Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer Northwest IPAs: April 7

Let’s recap how the Peaks & Pints 2025 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs originated. …

4,300 BC – Oldest-known written recipe — a formula for beer — inscribed in clay cuneiform tablet. The Babylonians are producing beer in large quantities with around 20 varieties, including “Suck It Sumerian Sour”.

500-1000 AD – In the first half of the Middle Ages, brewing began in European monasteries and convents, with hops added to the process. Hello, “Bring Out Your Dead Dunkel”!

1490 – Columbus finds Native Americans making beer from corn and tree sap in the Bahamas. The first Caribbean bar fight broke out when the natives called Columbus a phony.

1612 – The first commercial New World brewery opens in New Amsterdam (now Manhattan, New York City).

1620 – Mayflower docks at Plymouth Rock; ship’s log notes landing hastened by fears over dwindling supplies, “especially our beere.” The Puritans pointed fingers at the Pilgrims.

1772 – Ralph Harwood, a London brewer, invents porter (a dark-and-light-malt mixture). Porter made its way to Ireland in 1776, and Guinness was brewing it a few years later.

1810 – An estimated 132 operating breweries exist in the United States.

1820s – English brewers created strong, heavily hopped brews—now known as India Pale Ales — to withstand arduous travels from England to India. Lord Liverpool made the first bitter-beer face.

2025 – Peaks and Pints launches the Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs featuring 64 Washington and Oregon breweries’ Northwest-style IPAs battling Monday through Friday on Peaks’ Instagram Stories until the Championship Game on April 26.

OK, let’s do a quick foam height check and dive into today’s Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs First Round battles. Vote for one IPA per game. Voting for today’s IPA battles ends on our Instagram Stories at midnight.

Monday, April 7, First Round Northwest IPA Games

GAME 1, SOUTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

Player: Transcend IPA (#6 seed)

Team: Heathen Brewing, Vancouver

Player Stats: Sunny Parsons founded Heathen Brewing in 2012 in a converted barn near his home in outer Vancouver. With “Progressive Ales for the Promiscuous Palate” as the mission statement, Parsons and co-owner and head brewer Rodney Stryker made small batches with local ingredients basically in the backwoods before opening their Feral Public House, a 2,000-square-foot restaurant and taproom in downtown Vancouver in 2015. Transcend hit the market with a significant amount of back-end bitterness. The Heathen IPA was designed around late hop additions to make it approachable. This beer transcends the idea of an IPA with a simple grain bill of NW Pale, Crystal, and Caramel malt that brings a smooth silky texture. Simcoe and Citra hops bring huge aroma and light citrus flavor, while the Warrior hop brings just enough back bitterness to make an IPA.

ABV: 6.7%, Hops: Citra, Simcoe, Warrior

Player: 2 Stroke IPA (#11 seed)

Team: 54-40 Brewing, Washougal

Player Stats: In 2015, Bolt Minister founded 54-40 Brewing Company in Washougal, Washington, to share good times with family and friends over easy-drinking craft beers. Its 54°40′ name is derived from an 1862-1864 negotiation between the U.S. and Britain regarding establishing the Canadian border of the Oregon territory, which was achieved by compromise at the 49th parallel. His 2 Stroke is a Northwest-style IPA brewed with 2.5 pounds per barrel of Citra, Amarillo, and Cascade hops for a tropical and citrus, mainly lemon nose.

ABV: 6.5%, Hops: Citra, Amarillo, Cascade

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GAME 2, SOUTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

Player: Moving Day IPA (#3 seed)

Team: Wet Coast Brewing, Gig Harbor

Player Stats: President Woodrow Wilson had a wine cellar in the White House, but by the time he left office in 1921, Prohibition was the law of the land. As if moving weren’t stressful enough, he had to figure out how to transport his wine to his new digs. Luckily, he was granted an exemption from Congress. Wet Coast’s Moving Day IPA is here to stay. The Prohibition-themed brewery’s flagship IPA offers resinous, citrus, and tropical flavors and aromas balanced by a solid malt bill.

ABV: 6.4%, Hops: Four different hops

Player: No Bad Days IPA (#14 seed)

Team: Barrel Mountain Brewing, Battle Ground

Player Stats: Not only did Barrel Mountain owner Troy Steigman bring the outdoors indoors to a former Laundromat in Battle Ground, Washington, but he also added a scratch kitchen and well-equipped brewery and hired brewer Ryan Pearson, formerly of Green Flash and La Quinta in Southern California. The beers reflect Pearson’s expertise, with various well-made styles, including No Bad Days IPA. Named for having a positive outlook on life, it’s brewed with five malts and five hops to achieve balance. Crystal and Victory malts highlight the malt bill, providing a smooth body. Crisp, clean bitterness results from the Newport bittering hop, while subtle citrus and pine notes are derived from the Columbus, Cascade, Chinook, and Citra hops.

