Last weekend’s Washington Winter Beer Fest featured more than 130 beers brewed by 50 Washington breweries. Approximately 2,800 people attended the festival’s three sessions, with the largest crowds showing up for the Saturday night session, which sold out because of a large number of walk-up ticket sales.
Below we list the winners of the coveted People Choice Awards. Winning beers are chosen for each of the three sessions based on crowd voting. The big winner this year was Rise and Grind from Spokane’s No-Li Brewhouse, which earned the top spot at all three sessions. This isn’t the first time the beer earned such accolades: Rise and Grind won a silver medal at this year’s Brussels Beer Challenge.
The brewery describes Rise and Grind this way: “This Northwest-inspired beer is a dark, smooth, creamy ale, made with locally-roasted Gemelli coffee, giving the beer (and you) an extra kick.”
Icicle Brewing‘s Dark Persuasion finished in the second spot for two of the three sessions. The brewery aptly describes this one as a “German chocolate cake ale.” Other top vote-getters included Outlander Brewing, Orlison Brewing, Pike Brewing, and Foggy Noggin Brewing.
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I won’t pretend to have sampled all the beers, but some of my favorites were inline with the voting. I especially enjoyed Icicle Brewing’s Dark Persuasion and Pike Brewing’s barrel-aged Kilt Lifter. Of course, Fremont Brewing’s Bourbon Barrel Abominable did not disappoint, nor did the Sister Imperial IPA. Another not-so-wintry personal favorite was the Imperial IPA from Rainy Daze Brewing, which was brewed using fresh spruce tips.
Friday
1- No-Li Rise and Grind
2- Icicle Dark Persuasion
3- Outlander- Chocolate Cake in Your Pants.
Saturday- 1st Session
1- No-Li Rise and Grind
2- Icicle Dark Persuasion
3- Orlison Two Finger
Saturday- 2nd
1- No-Li Rise and Grind
2- Pike Wood Aged Kilt Lifter
3- Foggy Noggin Cranberry Frost.
