New York's medal-winning beers
Thoughts from the nation's largest beer fest and a new fave in Colorado
In case you skipped an edition of the newsletter here or there, or if your plans for this Saturday fell through, I’m leading off this week with a reminder that the New York City Brewers Guild’s annual Blocktoberfest is this Saturday at Industry City. The weather, thank goodness, looks somewhat decent and maybe even a bit fall-like, so get out and enjoy it by picking up a ticket for the event.
If you haven’t been, Blocktoberfest has been a long-running staple of the city’s beer scene since the pre-Covid days. It’s a true celebration of New York City beer, with only breweries from the five boroughs pouring. It’s a great way to get to know the beer of some of the more far-off or lesser-known brewers in the city.
The event kicks off at noon with a VIP hour, and opens to general admission ticket holders at 1pm. Tickets are $60, with the VIP hour running you an extra $20. See you there! (And hey, if you read this newsletter and spot me, say hello!)
New York breweries win six medals at Great American Beer Festival
Six New York state breweries, including one in New York City, took home medals at this year’s Great American Beer Festival in Denver last weekend. Relative Risk Brewing Co. in Penn Yan, Great South Bay Brewery in Bay Shore, Coney Island Brewing Co. in Brooklyn, Industrial Arts Brewing Co. in Beacon, Blue Point Brewing Co. in Patchogue, and New York Beer Project in Lockport all scored wins in the 37th annual edition of the competition, which featured over 9,000 beers from breweries in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico in 99 categories. This was New York’s best showing at the festival since 2019, when the state’s breweries won seven medals, and a marked improvement over last year’s performance, when the state’s breweries took home just two medals.
Of note, four of the six winning breweries were first-time GABF winners, and one of the winning breweries is barely a year old.
Relative Risk Brewing Co. won a silver in the Fruit Wheat Beer category for their Inclusion Criteria, a Strawberry Rhubarb Wheat beer, among 106 entries in the category. The brewery, which is on 12 acres in the Finger Lakes, just celebrated their first anniversary last weekend as they won their first GABF medal.
Great South Bay Brewery on Long Island took home their seventh GABF medal this year for the Jetty Cream Ale in the Honey Beer category, among 67 entries. Jetty is practically a perennial winner, taking home a silver medal this year, a bronze in 2019, a silver in 2017, and a gold in 2016 in the same category.
Also winning a medal in the Honey Beer category was Coney Island Brewing Co., who won bronze for the Valhallale, a potent 10% foeder-aged honey ale. It’s the first medal for the long-standing Boston Beer-owned brand, which has been brewing beer in its namesake neighborhood since 2015.
Blue Point Brewing Co. in Patchogue was awarded a silver in the Contemporary American-Style Lager category for their Shouganai Japanese Rice Lager, a summer release from their Innovation Series. While it’s their seventh medal overall, this year’s silver marks Blue Point’s first medal in the competition in a decade; they last won for their Rastafarye back in 2013.
Industrial Arts Brewing Co. in Beacon earned a bronze medal for their Week 365 in the American Pilsener category, among 141 entries. The hoppy pilsner, which was released for the brewery’s seventh anniversary, was Industrial Arts’ first since opening in 2016.
Finally, New York Beer Project won silver in the Classic Saison category for their Disco Elephant. The category had 62 entries. It’s the first medal for the brewery that’s been making beer since 2015 in Lockport, about 15 miles northeast of Buffalo.
Across the Hudson in New Jersey, a pair of nearby breweries also won medals: Bolero Snort Brewery in Carlstadt won silver for their Jersey Vice Berliner Weisse, and Kane Brewing Company in Ocean won silver for Sneakbox in the Juicy or Hazy Pale Ale category.
Great American Beer Festival will return next year, October 10th through 12th in Denver.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,190
Total breweries visited in 2023: 295
Total breweries visited in Colorado: 247
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #3187, Second Dawn Brewing Co., Aurora, Colorado (Visited 22-Sep-2023)
It’s still astounding how I can revisit the Denver area after less than a year and still have a long list of new breweries to visit. On my trip out to GABF last week, I managed to sneak away to this months-old spot in Aurora that’s making absolutely outstanding beer. Second Dawn opened in March with founder Ross Koenigs at the helm of the brewery after his 11-year stint as the innovation brewer at a little spot called New Belgium. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?
So it shouldn’t be too surprising that a brewer from a world-class brewery is making world-class beer at his new project. The Festbier, Mosaic Hazy IPA, and Pumpkin Spice Latte-inspired beer called Eggnog for Morning People were all truly inspired brews, and the Rice Lager was as beautiful as it was simple and clean. The taproom had plenty of cozy seating and a big patio for Colorado’s three hundred sunny days a year. It was a brief visit cut short by the need to get to festival (where they were also pouring beers), but I’m certain it was just the first visit of many to Second Dawn.
The Weekly Reader
Everything you need to know about Brooklyn’s Grimm Artisanal Ales [Pete O’Connell, VinePair]
The age-old question: will coffee beer keep you up at night? [Gray Van Dyke, Hop Culture]
Oktoberfest: explained. [Dana Hatic, Eater]
A beer and baseball read that’s a little inside baseball [Bryan Roth, Good Beer Hunting]
One More Thing
Back Home Beer, a Brooklyn-based brewing company started by Zahra Tabatabai to much critical acclaim, is hoping to go brick and mortar with the help of a Kickstarter launched earlier this week. The goal is to open a brewery and taproom for the brand, which weaves Zahra’s Iranian heritage into the story of the beer and the ingredients used. Currently, Back Home is brewed at Flagship on Staten Island, but the hope is that if the fundraiser achieves its goal, the beer will be brewed in a space all their own in Brooklyn. The effort has already raised over $20,000 of the $100,000 goal.
Cheers,
Chris