Tournament of Beer: Northwest Amber and Red Ales? Nominate favorite!
In April 2024, Peaks & Pints will host the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Ambers. Chosen through the nomination process below, the top 64 vote getters — the cream of the malts — will compete Monday through Friday on our website and Instagram account, April 5-27. Through smartphone voting, Washington and Oregon amber and red ale drinkers will pick daily winners until the best amber or red ale in the Northwest is crowned. It’s just like March Madness, only with way more caramel and pine accents.
The malt-to-hop battle of Washington and Oregon brewed amber and red ales grand champion will be announced at the Tournament of Beers Party, April 27, at Peaks & Pints in Tacoma’s Proctor District. The final two amber or red ales will battle live pouring from our Western red cedar tap log with the champion brewery receiving a permanent handle at Peaks & Pints through the spring and summer 2024.
First, we need you to seed the tournament. Peaks & Pints is asking you to select the 64 Washington and Oregon brewed amber and red ales that should be included in the tournament. Peaks & Pints will take the top 64 Northwest amber and red ales voted by you and seed the tournament according to most votes, in the four regions — Northern Washington (Seattle, Spokane and north) Southern Washington (Tacoma, Olympic Peninsula and south), Northern Oregon (Portland, Hood River) and Southern Oregon (Corvallis, Bend and south) with only one amber or red ale per brewery represented.
You’ll notice the Tournament of Beer: Northwest Ambers will carry a Lord of the Rings theme. The Middle Earth theme was chosen because not only is Peaks & Pints “Ringers”, but amber and red ales is the beer of choice of Hobbits. You can visit plenty of locations where the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand, but none of them transports you to Middle Earth like Hobbiton does. On the Hobbiton Movie Set you’ll find the lush rolling hills of The Shire where you can wander past Hobbit Holes and have an amber in the Green Dragon Inn, the famous pub. The Green Dragon staff brews four different kinds of libations onsite under their Southfarthing label, which includes Gridley Fine Grain South Farthing Amber Ale. This year also will see two opportunities to pair ambers with new Lord of the Rings projects: the release of the animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, and the release of The Rings of Power Season 2.
What is the best amber/red ale in the Northwest? Vote for your three favorites below before midnight Thursday, Feb. 29. We’ll randomly select a ballot to win a $25 Peaks & Pints gift card.
Look for the first round of Northwest brewed amber and red ale battles April 5.
Scroll to bottom of nomination form and click “DONE”!
LINK: Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer archives
