New York State Craft Beer Competition: Grimm, Kingston Standard among big winners

Grimm earned third NYS brewery of the year honor. In total, 1,421 beers from 232 NYS breweries were entered in the eighth edition of the competition.

The New York State Craft Beer Competition has been staged eight times. And in those eight years, Brooklyn-based Grimm Artisanal Ales has cemented its place as one of the best and most lauded breweries in the state with an avalanche of medals and honors.

And on Friday night at the New York State Craft Brewers Conference in Albany, Grimm was named the best brewery in the state for the third time in the last four years. Pretty incredible stuff for the brewery founded by Joe and Lauren Grimm in 2013. A gypsy brewery at its inception, Grimm opened its brick-and-mortar location in 2018.

In total, Grimm earned three gold medals (wheat beers, strong ales, and wild and sour ales), one silver, and one bronze.

Kingston Standard Brewing, a nanobrewery from Kingston, Ulster County, took the competition’s other big honor by winning the Governor’s Cup for the best beer in the state. It took best-in-show honors for its Love is Overtaking Me, a barrel-fermented Brettanomyces (wild) ale.

Lockport’s New York Beer Project, which also has branch locations in Victor, Orlando, Fla., and one soon to open in Orchard Park, had a huge day. NYBP claimed five medals. (Grimm won on the points system on the strength of its three golds.) While 2023 NYS brewery of the year Wayward Lane Brewing was awarded four medals.

Photo: The Governor’s Cup, pictured, is awarded to the brewery that makes the best beer in the state.

It was a record-setting year for the competition as it featured 1,421 beers from 232 NYS breweries, again making the event the biggest state-level competition in the country. Medals, 96 of them, were awarded in 31 style categories. Cream ales and dark lagers were added as categories this year.

The competition was presented by Rochester-based Ultimate Brew Service. And again, it was run by the incredible folks from the Raise A Glass Foundation and the New York State Brewers Association.

For the eighth time, I was honored to be among the judges tasked with picking the best beers in the state. (Members of the NYSBA committee competition told me that I’m the only person who has judged each competition. How cool is that? Such a huge, huge honor.)

In 2023, 189 breweries entered 1,334 beers. In 2022, 185 breweries entered 1,264 beers.

Here’s how the judging worked: Judging took place over two days (March 2 and 3 at the RIT Inn and Conference Center in Henrietta). On Saturday, the judging panels received flights of beer (not to exceed nine beers) and then had 30 minutes to sample, confer, and compare. The best beers in each flight (typically two beers per flight) were advanced to the next day’s medal round.

And then on Sunday, a judging panel individually graded beers in any one of the 31 categories on a 75-point scale using a provided score sheet. The scores from the panel were then averaged. To be eligible for gold, a beer must average over 60 points. Silver scored 55-59, while bronze was 50-54.

Everything was judged completely blind. Beers were assigned random numbers. We only found out what we were sampling when the awards were announced.

In total, I judged 104 beers.

The Raise A Glass Foundation is such a joy to work with and be around. Again, they expertly and joyously ran the competition. Proceeds again benefited InterVol, a Rochester-based nonprofit that donates unused medical supplies to people around the world, and a few other worthy organizations. (Winning beers are often auctioned off at various events and the money goes directly to some wonderful groups.)

Raise A Glass is completely staffed by volunteers. Like in years past, the stewards who delivered beer flights were so, so lovely. They added a bit of levity to the competition.

Other big winners included: Lockport-based New York Beer Project with five medals. Schoharie’s Wayward Lane Brewing, the 2023 NYS brewery of the year, with four medals.

Three medals: Underground Beer Lab (East Syracuse), West Kill Brewing (West Kill, Greene County), Threes Brewing (Brooklyn), The Drowned Lands Brewery (Warwick, Orange County), Prison City Brewing (Auburn, Cayuga County); Strangebird Beer (Rochester); 18th Ward Brewing (Brooklyn).