ABV: 6.3%, Hops: Columbus, Cascade, Chinook, Citra, Newport

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

GAME 3, NORTHERN OREGON REGION

Player: Straight Outta Portland (#5 seed)

Team: Migration Brewing, Portland

Player Stats: Migration started in 2010 when four friends came together over a passion for craft beer and a dream of opening a brewpub. With much bootstrapping and a little luck, they have since opened four pub locations within Portland. As the 2024 U.S. SBA Oregon Small Business of the Year, the Migration team takes great pride in producing world-class beers that embrace innovation while respecting classic styles. Migration’s bread-and-butter beer, Straight Outta Portland Northwest style IPA, has plenty of hops, but the firm malt body carries the day, providing a broad canvas that carries through the flavor. It delivers a solid tropical melon and mango aroma, which follows into the taste with a good dose of pine. The semisweet malt lingers long into the aftertaste with a good, clean feel and crisp bitterness for an easy-drinking IPA.

ABV: 7.3%, Hops: Cluster, Strata, Mosaic

Player: Slug Life IPA (#12 seed)

Team: Grand Fir Brewing, Portland

Player Stats: In 2009, after knocking on door after door and being turned down by every brewery in Seattle, she finally convinced Laurelwood Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon, to let her work for free. From there, she climbed the ropes and worked at some of the Northwest’s best breweries: first at Upright Brewing in Portland, then at Elysian in Seattle, then becoming the head brewer at Pelican in Pacific City, and finally, in 2015, she opened the Pearl District location of 10 Barrel Brewing Company as brewmaster. Burnside was brewmaster for 10 Barrel Portland for almost 8 years, making many award-winning beers. In 2022, she and her husband, Chef Doug Adams, opened Grand Fir Brewing in Southeast Portland. They celebrated their first anniversary by brewing Slug Life Northwest-style IPA. It’s made with Citra, Strata, and Mosaic hops for tropical dank pine notes, caramel malt, and a quick bitter finish.

ABV: 6.5%, Hops: Citra, Strata, Mosaic

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

GAME 4, NORTHERN OREGON REGION

Player: Hop Lava (#4 seed)

Team: Double Mountain Brewery, Hood River

Player Stats: Matt Swihart and Charlie Devereaux crossed paths while working at Full Sail Brewing in Hood River, Oregon. In February 2006, Swihart saw a “For Lease” sign in one of the few light-industrial-zoned storefronts in downtown Hood River. On St. Patrick’s Day 2007, Swihart and Devereaux opened Double Mountain Brewery & Taproom in said spot, named after their orchard, Double Mountain Orchards — where one can look in one direction and see Mt. Adams and then look in the other direction and see Mt. Hood. With a mash tun paddle in one hand and a banjo in the other, Swihart ran the brewery while Devereaux ran the pub, creating a pizza that draws as well as their Belgian-inspired yet Northwest-centric craft beer. Eventually, Swihart, a musician himself, became the sole owner, celebrating the brewery’s anniversary annually around St. Patrick’s Day with notable bands and delicious beer and cider. Double Mountain’s Hop Lava is a Northwest-style IPA packed with assertive Northwest hops that are floral, citrusy, and resinous. A healthy dose of Munich malt helps to provide backbone and balance against the hoppy attack.

ABV: 7%, Hops: Northwest hops

Player: Super Dog IPA (#13 seed)

Team: Lucky Labrador Brewing, Portland

Player Stats: In 1994, lifelong friends Gary Geist and Alex Stiles opened Lucky Labrador Brewing Company, often called Lucky Lab, in a converted warehouse that used to house roofing tiles and ladders on Hawthorne Boulevard in Southeast Portland. Having worked in the 9-to-5 workaday world, Geist and Stiles were keen to leave stuffiness, pretense, and the cubicles. Having worked in finance and even balanced the books for opening a brewery, Geist had a leg up on the business end, while Stiles’ two years at Bridgeport Brewing Company meant he was no stranger to mash tuns and brew kettles. First brewed in 2002, Lucky Labrador’s Super Dog Northwest-style IPA has a pound of dry hops per barrel.

ABV: 6.5%, Hops: A lot

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

Tuesday, April 8 Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs action

Game 1: Everybody’s Brewing Illuminated NW IPA (#7 seed) vs. Victor 23 Craft Brewing Imitator NW IPA (#10 seed)

Game 2: E9 Brewing Realize Real Lies (#2 seed) vs. Walking Man Brewing Walking Man IPA (#15 seed)

Game 3: Fort George Brewery Vortex IPA (#1 seed) vs McMenamins 33rd State IPA (#16 seed)

Game 4: Level Beer Game On! IPA (#8 seed) vs. Barley Brown’s Beer Pallet Jack IPA (#9 seed)

LINK: Tournament of Beer: Northwest IPAs explained

LINK: Tournament of Beer Headquarters

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