In an effort to recognize the business initiatives of brewers across the U.S., Brewbound announced the first-ever recipients of the Brewbound Awards at its full-day conference held on Dec. 4 in San Diego, Calif.
At Brewbound, we are admittedly not the foremost experts when it comes to analyzing the specific stylistic nuances of craft beer. We love and appreciate the hard work that brewers throughout the country put in to crafting the wide array of beer options currently in the marketplace. But with more than 3,200 breweries and tens of thousands of SKUs now being sold, we feel it is nearly impossible to single out the “best IPA” in the country, for instance.
That’s why we opted to reward companies for their execution of philanthropic, sales & marketing efforts and new product rollouts, and have presented six awards to five different U.S. breweries.
Winners of the first annual Brewbound Awards were announced during last week’s Brewbound Session and are presented below.
Cause of the Year: Oskar Blues Brewery, “CAN’d Aid Foundation Raises $1 Million in Year One”
Marketing Initiative of the Year: Sierra Nevada Brewing, Beer Camp Across America Tour
Beer Launch of the Year: Boston Beer Co., Samuel Adams Rebel IPA
Breakout Brewery: Devils Backbone Brewing Company, Lexington, Virginia
Brewery of the Year: Lagunitas Brewing Company, Petaluma, Calif. & Chicago, Ill.
Person of the Year: Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company