In 2025 we are launching a special competition to recognize Washington's craft ciders!  This competition is a separate but supplemental competition to the regular Washington Beer Awards focused on recognizing excellent ciders from all across the state from any Washington licensed cidery.

Below you'll find a high level summary of the important aspects of the Cider Competition. For the complete entry details, you can download a full copy of the rules here (entrants should familiarize themselves with the complete rules prior to entry).

The cider competition will be launched on the same timeline as the Fresh Hop Competition except that the awards will be announced at the Washington Craft Beer Summit in November.

During registration, follow the link available here to register for the 2025 Cider Competition from September 9th to September 18th.  Contact the organizers if extreme circumstances prevented you from entering and we'll see if it is possible to accomodate additional submissions.

Online registration is closed as of September 18th - If you missed registration, contact us at organizers@wabeerawards.com and we'll try to help you get added.

General Washington Beer Awards Cider Competition Rules Summary

(Please read the full rules for details.) 

Eligibility & Pricing

• Entrants must own a licensed commercial cidery (brewery or winery) in the state of Washington to participate in the Washington Brewers Awards Cider Competition. Ciders submitted must have been produced in and commercially available in the state of Washington in a facility located in Washington which has a Brewers or Winery Notice on file with the TTB (U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau).
• $50 per entry.

Registration

• The online registration period will be from September 9th through September 18th. All entries must be registered online.
• Cideries may enter up to 10 entries. Cideries with multiple locations may register up to 10 ciders per location or they may enter all of their ciders under one location (up to 10 total). Each registered location will be treated as a unique cidery for the cidery of the year awards.
• Ciders will be entered into the online registration tool derived from the currently published Brewers Association Style Guidelines covering ciders on the Brewers Association website as of July 1st of the competition year.
• Please note that entries in and medals from the Washington Beer Awards Cider Competition do not count towards the Brewery of the Year Awards in the main competition but will count to Cidery of the Year Awards.
• In order to be eligible for a “Cidery of the Year” award, the cidery must specify their previous year’s production volume.
• The anticipated award categories are:

1. Tannic Cider
2. No/Low-Tannin Cider
3. Fruited Cider
4. Botanical or Spiced Cider
5. Experimental, Barrel-Aged or Specialty Cider
6. Single Varietal Cider

• Additional information is required with many categories noted in the Brewers Association Style Guidelines. It is the responsibility of the entrants to properly complete this information in the “Specialty Information” section.

Confirmation of Entries

• All entries submitted as of September 20th will be considered confirmed.  If the organizers decide to change any award categories, affected cideries will be notified after the registration period.

Payment

• After confirmation, entrants will be invoiced for their entries and mailed a standard license agreement.
• Check payments made out to “Washington Beer Awards” and must be received by October 8th. They must be mailed to: Washington Beer Awards, PO Box 26398, Federal Way, WA 98093

Submitting Ciders

• You must provide at least six (6) 12-ounce containers, four (4) 22-ounce containers, or the equivalent of at least 72 ounces for each entry with a minumum of 4 packages. Acceptable package sizes must be between 10 and 32 ounces. You must send at least 4 packages of each cider being judged. All entries must be bottled or canned.
• After confirmation of entries, you will be e-mailed bottle labels to print out and label your entries. These bottle labels should be affixed to the bottles or cans using clear packing tape. Labels should be affixed below the shoulder of the bottle.
• All ciders must be mailed or delivered to the published drop sites on the Washington Beer Awards website.
• Ciders must be received between September 26th and October 8th.

Judging

• All ciders will be judged in accordance with cider guidlines derived from the Brewers Association Style Guidelines published as of July 1st of the competition year.  Modifications may be made by the competition organizers to accomodate market and competition needs.
• A minimum of 8 (eight) entries is required in a category for that category to be eligible to be judged independently. The competition organizers reserve the right to merge categories into hybrid award categories at their discretion to ensure that awards are provided in meaningful categories with enough entries to provide healthy competition.  Cideries will be notified of the award category mergers.
• Ciders will be judged by a panel of judges in a blind format. No information will be provided to judges that could tie the entry to a specific cider maker.

Post Competition

• Awards will be presented at an Awards Ceremony following the competition (currently planned at the Washington Craft Beer Summit planned in early November). Details will be posted on the Washington Beer Awards website. Awards will be mailed to entrants not able to attend the Awards Ceremony.
• Judge tasting notes and awards will be mailed immediately following the ceremony to the cidery addresses specified in the registration process.
• All decisions from the Washington Beer Awards are final.

Core Dates:

September 9th - 18th: Registration Open
September 20th: Invoices sent to cideries
September 23rd: Bottle labels sent to cideries
September 26th - October 8th: Entry Drop Window
October 12th: Blind Judging
November 3rd: Awards Announcement (Washington Craft Beer Summit Awards Banquet)