Atwood Ales Farm Brewery added several new feathers to its cap, bringing home two awards from the sixth annual Washington Beer Awards® as well as being named finalists for Washington’s Best Saison for the second year in a row by Seattle Magazine. This newest round of recognition for the small farmhouse brewery comes on shortly after wins at the New York International Beer Competition and the Good Food Awards earlier this year.
The results of the sixth annual Washington Beer Awards® were released during the Washington Brewers Festival at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA. This year, 117 Washington breweries received recognition of gold, silver, and bronze medals in 74 award category groupings. Atwood Ales Farm Brewery received a gold medal in the Herb and Spice Beer category for their beer, Mo’s Saison. Additionally, their beer, Triticale, received a special award for Best Washington Malt Beer, showcasing malts grown and produced strictly in Washington.
For Seattle Magazine’s second annual beer awards, the focus was on nine of the most common and most beloved styles of beer: pilsner, amber, saison, pale, stout, porter, and IPA, Double IPA and Northeast IPA. Only Washington-brewed beers that are regularly available were included on the list, and the winners were selected by a blind tasting panel composed of beer experts. For the second year in a row, Mo’s Saison was selected as a finalist in the saison category, honored alongside the likes of Wander Brewing, Holy Mountain Brewing, Urban Family Brewing, and Cloudburst Brewing.
Mo’s Saison is one of Atwood’s year-round offerings, but rather than using the same recipe for every batch, they continually adjust the recipe based on the seasonally available herbs, fruit, vegetables and flowers they grow or forage on their farm and surrounding acreage. “Of the seven or eight distinct variants of Mo’s Saison that we have produced over the past two years, the sage and rosemary variant is a family favorite of ours,” said Monica Smith, director of sales and marketing.
Additionally, Atwood’s Tritcale was voted Best Washington Malt award-winning beer, but also the name of a wheat-rye hybrid grain used in the recipe for the beer. Triticale is a mixed culture saison, fermented with both saison yeast and Brettanomyces. “Brett” is a wild yeast that adds fruity, funky flavors and aromas to the beer, and also contributes to a very dry finish. All of the triticale, wheat and barley used by Atwood Ales Farm Brewery to brew Triticale was grown in the nearby Skagit Valley and malted by Skagit Valley Malting. In addition, all of the hops used in the brew were estate-grown and processed at Atwood Ales Farm Brewery, making this another “50-mile beer” in the Atwood portfolio.
If you would like to taste any of these award-winning beers, you are in luck. Atwood is primed to release Triticale at the Bellingham Farmers Market on June 30th and to wholesale accounts around the same time, as well. Mo’s Saison, in its sage and rosemary variant (and other variants), may be found at bottle shops, food co-ops, the Bellingham Farmers Market and other venues. “There are bottles of the sage and rosemary variant out there, but you might have to search,” said Monica Smith. “At this point, we do not plan to brew and release this particular variant again until next winter.” Atwood also offers free tours once a month, which can be another opportunity to taste and purchase their beers. Visit Atwood’s website for details and registration.
About Atwood Ales Farm Brewery
Atwood Ales Farm Brewery, Blaine’s first and oldest brewery, is located in a 100-year-old barn on a family-owned and operated farm, just 18 miles north of Bellingham. Opened in Spring of 2016, the farm grows ingredients for the on-site brewery, which produces a variety of ales inspired by French and Belgian farmhouse brewing traditions. While the brewery is closed to the general public, Atwood Ales’ bottle-conditioned beers are available every Saturday at the Bellingham Farmers Market, and in bottles and on draft at select locations around Puget Sound, from Vancouver, BC to Tacoma, WA. Learn more about Atwood Ales, find your nearest retailer, or sign up for one of their monthly tours, visit atwoodales.com.
The complete list of results can be found at www.wabeerawards.com/winners
Complete results can be found in the July 2018 issue of Seattle Magazine or at www.seattlemag.com/eat-and-drink/seattle-magazines-second-annual-beer-awards