Two medals: No BS Brewing (Livonia, Livingston County); Bright Eye Beer (Long Beach, Nassau County); Kings County Brewers Collective (Brooklyn); Druthers Brewing (Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County); EBBS Brewing (Brooklyn); Heritage Hill Brewhouse (East Pompey, Onondaga County); Wood Kettle Brewing (Greece); ONCO Fermentations (Tully, Onondaga County).

Big winners

Brewery of the year: Grimm Artisanal Ales, Brooklyn.

Governor’s Cup (best beer in NYS): Kingston Standard Brewing (Kingston, Ulster County) Love is Overtaking Me barrel-aged wild ale.

Best NYS farm beer (uses at least 60 percent NYS hops and malt): Heritage Hill Brewhouse (Pompey, Onondaga County) Coconut Cluster imperial stout.

Best collaboration beer: Strangebird Beer (Rochester) and Breakside Brewery (Portland, Ore.) Breaking Bird barrel-aged Belgian golden ale with peach and white tea.

Top five categories entered: Hazy IPA 78; Light lager (modern and contemporary) 77; American IPA 69; Light lager (traditional) 66; Fruit and vegetable beer (sour) 59.

Category winners

Light lagers (traditional) (66 entries): Gold, Strong Rope Brewery Eleven; Silver, West Kill Brewing Bezucha Brothers; Bronze, The Drowned Lands Brook & Reed.

Light lagers (modern and contemporary) (77 entries): Gold, Threes Brewing Contiguity; Silver, Transmitter Brewing UN1 Basmati Rice Lager; Bronze: Bright Eye Beer There & Back Helles.

Amber lagers (34 entries): Gold, Soul Brewing Oktoberfest; Silver, Rising Storm Brewing Fly in Any Weather; Bronze, Wayward Lane Brewing Polotmavy Pekar.

​Dark lagers (new category) (51 entries): Gold, Druthers Brewing Dark Encounter; Silver, Wagner Valley Brewing Nightfall; Bronze, Kills Boro Brewing Heavy Handed.

Wheat beers (American, Wit, Hefe) (33 entries): Gold, Grimm Artisanal Ales Grimm Weisse; Silver, The Drowned Lands Brewery Gather House; Bronze, Shep’s Brewing Lit Wit.

Golden and blonde ales (32 entries): Gold, Kings County Brewers Collective (KCBC) Prototype; Silver, Active Ingredient Brewing Freudian Slips; Bronze, EBBS Brewing Kolsch No. 2.

Cream ales (new category) (43 entries): Gold, Cream Ale Prison City Brewing; Silver, 18th Ward Brewing Premium Cream Ale; Bronze, 1812 Brewing Wolves Den Cream Ale.

Amber and red ales (54 entries): Gold, K2 Brothers Brewing NYS Celtic Red Ale; Silver, Swiftwater Brewing Altbier; Bronze, Sager Beer Works Prince Sager-Heimer.

Pale ale (27 entries): Gold, Wild East Brewing Moderance; Silver, Grimm Artisanal Ales Lighter than Air; Bronze, Wood Kettle Brewing RIP Pale Ale.

Hazy pale ale (32 entries): Gold, 18th Ward Brewing Future Memory; Silver, West Kill Brewing Kaaterskill; Bronze, Underground Beer Lab Particle.

American IPA (69 entries): Gold, Long Island Farm Brewery Golden Hour; Silver, Okay Beer Co. Frisco Kid; Bronze, Kings County Brewers Collective (KCBC) Venomous Villains.

Hazy IPA (78 entries): Gold, Underground Beer Lab Variable; Silver (tie), Underground Beer Lab Spectral Mass and Resurgence Brewing CitMo; Bronze, New York Beer Project The One V-56.

Experimental IPA (36 entries): Gold, New York Beer Project Island Addition; Silver, Other Half Brewing Forever Ever; Bronze, The Drowned Lands River Swell.

