Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: Best PNW Breweries April 14 — First Round Finale

And just like that — blink, sip, argue, repeat — the First Round hits last call.

Today closes the opening stretch of the Tournament of Beer: Best PNW Breweries, where 64 publicly nominated breweries from Washington and Oregon entered the ring and, by midnight, only 32 will remain — leaner, louder, and suddenly carrying the full weight of your group chat’s expectations. This is where casual interest hardens into allegiance. Where “I like them” becomes “we ride for this brewery now.” Where, yes, imaginary cheer squads start forming in the corners of taprooms.

Because this thing has a pulse now. You can feel it.

The early rounds delivered everything — blowouts, squeakers, and a few eyebrow-raising swings that made you double back and check the numbers again. Some breweries cruised. Others survived by the fragile grace of a single vote — the digital equivalent of a last-second fingertip save. Meanwhile, palates across the Northwest are officially blown out — hops, malt, wild yeast, lager precision — a full sensory gauntlet with no intention of easing up.

The Second Round begins tomorrow. The field tightens. The conversations sharpen. The margin for error disappears entirely.

As the great, wonderfully unhinged Dick Vitale once shouted into the void, “It’s awesome, baby!” — and here, it’s with a capital IPA.

So take a breath. Hydrate like you mean it. Maybe eat something green.

Then vote.

Because today, the First Round doesn’t just end.
It draws a line.

Monday, April 13, First Round Best PNW Breweries Games Results

Yesterday’s action leaned into tension — no true blowouts beyond one quiet storm out of Hood River, and even the favorites had to earn their space. The margins told the story: close, stubborn, occasionally surprising, and very much alive.

Without further ado, let’s weed through the malt.

GAME 1, SOUTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

5. 7 Seas Brewing vs. 12. Irrelevant Beer

And there it is — the kind of result that makes this whole thing hum. Irrelevant Beer edges 7 Seas with 53% of the vote, a narrow, deliberate push past one of the South Sound’s most established names. No runaway, no collapse — just steady pressure and enough belief to tilt the line. Irrelevant moves on. 7 Seas becomes one of those “how did that happen?” conversations that will linger longer than expected.

GAME 2, SOUTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

4. Grains of Wrath Brewing vs. 13. Vice Beer

Vice Beer didn’t sneak this one — they took it. With 58% of the vote, the Vancouver brewery leaned into its ’90s-soaked identity and walked past Grains of Wrath with confidence. Not a blowout, but decisive enough to feel intentional. Vice advances, carrying that throwback pulse into the Second Round.

GAME 3, NORTHERN OREGON REGION

7. Wayfinder Beer vs. 10. Brujos Brewing

Wayfinder holds the line. At 56%, the Portland lager masters did what they do best — steady, precise, just enough separation to stay in control without overreaching. Brujos pushed, sickle in hand, but Wayfinder’s balance wins the day and earns a spot in the next round.

GAME 4, NORTHERN OREGON REGION

2. pFriem Family Brewers vs. 15. Threshold Brewing

And then there’s pFriem — 85% of the vote, a result that reads less like a contest and more like a statement. Threshold never lacked for craft or intention, but this was a freight train moment. Clean, composed, and absolutely dominant. pFriem rolls on.

Let’s weed through the malt. The following are advancing to the Second Round:
Irrelevant Beer
Vice Beer
Wayfinder Beer
pFriem Family Brewers

The First Round closes tonight. One more set of matchups. One more chance for something unexpected to slip through the cracks and change the shape of the bracket entirely.

Eight more games dropped at 12:01 a.m. on Peaks & Pints’ Instagram Stories. One vote per matchup. Winners advance. The rest become part of the growing mythology — the beers, the breweries, the moments that almost were.

Check the bracket. Trust your instincts. Back your brewery.

Because by midnight, we’re down to 32.

Tuesday, April 14, First Round Best PNW Breweries Games

GAME 1, NORTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

Structures Brewing, Bellingham (6) vs. Mirage Beer, Seattle (11)

Structures Brewing doesn’t announce itself — it hums, it dials, it quietly tightens the bolts until the whole thing feels inevitable. Founded in 2015, James Alexander kept his head down, building a reputation on Belgian farmhouse ales, mixed fermentation, and hazy IPAs that never felt like trend-chasing. Then came the expansion — Chuckanut Brewery and pFriem Family Brewers veteran Bryan Cardwell joining ownership, widening the lens, sharpening the edge — hop work still precise, but now increasingly balanced by a growing devotion to clean, dialed-in lagers. In 2023, Structures opened its long-awaited second location in the former Chuckanut space, stripped to the studs and reborn with glass doors spilling toward the water, a wraparound patio, and a brewery finally stretching into its full shape.

Structures Field Notes:
Founded: 2015
Signature move: Precision IPAs and increasingly refined lagers
Vibe: Quiet focus, clean execution, evolving discipline
Reputation: Brewer’s brewery with a fiercely loyal following

Mirage Beer moves in a different light entirely — more atmosphere than announcement, more feeling than format. Founded in 2018 by Michael Dempster, Mirage leans into farmhouse ales, mixed fermentation, and hop-forward beers that blur edges instead of sharpening them. Dempster’s approach feels less like production and more like composition — each release layered, a little unpredictable, often chasing mood as much as flavor. The taproom mirrors it all: music, art, texture, a space that feels alive in motion rather than fixed in place.

Mirage Field Notes:
Founded: 2018
Signature move: Mixed fermentation and boundary-blurring hop expressions
Vibe: Artistic, fluid, intentionally off-center
Reputation: Cult favorite for drinkers chasing something different

Structures refines the line.
Mirage bends it.

