Ten Pin wins at state beer event

MOSES LAKE - Ten Pin Brewing Company recently earned statewide recognition, after three of their beers won medals during this year's Washington Beer Awards.

Ten Pin went up against 75 other Washington breweries during the annual competition, which is sponsored by the Washington Beer Commission. About 460 beers were entered in the competition.

The Moses Lake brewery won medals in three categories - their Ten Light American Lager earned bronze in the Pale Lagers category, their Snake Eye Stout earned silver in the British Strong Ales category and their Deadwood IPA in the Other Pale Ales category.

Of the 75 breweries, Ten Pin landed in the Top Five in overall points for the competition.

Ten Pin brewmaster Jim Madden said he was surprised at how well they did, as the Washington Beer Awards was the first competition the brewery has ever entered.

Ten Pin served their first batch of craft beers at Papa's Casino last August. With barely a year of brewing under their belt, they were definitely considered rookies going into the competition, he said.

"There were a lot of big breweries and we had some really well-known competitors who have been doing this for years," Madden said. "But we think we make good beer here, and we were happy to hear the beer judges think so too."

The entries in the competition were evaluated in a blind format using the Brewers Association Style Guidelines by panels of trained beer judges, according to the Beer Commission's website. They awarded gold, silver and bronze placements for dozens of categories including Amber and Dark Lagers, American Stouts and American-style India Pale Ales.

Madden said their varieties that placed in the competition are also favorites among the local crowd.

"The Deadwood is my personal favorite, and it's also our best-seller," he said. They go through about a keg and a half of that variety each week.

The Snake Eye Stout and the Ten Light are also popular, Madden said, noting that they go through about a keg a week of those brews.

The Deadwood and Snake Eye were among the original varieties the brewery offered when they first opened. The Ten Light was added a little later, Madden said.

"We like to keep about nine brews on tap but we like to have a variety," he said. "So we keep some of the basics and then switch some out depending on the season or if we have come up with a new recipe."

Although this past year was Madden's first year of commercial brewing, he came to Ten Pin with 20 years of home brewing experience. He said he considers his job fun because he gets to constantly experiment with new recipes, and ultimately taste them.

"This past year has been a blast for me," Madden said. "It's gratifying to brew what I like and see that it's also what customers like."

He said fans of Ten Pin are invited to celebrate the breweries' one-year anniversary on Aug. 2. The festivities take place at Papa's about 6 p.m. that day.

Madden said they will be releasing their anniversary brew, an Imperial IPA, that night as well.