LI Beers Honored at NY State Craft Beer Competition

Two East End breweries earned recognition at the New York State Brewers Association’s eighth annual New York State Craft Beer Competition last week, including Gold distinction for Long Island Farm Brewery and a Silver win for Greenport Harbor Brewing Company.

Held during the New York State Brewers Conference, the contest, which is the largest state-level competition of its kind in the U.S., concluded with an awards ceremony at the Albany Capital Center on Friday, March 22. The event was also livestreamed to beer enthusiasts and industry folks who couldn’t make it in person.

During the awards ceremony, 96 awards were presented across 30 style categories, including two new categories this year: Cream Ales and Dark Lagers. In addition to Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded in each category, judges selected the “NYS Governor’s Craft Beer Cup” as the best-in-show beer, which was awarded to Kingston Standard Brewing Co. for Love is Overtaking Me in the Barrel Aged (Sour) category.

Manorville’s Long Island Farm Brewery won Gold in the American IPA category for their Golden Hour beer, a 6.2% ABV beer described by the brewery as “dry hopped with El Dorado hops, perfect for sipping in those magic moments as the sun goes down. Not too bitter with plenty  of hoppy aroma.”

Long Island Farm Brewery was followed by Okay Beer Company’s Frisco Kid, out of Honeoye Falls, with Silver, and Brooklyn’s Kings County Brewers Collective won the Bronze in the American IPA category for their Venomous Villains beer.

Greenport Harbor Brewing Co., which has locations in Greenport and Peconic on the North Fork, earned a Silver medal in the Fruit & Vegetable Beers (Sour) category for their unique Collaborations Carmenere, a 7.57% ABV New York State farmhouse ale co-fermented with Carmenere wine grapes in collaboration with their neighbor in Peconic, Osprey’s Dominion Vineyard — part of the brewery’s Communications Beer Series.

“We are excited and grateful for the honor,” Greenport Harbor co-owner Richard Vandenburgh shared on Instagram, adding of their winning brew, “These beers are a labor of love and showcase the bounties of our agricultural community on the North Fork. They embody a farmhouse spirit and are beautiful beers to behold.”

Plattsburgh’s Valcour Brewing Company earned Gold in the Fruit & Vegetable Beers (Sour) category for their Mimosa Sour, and No BS Brew Company from Livonia won the Bronze medal for their Key Lime Pie Sour.

Also from Suffolk County, though farther west on the Island, Holbrook’s Spider Bite Beer Co. received a Silver medal in the Strong Ales category for their Biteanator, an 8% ABV Bock – Doppelbock currently on tap at the tasting room.

Brooklyn’s Grimm Artisanal Ales, which won NYS Brewery of the Year for their third consecutive year earned Gold in the Strong Ales category for their 12% ABV XXXXX barleywine, while Phelps-based Crafty Ales and Lagers won the Bronze medal for their Nicnevin.

“It’s incredible to not only see many of the same breweries win medals each year, but it’s a true testament to the quality of the beer in New York State to see so many new breweries win for the first time,” said Paul Leone, Executive Director of New York State Brewers Association (NYSBA). “It reaffirms the fact that quality continues to be of the highest priority to the brewers in our state.”

The competition was produced by two non-profit organizations, NYSBA and Raise a Glass Foundation. A record 1,421 beers were entered by 232 breweries, making this year the highest number of submissions to date. Blind judging for the categories took place from March 2–3 in Rochester by a panel of respected and influential individuals in the New York beer industry based on pre-established criteria and using a custom scoring sheet developed by NYSBA.

“I’m very excited that in our 8th year of holding the New York State Craft Beer Competition we once again drew a record number of beers!” NYSBA Board President Hutch Kugeman said. “We know that New York breweries produce some of the best beer in the country, and the feedback from our judges proved it. The judging was extremely competitive this year and every brewery that wins a medal should be incredibly proud.”

Learn more about the New York State Craft Beer Competition and New York State Brewers Conference at nyscbc.com.