Nominate your favorite beers and breweries
All month long, fans can make nominations for the San Diego Beer Awards on Facebook and Instagram
Today marks the start of the nomination period for the San Diego Beer News Awards, a first-of-its-kind all-San-Diego competition drawing on opinions from beer fans and brewery personnel to recognize standout beers, brewing companies and industry members throughout the county. Every weekday in January, fans of San Diego craft beer can cast nominations in different beer or brewery categories by commenting on posts presented via San Diego Beer News’ Facebook and Instagram accounts and tagging the nominated breweries in the process. The following is the order in which nominations will be sought:
January 4-8 | IPAs & Hoppy Beers:
- West Coast IPA
- Hazy IPA
- Imperial IPA
- Niche IPA
- Hoppy Beer (Non-IPA)
January 11-15 | Lagers & Assorted Ales:
- Pilsner
- Lager (Non-Pilsner)
- Belgian Ale
- Dark Beer (Non-Imperial Stout)
- Coffee Beer
January 18-22 | Sour, Strong & Barrel-Aged Beers:
- Sour Ale (Non-Barrel-Aged)
- Barrel-Aged Sour/Wild Ale
- Strong Ale (Non-Stout)
- Imperial Stout (Non-Barrel-Aged)
- Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout
January 25-29 | Service, Décor, Collaboration & Community:
- Customer Service
- Décor
- Collaboration Beer
- Charity Effort
- Craft Beer Community
In February, a pair of surveys—one for brewery employees and one for fans—will be available on the San Diego Beer News website. Both will contain all of the nominated beers and breweries submitted via social media in the categories above, along with companies eligible in the categories of Best New Brewery and Best Brewery. The latter will be awarded to top vote-getters in five geographic regions (north, south, east, west, central). Winners will be announced online at the beginning of March care of a “virtual awards ceremony” involving members of the San Diego brewing community and San Diego Beer News staff.
“2020 was a difficult year, especially for San Diego’s brewing industry, which consists of more than 150 small, local businesses, which were forced to pivot over and over in light of the pandemic. Yet, through it all, the quality of their beers and strength of their collective resolve remained intact. That is something worth celebrating,” says San Diego Beer News Executive Editor Brandon Hernández. “We are elated to present a new vehicle for recognizing the San Diego brewing community’s trademark exceptionalism, one which allows everyone to participate in a meaningful way and provides something to look forward to in what will hopefully be a New Year far better than the one we put behind us.”
The nomination period kicked off at 6 a.m. this morning, so head over to San Diego Beer News’ Facebook or Instagram pages to cast nominations in what is sure to be a fiercely contested category: West Coast IPA!