Loowit Brewing Wins Gold Medal at Inaugural Washington Beer Awards

Since getting back recently into the Oregon and Washington, I have had the privilege of expBEERiencing so many great new breweries, pubs, and craft brew haunts. While the nation continues to see across-the-board growth in craft brewing, our little corner of the world is witnessing something of an almost incomprehensible magnitude. One of the best new spots I’ve had the pleasure of hitting up has been Loowit Brewing in downtown Vancouver, Washington.

America’s Vancouver, sometimes referred to as simply “The Couve” or even “Vantucky” has a much different vibe and culture than Portland, Oregon just across the river. With a lot less craft beer culture than the Rose City, The Couve is starting to finally get some traction in this department with a number of interesting events and openings that are sure to at last carve out a niche for Clark County’s largest city.

Loowit Brewing, founded by once homebrew champions and friends Devon Bray and Thomas Poffenroth, has been operating their 10-barrel brewery on Columbia Street near the I-5 Bridge since mid autumn and are now beginning to hit their stride. There has been a lot of learning and some growing pains according to the brewers who are delving into their first business venture of this magnitude and their first professional brewing gigs.

Last week, I stopped by the pub before they opened and met with Bray and Poffenroth to sample their wares. Every beer I tasted was spot on, from their lighter Lucid Golden Ale through their emoboldened Jack Daniels barrel-aged Truman’s Goddamn Strong Ale was clean well put together. I was particularly impressed with their raspberry fruit beer that was available for summer quaffing. This beer, known as Vandalia Summer Ale, was indeed worthy of acclaim. On June 15, the beer won a prestigious gold medal at the inaugural Washington Beer Awards in the fruit beer category. More than 70 breweries entered a combines 400+ brews into the judging.  

Below is a press release sent out from the folks at Loowit Brewing about their big win. To see a complete list of 2013 Washington Beer Awards winners, visit http://www.wabeerawards.com/winners…

After having been open for only 8 months, Vancouver’s own Loowit Brewing Company has received statewide recognition for excellence in their beer “Vandalia Summer Ale”, which was awarded a Gold Medal in the fruit beer category of the Washington Beer Awards. Loowit Brewing was the only SW Washington brewery to receive a medal and is proud to represent the burgeoning brewing scene in their home town that they lovingly refer to as Beercouver.

ABOUT VANDALIA SUMMER ALE
A crisp, light, golden ale lightly dry-hopped and brewed with 42 pounds of raspberries. The beer is distributed to bars and restaurants in Vancouver, Washington and is available on tap at the Loowit tap room in downtown Van- couver.

ABOUT WASHINGTON BEER AWARDS (http://wabeerawards.com)
A professional beer competition open to all of Washington’s breweries. This inaugural competition drew over 400 entries from nearly 70 breweries spread all over the state. The competition was held at Elliott Bay Public House & Brewery with around 40 trained beer judges evaluating beers spanning over 90 styles from the Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines.

The competition was held with the endorsement of the Washington Beer Commission as a way to celebrate Washington’s growing brewing culture and recognize excellence in the craft. All of Washington’s craft breweries were invited to submit entries to the competition held in a similar format to other craft beer competitions like the Great American Beer Festival® and World Beer Cup®.

ABOUT LOOWIT BREWING COMPANY:
Founded in 2010 by longtime Vancouver residents Devon Bray and Thomas Poffenroth, Loowit Brewing Com- pany is the latest significant addition to underpin a revitalized downtown Vancouver, Washington. Loowit began brewing commercially and opened it’s doors in October 2012. The company specializes in brewing small batch, hand crafted ales that are developed with a thoughtful approach balanced by a Pacific Northwest flair.