fired brewhouse at the top of Snoqualmie Pass. Dru Bru relocated its brewing operations to Cle Elum in 2021. This move allowed them to expand production and add an in-house canning operation, with all Dru Bru beverages now produced at their Cle Elum facility. Dru Bru collaborated with Suncadia Resort to brew Windy Shot IPA, A medium-bodied ale featuring Northwest ingredients, including Centennial, Chinook, and Cascade hops from the Yakima Valley, malted barley from Vancouver, Washington, and unfiltered water from Snoqualmie Pass.

ABV: 6.3%, Hops: Centennial, Chinook, Cascade

VOTE ON PEAKS & PINTS’ INSTAGRAM STORIES >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

GAME 3, SOUTHERN OREGON REGION

Player: IPA 97 (#5 seed)

Team: Silver Moon Brewing, Bend

Player Stats: In 2000, Silver Moon Brewing’s original owner, Tyler Reichert, cut out parts of doors and whole walls, installed some plumbing, and somehow shoved an entire 10-barrel brew system into 4000 sq ft. He turned the storefront into a modest homebrew shop, quickly expanding into a quirky little taproom. Reichert’s dream was to make great beer and keep it local. And that he did until selling the brewery in 2013 to Matt Barrett and James Watts. Their flagship Silver Moon IPA 97 is a Northwest-style IPA with bold tropical fruit flavors and a light pine aroma.

ABV: 7%, Hops: C-hops, Mosaic, Amarillo

Player: This IPA (#12 seed)

Team: Cascade Lakes Brewing, Bend

Player Stats: Cascade Lakes Brewing was started on a shoestring budget by brothers Steve and Dave Gazeley in a nondescript 5,000-square-foot building in an industrial park west of the Redmond Airport. The Gazeley brothers sold the business to Doug Kutella and Rick Orazetti, and the two new owners put the brewery on the map behind their Blonde Bombshell, 20-Inch Brown, Paddleboard Porter, Cyclops IPA, Hopsmack IPA, Mosaic IPA, Slippery Slope Winter Ale, Snow Park Extra Pale Ale, and Paulina Lake Pilsner. Next, they remodeled 7th Street Brew House and opened its flagship restaurant Cascade Lakes Lodge in Bend at the corner of Century Drive and Chandler Ave. Then, father-and-son Bruce and Andy Rhine acquired a majority stake in the brewery with minority partner Chris Justema. After they had built a new 5,000-square-foot pub on the southwest corner of Reed Market Road and 27th Street, they closed the Cascade Lakes Lodge location. Crafted for this moment, This IPA balances hop-forward juiciness and floral aromas.

ABV: 7.2%, Hops: Centennial, Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra

VOTE ON PEAKS & PINTS’ INSTAGRAM STORIES >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

GAME 4, SOUTHERN OREGON REGION

Player: Total Domination (#4 seed)

Team: Ninkasi Brewing, Eugene

Player Stats: For a few years after its 2006 introduction, Total Domination experienced precisely that, crushing the competition and putting Eugene upstart Ninkasi Brewing on the map. The brewery has grown from a two-man team—Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge—to become the 42nd largest craft brewery in the United States. Total Domination IPA has had a bold remix of the original recipe. It now rocks a definitely lighter shade and body with a leaner malt character, a kick of extra ABV, and a bone-dry climax.

ABV: 7%, Hops: Simcoe Cryo, Amarillo, Crystal, Krush

Player: Grade A (#13 seed)

Team: Crux Fermentation Project, Bend

Player Stats: In 1974, Larry Sidor walked into Olympia Brewing Company wearing galoshes. Two decades later, he ran out. He couldn’t take dumbing down lagers anymore. He found happier times at Deschutes Brewery, developing legendary recipes such as The Dissident, The Abyss, and Red Chair. In 2012, he and Paul Evers opened Crux in a former AAMCO transmission shop in Bend, Oregon, with the complete freedom to brew whatever they desired, and by desire, that meant sublime IPAs, complex barrel-aged Flanders reds, and restrained pilsners. They designed the brewery for non-traditional brewing methods such as decoction mashing, open fermentation, oak barrel aging, wild yeast strains, and experimental hops. Brewed in honor of the historic dairy building where their Portland Pub found its home, Grade A IPA is a Northwest IPA with a citrus kick and a tropical dankness.

Monday, April 14 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs action …

Game 1: Narrows Brewing Octo IPA (#5 seed) vs. Top Rung Brewing Prying Irons (#12 seed)

Game 2: Loowit Brewing Shadow Shinobi (#4 seed) vs. Odd Otter Brewing Optimus Pine (#13 seed)

Game 3: Buoy Beer IPA (#7 seed) vs. Steeplejack Brewing Northwest IPA (#10 seed)

Game 4: Breakside Brewery IPA (#2 seed) vs. Old Town Brewing NW IPA (#15 seed)

ABV: 7%, Hops: Mosaic, Citra, Krush

LINK: Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs explained

LINK: Tournament of Beer Headquarters

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