The Best of Craft Beer Awards Loves Hanzō & So Do We

And we’re back – with more winning beer business!

The Best of Craft Beer Awards out of Bend, OR is one of the fastest growing beer competitions in the country. Falling Sky had the honor of not only participating in this up-and-coming competition, but walking away with a Gold medal. Our Hanzō Japanese-Style Lager was awarded first place in the North American Lager category! What’s a Japanese-style lager? We are so glad you asked.

In the Japanese lager, rice is used as an adjunct grain where barley or corn tend to be used in the traditional American lager. Adding rice to the brewing process generates fermentable sugars the yeast can process to create the lager’s light body and color. In the case of our Hanzō Lager, this addition of rice also helps accentuate the hop profile to leave us with a unique, crisp taste that always proves refreshing. We love it so much, we’ve made it a flagship here at the brewery, so you can enjoy it any day of the week, any time of year.

Fun fact: In a past competition, the Hanzō Japanese-Style lager did well but the judges noted that the beer head, or the length of time the bubbles stayed on the beer, didn’t last as long as they’d like. We took this valuable input back to the brewing room, did some finetuning (like a wizard would), and Voila! Out came the Gold medal lager (with a delightfully long beer head) that we have today.

Though The Best of Craft Beer Awards takes place right here in Oregon, it accepts beer submissions from breweries and brewpubs around the world. Being recognized in a highly-regarded  international competition is truly an honor. We look forward to competing each year and supporting the work of craft brewers everywhere! Let it pour!!

If you think that’s exciting, wait until you read about the 2024 NABA International Beer & Cider Awards. Keep reading for more “Falling Sky wins cool stuff” in our next blog!