Oregon Breweries, Cideries Take Home 35 Medals at Great American Beer Festival, Third Most in the Country

PORTLAND, Ore. — Over the weekend, Oregon breweries and cidermakers celebrated 35 wins at the prestigious Great American Beer Festival.

“Year after year, Oregon is among the most medal winners. We have the accolades to prove we’re among the world’s best,” said Brett Thomas, Vice President of the Oregon Brewers Guild and founding brewer of Sunriver Brewing Company, who won three medals this year. “Oregon breweries are facing major challenges with record closures and people drinking less. Please, seek out these award winners and toast to keeping breweries alive so they can win even more awards next year.”

Yet another year in the top three, Oregon took home 35 awards out of 336, the third most of any state, behind California with 80 and Colorado with nearly 40. Two Oregon breweries also took home best brewery of the year within their category size – Upp Liquids for a brewery between 251-500 barrels and Breakside Brewery between 15,001-100,000 barrels.

According to Beer Serves America data, Oregon is home to 300 breweries, brewpubs and taprooms generating more than $8.9 billion in economic output, $2.8 billion in wages, creating 46,700 jobs in the state. It’s so important to the local economy, Oregon is the fifth most beer-job reliant state, accounting for 1 out of every 633 jobs in Oregon.

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About the Oregon Beverage Alliance

The Oregon Beverage Alliance is made up of local brewers, winemakers, cidermakers, distillers and their supply and hospitality partners creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and generating $17 billion in economic activity for Oregon annually.