Local breweries honored
TROY, N. Y. » Two Collar City breweries took home awards in the second annual New York State Craft Beer Competition, which featured 642 New York State- brewed beers.
Brown’s Brewery took home a gold medal for Barrel Aged Sour, and Rare Form Brewery took home a bronze medal for Karass Porter.
For the second straight year, Brooklyn- based Threes Brewing took home top honors, winning the Governor’s Excelsior Cup. Gold medals were awarded to 23 beers from breweries across the state.
“New York’s world- class craft breweries are thriving and helping to drive growth in our farms, local economies and tourism industries across the state,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a news release. “I congratulate these craft breweries on their success and encourage those interested to experience our state’s top- ranking beers at the Great New York State Fair later this month.”
The New York State Craft Beer Competition is sponsored by the New York State Brewers Association, in coordination with Taste NY, the Raise a Glass Foundation and the Great New York State Fair, and is open to any New York State craft brewer. The competition featured 43 uniquely qualified judges sampling 642 entries from more than 120 breweries in the largest professionally judged craft beer competition held in New York State. This year, 264 entries were submitted that qualified as a NYS labeled beer or farm beer, meaning they used at least 20% New York State- grown hops and other New York State- grown ingredients in their beers.
Gold, silver, and bronze medal winners were awarded in each of the 24 categories, which include major styles of beer like IPAs and lagers, as well as niche or emerging styles like sours or fruit and spice beers. This year, the competition featured five new categories. Themost entered categories were New England Style India Pale Ale ( IPA) and American Light Lager, which received 58 entries each.
The Governor’s Excelsior Cup winner and other awardees will be displayed in the Horticulture Building at the Great New York State Fair, which runs August 22 to September 3, 2018. In addition, the Fair offers all brewers the opportunity to have their beers sampled at a sampling booth and brewers may host one of the Fair’s daily Taste NY Wine and Beer Seminars. The seminars occur three times every day and allow beverage industry owners and experts the opportunity to provide product samples and educate the public about their beverages.
“New York is home to some of the best craft breweries in the nation, and this competition showcases the best that they have to offer,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “We’re committed to growing and supporting craft brewers across the state to ensure their success, grow the economy, and increase tourism in New York State.”
“As the brewing industry continues to grow in New York State, so does the quality of the beer being produced. It’s really great to see so many new breweries winning in this year’s competition, and it’s incredible that Threes Brewing in Brooklyn won the Governor’s Excelsior Cup for the second consecutive year in a blind tasting of the 23 gold medal winning beers. There is no better time to Think New York, Drink New York when it comes to our craft beer,” added New York State Brewers Association Executive Director Paul Leone.