Idaho breweries won 18 North American Beer Awards. A neighbor state quintupled that.

Pondering what beer to sip this weekend? Try drinking a winner.

Fourteen Idaho breweries hauled in a combined 18 medals at the recent North American Beer Awards.

Held in conjunction with the Mountain Brewers Beer Fest at Sandy Downs Race Track in Idaho Falls, NABA is a well-respected event. Judges go through blind tasting sessions and match beers to style guidelines. Translation: They don’t necessarily choose which beer they like the most — they choose the one that most closely matches the style guide.

Idaho Falls’ own Idaho Brewing Company earned the most hardware in the Gem State with three medals. And Victor’s Wildlife Brewing had the most gold medals, with two.

Seven breweries from the Boise area won awards. Mad Swede Brewing was the only Treasure Valley brewery with more than one, winning gold and silver.

NABA technically is an international competition, but the vast majority of entries come from the United States.

Oregon absolutely dominated the medal count — with nearly 80.

It might drive beer snobs to drink, but 10 Barrel Brewing Co. — owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev — won a whopping 18 medals between its locations in Bend and Portland (plus a 19th in Boise). Breakside Brewing of Portland earned 17 medals — and topped the competition with eight golds.

Clearly, 10 Barrel and Breakside submitted a ton of entries — and make quality products.

Below is the list of Idaho winners. For the full list of winners, go to northamericanbrewers.org.

10 Barrel Brewing Co., Boise location: Easy Livin’, silver medal for category Light Ale, English-Style Mild Ale

Boise Brewing: Oktoberfest, bronze medal for category Marzen-Oktoberfest Lager

Bombastic Brewing, Hayden: Attempted Murder, silver medal in category Herb or Spice Beer

Edge Brewing Co., Boise: Huckleberry Cider, silver medal in category Specialty (Flavored) Cider

Idaho Brewing Company, Idaho Falls: Black Lager, gold medal in category Schwarzbier (Black Lager); Oktoberfest, silver medal in category Marzen-Oktoberfest Lager; Wolf’s Oatmeal Stout, bronze medal in category Oatmeal Stout

Jim Dandy Brewing, Pocatello: Tango Yankee, bronze medal in category Cream Ale

Mad Swede Brewing Co., Boise: Caber Toss This, Ye Wee Lad, gold medal in category Scotch Ale (Wee Heavy); Naked Sunbather, silver medal in category American-Style Brown Ale

MickDuff’s Brewing Co., Sandpoint: Irish Redhead, gold medal in Irish-Style Red Ale

Paragon Brewing, Coeur d’Alene: Red Dog Brown, bronze medal in category English-Style Brown Ale

Payette Brewing Co., Boise: Sofa King Sunny, silver medal in category Session Beer

Post Falls Brewing Company: Dark Horse Stout, silver medal in category American-Style Stout

Spring Creek Brewing Company, Boise: Lori’s Porter, silver medal in category Brown Porter

Western Collective, Garden City: Hidden Lake Express, silver medal in category Chocolate/Cocoa Beers

Wildlife Brewing, Victor: Cerveza de Rio, gold medal in category Latin American or Tropical-Style Lager or Ale; Go Big Golden, gold in category Golden or Blonde Ale

This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 12:35 PM.