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GAME 2, NORTHERN WASHINGTON REGION

Stoup Brewing, Seattle (Ballard) (3) vs. Icicle Brewing, Leavenworth (14)

Stoup Brewing begins with a leap — not a small one, not a safe one, but the kind that risks everything and then somehow lands on its feet, pint in hand. Lara Zahaba and Brad Benson left the East Coast for Seattle with a shared obsession for craft beer — she an Italian wine importer, he a forensic chemist — and bet it all on a Ballard brewery. We’re talking their savings, their parents’ savings, even a 150-year-old family farm in Iowa, plus the hard-earned contributions of Robyn Schumacher, a former schoolteacher turned Washington’s first female Certified Cicerone. What started as Critical Juncture Brewing Company became Stoup — and the name stuck, because that’s exactly what it was. Today, three locations deep (Ballard, Kenmore, Capitol Hill) with Stoup Distro pushing beer far beyond the brewhouse, they’ve built something that feels both improbably bold and completely earned.

Stoup Field Notes:
Founded: 2013
Signature move: Balanced, expressive ales with technical backbone
Vibe: Smart, welcoming, built on risk and follow-through
Reputation: One of Seattle’s most respected and hard-earned success stories

Icicle Brewing answers with mountain roots and long memory — founded in 2010 by Pamela and Oliver Brulotte in Leavenworth, still 100 percent family- and employee-owned, drawing its water from Icicle Creek as it spills down from the Stuart Range and Wenatchee Mountains. There’s lineage here — Oliver’s family ties running deep into Washington hop farming — but also forward motion: sustainability woven into daily practice, from 1% for the Planet membership to becoming the first small craft brewery in the state to close the loop on CO₂ emissions through carbon capture. It’s not just place-driven beer. It’s place-protecting beer.

Icicle Field Notes:
Founded: 2010
Signature move: Clean, approachable beers rooted in place and process
Vibe: Mountain-born, community-minded, quietly progressive
Reputation: Destination brewery with deep roots and forward-thinking practices

Stoup builds the leap.
Icicle tends the source.

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GAME 3, SOUTHERN OREGON REGION

Block 15 Brewing, Corvallis (1) vs. Terranaut Beer, Bend (16)

Block 15 Brewing moves like a top seed that earned every inch of it — built from the ground up in 2008 when Nick and Kristen Arzner opened inside the old 1926 Gazette-Times building, just a few blocks from Oregon State’s fermentation brain trust. From the start, they leaned into the Willamette Valley’s agricultural abundance — hops, grain, possibility — and turned it into a portfolio that feels both expansive and grounded. IPAs that helped define the region, classic styles rendered with care, Belgian-inspired beers that wander just far enough into wild territory to stay interesting. It’s not flash. It’s range, depth, and the quiet confidence of a brewery that knows exactly what it’s doing.

Block 15 Field Notes:
Founded: 2008
Signature move: Sticky Hands IPA and a deeply varied, hop-forward portfolio
Vibe: Collegiate, thoughtful, quietly dialed
Reputation: Oregon standard-setter with serious range

Terranaut Beer answers with a jolt of fresh energy and serious credentials — founded by Bryon Pyka after his run with 10 Barrel’s highly decorated Innovation Brewing team, already flashing hardware with a GABF silver medal before its tasting room even opened in October 2024. Pyka’s approach splits beautifully in two: boundary-pushing creations like saison laced with Buddha’s hand zest and basil, alongside foundational English styles — ESB, brown ale — executed with a kind of reverence that keeps things grounded. It’s experimentation with roots, curiosity with control.

Terranaut Field Notes:
Founded: 2024 (taproom)
Signature move: Experimental saisons alongside classic English styles
Vibe: Inventive but anchored, restless yet precise
Reputation: Bend newcomer with medals and momentum

Block 15 builds the foundation.
Terranaut tests how far it can stretch.

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GAME 4, SOUTHERN OREGON REGION

Crux Fermentation Project, Bend (8) vs. Claim 52 Brewing, Eugene (9)

Crux Fermentation Project feels like Bend distilled into beer — open sky, wide patios, and a brewing philosophy that leans into possibility without losing its footing. Founded in 2012 by a team of Oregon brewing veterans, Crux built its reputation on versatility: hop-forward staples like PCT Porter and Cast Out IPA sharing space with experimental releases and seasonal wanderings. The tasting room spills outward, the beer list stretches sideways, and the whole operation carries that sense of motion — a brewery comfortable exploring, as long as the beer lands clean.

Crux Field Notes:
Founded: 2012
Signature move: Broad, exploratory lineup anchored by dependable flagships
Vibe: Expansive, social, Bend energy with range
Reputation: Versatile heavyweight with something for everyone

Claim 52 Brewing answers with a different kind of intensity — founded in 2012 in Eugene, now widely recognized as one of the nation’s leaders in smoothie-style sours, beers that drink like technicolor fruit storms with a tart edge and zero interest in subtlety. But it’s not chaos for chaos’ sake — beneath the puree and punch sits real control, a brewery that understands balance even when it’s pushing saturation to the brink. It’s loud, it’s playful, it’s engineered to delight and divide in equal measure.

Claim 52 Field Notes:
Founded: 2012
Signature move: Smoothie sours and bold, fruit-driven creations
Vibe: High-impact, playful, unapologetically loud
Reputation: National player in the smoothie sour movement

Crux keeps it wide open.
Claim 52 turns it all the way up.

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LINK: Tournament of Beer Headquarters

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