Black Lager wins gold
Photo by Chanse Watson A six pack of the award winning 1910 Black Lager on the newly designed bar in the Wallace Brewing taproom.
Adding to its already impressive collection of awards, the Wallace Brewing Company's 1910 Black Lager has won gold in their flight at the Best of Craft Beer competition.
Taking place in Bend, Ore. on Jan. 28 & 29, the 1910 went head-to-head with ten other beers form across the country in the German-Style Schwarzbier category and came out on top.
The judging style of this specific craft beer contest is unique compared to others due to the incredibly particular award system.
Medals are given based on worthiness, not on best vs worst.
This means that it is completely possible that judges give no medals in a category, or could award a bronze medal, but not give out silver or gold if they do not feel that any beer deserves those places.
This is why the 1910's gold medal is truly a big deal.
“Everybody was pretty stoked,” Wallace Brewing Owner Chase Sanborn said.
“The 1910 just keeps getting more and more recognition.”
Contributing greatly to the success of the 1910 is brewmaster Jack Johnson and crew members Elijah Crigger & Ryan Rosecrans.
Falling Sky Brewing's “Space is the Place” Schwarzbier out of Eugene, Ore. and Alibi Ale Works Schwarzbier out of Incline Village, Nev. took second and third place respectively behind the 1910 at this year's contest.
Adding to the excitement, the Wallace Brewing Company is also celebrating their new redesigned bar in their Wallace taproom.
Created by Mitch Santos out of St. Maries, Idaho, the bar now depicts a wood burned scale map of The Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes; starting at Plummer, Idaho on the left side of the bar and ending with Mullan, Idaho at the other end.
Taking him five days to complete, the map also features several local monuments such as the ski resorts, notable mines, and historic landmarks in Wallace.
After the design was complete, Silver Valley Construction applied an epoxy coat to make it permanent.
Sanborn said that he is incredibly pleased with the bar work.
“It awesome, it turned out way better than we ever imagined.”
Between the gold medal and the bar, Wallace Brewing certainly has a lot to be proud of.