Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: Best PNW Breweries Winner and Recap

It starts simply enough: grain, water, hops, yeast. But somewhere between those four elements and the first pour, something else takes over — place, memory, loyalty, the quiet gravity of a brewery that becomes yours without asking permission.

This year, we didn’t chase a style. We chased something bigger.

In February 2026, we asked Washington and Oregon to nominate their favorite breweries — not just the ones making great beer, but the ones that meant something. The ones you defend. The ones you bring friends to. The ones that live a little deeper than a tasting note.

Then, April 4–25, Peaks & Pints in Tacoma’s Proctor District dropped 64 publicly nominated breweries into the bracket and let it loose. You saw what happened. Top seeds wobbled. Powerhouses collided early. Underdogs stopped asking for permission and started taking space.

Here’s how it unfolded.

The first stretch cut quickly — 64 to 32 to 16 — and the bracket immediately refused to behave. Favorites advanced, sure, but never comfortably. Close calls became a theme. Identity started to matter more than reputation.

By the Sweet 16, things had sharpened. Holy Mountain overwhelmed Reuben’s. Sunriver slipped past Deschutes by three votes. Vice Beer — a 13-seed — kept surviving by inches, building a run that felt less like luck and more like momentum with a pulse.

The Great Eight made it personal. Stoup edged Georgetown by a single point. Vice beat Single Hill by one vote. One. Fort George and Block 15 moved with authority, setting up a Final Four that felt both inevitable and completely unpredictable.

Then the bracket broke open.

In the Final Four, Vice did it again — 51 percent over Stoup, another razor-thin escape that turned a run into something real. Fort George, meanwhile, rolled past Block 15 with 79 percent, the kind of win that doesn’t ask questions.

And just like that, it was set:

Vice Beer vs. Fort George Brewery.

Underdog versus force.

Championship Game — April 25.

Vice carried a narrow online lead into the 5 p.m. cutoff, sitting ahead by 53 votes before everything moved inside Peaks & Pints for the live vote. Fort George was represented by Washington sales rep Kyle Vormestrand, back in the room a year after their Northwest IPA championship. Vice Beer co-founder Michael Perozzo made the drive up from Vancouver, stepping into a room that had already been arguing about his brewery for three weeks. Perozzo says his taprooms have been lively this past week as Vice eliminated higher seeds. He attributes votes to their AV Club membership.

From 6–8 p.m., ballots took over.

Fort George won the room by 41 votes.

But when everything was counted — online votes plus live ballots — Vice Beer held on.

By 12 votes.

Twelve.

Michael Perozzo was met with hugs, photos in front of the bracket, and a speech that now lives on Peaks & Pints’ Instagram. Vice Beer earns the Tournament of Beer trophy (engraving pending) and a permanent tap handle at Peaks & Pints through the summer.

From a 13-seed to champion.

Not a blowout. Not a runaway. Just enough — every single round.

So it’s official:

Vice Beer is the winner of the Peaks & Pints Tournament of Beer: Best PNW Breweries.

And somewhere in that result is the real story of this tournament — not just what people think is best, but what they’re willing to show up for, defend, and carry all the way to the end.

Thank you.

To everyone who voted, argued, refreshed, debated, and maybe reconsidered a friendship or two — you made this thing hum.

And to the Peaks & Pints staff — the bracket, the ballots, the questions, the chaos — handled with patience and a smile.

Cheers!

LINK: Tournament of Beer Headquarters

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