SEATTLE, WA . (Jan. 31, 2017) The judging has taken place and the winner of the inaugural Reuben’s Brews “Hop Idol” Homebrew Contest is Jonathan Cooper! His brew beat out 38 other homebrew submissions to take home the title. Just as rewarding as the bragging rights is the opportunity to brew the beer with the Reuben’s Brews team at their brewery and to have it distributed in Western Washington.
“The judging panel was really impressed with Jonathan’s beer,” says Adam Robbings, co-founder and head brewer of Reuben’s Brews. “It has a great tropical nose, nice balance and juicy hop character. I think we’ll have fun brewing this beer on our system with Jonathan.”
The entries were evaluated and scored in a blind tasting on January 21 at the brewery’s warehouse by a team of about 20 judges. The judging panel included Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) certified beer judges, Reuben’s team members, some of Reuben’s wholesale customers and representatives from Reuben’s distributors.
In addition to brewing his American IPA with the Reuben’s team at their brewery in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, Jonathan’s beer will be distributed throughout the Northwest and will be entered in the Washington Beer Awards Pro-Am competition as well as the Great American Beer Festival. He will also receive a $250 cash prize, t-shirts and other prizes. The distributed brew will available on tap in the Reuben’s taproom and in bottles around Western Washington starting in May.
Second place honors went to Jason Mooth, and Patrick Boyce and Jonathan Cooper took third place.
“I’d like to thank all of the brewers who took the time to brew their beers and send them to us,” says Robbings. “We appreciate the effort you put into it! Going back to how I got started brewing, I’ve wanted to do a contest like this for a long time and I’m really happy with how it turned out. We received 39 entries, including from as far away as Maine and South Dakota! Home-brewers are doing some great work and I can’t wait to do this again next year!”
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