American DIPA​ (24 entries): Bright Eye Beer 5 Cent Double IPA; Captain Lawrence Brewing Pacific Dawn; Bronze, West Kill Brewing Lean To.

Hazy DIPA (44 entries): Gold, Barrier Brewing Faultline; Silver, Fidens Brewing Jasper; Bronze, Wayward Lane Over and Out.

Barrel aged (sour) (17 entries): Gold, Kingston Standard Brewing Love Is Overtaking Me; Silver, Prison City Brewing Something Something Something; Bronze, New York Beer Project Brewers Reserve BA Sour Blend.

Barrel aged (non-sour) (40 entries): Gold, Strangebird Beer Portuguese Squeeze; Silver (tie), Grow Brewing Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dormancy and Aurora Brewing Oak-Aged Aeon; Bronze, Big Ditch Brewing Double Barrel Aqueduct 2023.

Belgian farmhouse (22 entries): Gold, ONCO Fermentations Saison Blend One; Silver, Threes Brewing Wandering Bine; Bronze, Arrowood Farms Starling.

Belgian other (28 entries): Gold, Artisanal Brew Works Trappist at the Track Belgian Tripel; Silver, New York Beer Project Man’s Best Friend; Bronze, Duncan’s Abbey Duncan’s Quadrupel.

Experimental (29 entries): Gold, Wayward Lane Brewing Shadowtricks; Silver, Threes Brewing State of Being; Bronze, Talking Cursive Brewing El Tepache Loco.

Fruit and vegetable beers (non-sour) (32 entries): Gold, Prison City Crispy Boys Blood Orange; Silver, Lunkenheimer Craft Brewing Blackberry Kolsch; Bronze, ONCO Fermentations Kettle Lakes Coconut Cream Ale.

Fruit and vegetable beers (sour) (59 entries): Gold, Valcour Brewing Mimosa Sour; Silver, Greenport Harbor Brewing Collaborations: Carmenere; Bronze; Bronze, No BS Brew Key Lime Pie Sour.

Specialty beer (stouts and porters) (52 entries): Gold, Heritage Hill Brewhouse Coconut Cluster; Silver, New York Beer Project Irish Coffee Stout; Bronze, Horseheads Brewing Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter.

Specialty beer (light and amber ales and lagers) (21 entries): Gold, No BS Brew Holiday Ale; Silver, Druthers Brewing Lavel Up; Bronze, Keuka Brewing Pumpkin Cream Ale.

​Brown ale​ (32 entries): Gold (tie), Lithology Brewing Lithology Brown Ale and Watershed Brewing Brown Ale; Silver, Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Brown; Bronze, Wood Kettle Brewing Alternator.

Porters (non-imperial) (36 entries): Gold, Weiss Ferments Hold Fire; Silver, Wayward Lane Brewing Portmanteau; Bronze, 18th Ward Brewing McNally Porter.

Stout (non-imperial) (37 entries): Gold, The Drowned Lands Brewery Carlow; Silver, Mill House Brewing Velvet Panda; Bronze, EBBS Brewing Stout No. 1.

Imperial stouts and porters (25 entries): Gold, Take Two Brewery EB Baltic Porter; Silver, Brewery Ardennes Belgian Stout; Bronze, Grimm Artisanal Ales Double Negative.

Strong ales (33 entries): Gold, Grimm Artisanal Ales XXXXX; Silver, Spider Bite Beer Biteanator; Bronze, Crafty Ales and Lagers NicNevin.

Kettle and simple sours (12 entries): Gold, Good Nature Brewing There Gose the Watermelon Farm; Silver, Hudson Valley Brewery Incandenza; Bronze, Big Slide Brewery & Public House Leipzig Gose.

Wild and sour ales (13 entries): Gold, Grimm Artisanal Ales Ambient Fizz Koyo Berries; Silver, Strangebird Beer Breaking Bird; Bronze, Rare Form Brewing Family Tree 13.