2020 New York State Craft Beer Competition Winners

New York’s biggest beer competition, the New York State Craft Beer Competition and Governor’s Cup has announced this year’s big winners and we’ve got them all for you!

Sponsored by the New York State Brewers Association, this year’s competition featured 989 entries from 175 breweries across 25 different categories. But because of the coronavirus the judging was limited to 12 categories this year.

Only the most perishable beers were appraised. And as the Democrat & Chronicle reports, “Beers that would hold up over time are being stored and may be judged later.”

And the winners were announced during a virtual ceremony held on May 7..

The biggest award of the event was the 2020 Governor’s Excelsior Craft Beer Cup. And this year’s award went to Long Island City’s  Big aLICe Brewing for its “The Many Lives of Our Lives” in the fruited sour beer category.

And here are the rest of this year’s big winners…

Category 1: American DIPA

• Gold: Spider Bite Beer Co. – Open Wide EXP
• Silver: Middle Ages Brewing – Late Knight IPA
• Bronze: Brown’s Brewing Company – Intonation

Category 2: American IPA

• Gold: Industrial Arts Brewing – Power Tools
• Silver: Frog Alley Brewing – Re4resh IPA
• Bronze: Interboro Spirits and Ales – Premiere

Category 3: American IPA Variations

• Gold: Prison City Pub & Brewery – Elegant Pride
• Silver: 42 North Brewing – White Oak Borderland
• Bronze: Mad Jack Brewing Co. – Stomping Grounds IPL

Category 4: Fruit and Spice Beer – sour

• Gold: Big aLICe Brewing Co. – The Many Lives of Our Lives
• Silver: Grimm Artisanal Ales – Boysen Rebus
• Bronze: K2 Brothers Brewing – Blue Razz Sour

Category 5: Fruit and Spice Beer – non-sour

• Gold: Lake Placid Pub & Brewery – Salted Caramel Waffle Beer
• Silver: West Kill Brewing – Saphouse
• Bronze: Lunkenheimer Craft Brewing Co. – Elderberry Kolsch

Category 6: Hazy IPA

• Gold: Thin Man Brewery – Trial By Wombat
• Silver: Threes Brewing – Dare To Know
• Bronze: Great South Bay Brewery – Holographic Haze

Category 7: Hazy Pale Ale

• Gold: Unified Beerworks – Right Time and Place
• Silver: Five Boroughs Brewing Co. – Tiny Juicy IPA
• Bronze: ONCO Fermentations – Richard, or is it Dick?

Category 8: Kettle and Simple Sours

• Gold: Brooklyn Brewery – Bel Air
• Silver: No silver medal awarded
• Bronze: Clemson Bros Brewery – M-Town Haze

Category 9: Pale Ale

• Gold: Lunkenheimer Craft Brewing Co. – Exit 40 Pale Ale
• Silver: Twisted Rail Brewing Company – Ale Aboard Pale Ale
• Bronze: Mill House Brewing Company – Pk Pale

Category 10: Wheat Beer (American, Wit, Hefe)

• Gold: Drowned Lands – Gather House
• Silver: Brewery Ommegang – Witte
• Bronze: Transmitter Brewing – W8 Belgin Wit

Category 11: NYS Ingredient Beer (at the current 60% threshold)

• Gold: Big aLICe Brewing Co. – The Many Lives of Our Lives
• Silver: Lunkenheimer Craft Brewing Co. – Exit 40 Pale Ale
• Bronze: Eli Fish Brewing – Champagne Guapi: Red, Fidens Brewing Company – Necessary Means for a Necessary Means

Category 12: NYS Collaboration Beer

• Gold: Mad Jack Brewing Co. in collaboration with CH Evans Brewing – Stomping Grounds IPL
• Silver: Kings Court Brewing in collaboration with Torch and Crown Brewing Co. – Taconic Mist Hazy Pale Ale
• Bronze: No bronze medal awarded

Congratulations to all this year’s winners….Live long and prosper!