Badass, Orlison among the Best

Two Spokane-area breweries have won medals in the fifth annual Oregon-based Best of Craft Beer Awards.

Tiny Badass Backyard topped 26 other entries in the robust porter category to bring home gold for its Warpath. Orlison took bronze among 13 smoked beers in the competition for My Mom’s Smokin’ Scotch.

Other Eastern Washington winners included Icicle (Leavenworth), gold, Dark Persuasion chocolate beer; Ten Pin (Moses Lake), bronze, Gutterball Hazy Pale; and Old Schoolhouse (Winthrop), bronze, Hooligan Stout. North Idaho’s Wallace Brewing won silver for Redlight Irish red.

Portland’s Breakside was named brewery of the year for its haul of 11 medals. Oregon breweries won 70 medals, followed by Washington with 29 and California with 20.

There were more than 2,000 entries from 44 states and beyond in what’s billed as the third largest professional competition in the country. Judging took place over the weekend in Bend, with 245 medals awarded to 152 brewery locations in 86 categories.