The Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony took place today, announcing the winners of a competition that has a rather amazing set of logisitics behind it for a beer judging event:

First off, huge congratulations to all of the winners this year: to be able to stand out among nearly 8,000 other beers is an accomplishment and a testament to the quality of beer you were able to put out this year! I hope to taste many of those winning beers someday.

But then of course, as we beer geeks are wont to do, I need to highlight all of my regional Oregon breweries for the medals they were able to win today as well. In particular, I’m especially proud of my local (to Central Oregon) Sunriver Brewing, who not only won two gold medals but also won the Small Brewing Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year! That’s pretty amazing and if you haven’t had Sunriver beers yet, well, what’s keeping you?

Here are the Oregon winners, as sent out by the Oregon Brewers Guild:

• Category 1: American-Style Wheat Beer – 39 Entries
  Gold: Sweet As Pacific Ale, GoodLife Brewing Co., Bend, OR
• Category 2: American-Style Wheat Beer With Yeast – 52 Entries
  Gold: Fuzztail, Sunriver Brewing, Sunriver, OR
• Category 5: Belgian-Style Fruit Beer – 58 Entries
  Silver: ZuurPruim, Logsdon Farmhouse Ales, Hood River, OR
• Category 14: Rye Beer – 49 Entries
  Bronze: Breakside Rye Curious?, Breakside Brewery, Portland, OR
• Category 16: Session Beer – 40 Entries
  Bronze: Stonefly Session Ale, Three Creeks Brewing Co., Sisters, OR
• Category 22: Gluten-Free Beer – 33 Entries
  Gold: Dark Ale, Ground Breaker Brewing, Portland, OR
• Category 24: American-Style Sour Ale – 35 Entries
  Gold: DAM Wild: Hops and Lemon Verbena, Flat Tail Brewing Co., Corvallis, OR
• Category 25: Fruited American-Style Sour Ale – 105 Entries
  Bronze: Breakside Passionfruit Sour Ale, Breakside Brewery & Taproom, Milwaukie, OR
• Category 26: Brett Beer – 71 Entries
  Bronze: Touch of Brett Mosaic, Alesong Brewing & Blending, Eugene, OR
• Category 36: American-Style Pilsener or International-Style Pilsener – 98 Entries
  Silver: Sesión Cerveza, Full Sail Brewing Co., Hood River, OR
  Bronze: Lemon Pils, Elk Horn Brewery, Eugene, OR
• Category 41: German-Style Pilsener – 145 Entries
  Gold: Zoigl-Pils, Zoiglhaus Brewing Co., Portland, OR
• Category 59: American-Style Strong Pale Ale – 182 Entries
  Bronze: Breakside Stay West, Breakside Brewery + Beer Hall, Portland, OR
• Category 60: American-Style India Pale Ale – 408 Entries
  Bronze: Breakside IPA, Breakside Brewery & Taproom, Milwaukie, OR
• Category 63: Double Red Ale – 72 Entries
  Silver: St. James, Coldfire Brewing, Eugene, OR
• Category 64: Imperial Red Ale – 41 Entries
  Gold: Cinder Beast, Sunriver Brewing, Sunriver, OR
• Category 81: Specialty Saison – 81 Entries
  Gold: Rye Saison, Base Camp Brewing Co., Portland, OR

Some really good beers on this list to look for, and go drink. Although I do have to wonder what the difference between a “Double Red Ale” and “Imperial Red Ale” actually are. (Ultimately, I guess it’s like a “double” versus a fuller bodied “triple” version.)

Good job, Oregon!