New York’s best beers and top brewery for 2024: The winners are

27 March 2024 --- As for specific beers, favorites can vary widely depending on personal taste and current trends. However, New York has seen a rise in popularity of hazy IPAs, sour ales, and barrel-aged stouts in recent years.

For the third time in four years, a Brooklyn brewery has been named New York state’s best beer company. A sour beer made by a brewery in Kingston won the Governor’s Cup as the state’s best brew.

And a Central New York brewery took home the prize for the best beer made under New York’s farm brewery rules (using at least 60% New York-produced malt and hops).

These are among the results of the 2024 New York State Craft Beer Competition. Judging took place earlier this month in Rochester and awards were presented at a ceremony during the New York State Craft Brewers Conference in Albany Friday night.

The competition started in 2017 and is billed as the largest state-level competition in the country. New York is now home to more than 500 breweries, second highest number after California.

The 2024 competition drew a record 1,421 beer entries from 232 different breweries. In all, 96 medals were awarded in 30 different beer style categories.

Brooklyn’s Grimm Artisanal Ales won the title of Best New York Brewery after piling up the highest number of points during the competition.

Grimm previously won the best New York brewery award in 2021 and 2022 (when it tied for first place). This year, it won three Gold medals, one Silver and one Bronze.

The Governor’s Cup for the best beer of 2024 went to “Love Is Overtaking Me,” a Barrel Aged Sour made by the Kingston Standard Brewing Co. in the Hudson Valley. While supplies last, you can get “Love is Overtaking Me” delivered to your door via the NYS Craft Beer & Chocolate Box Winter Survival Kit.

The special award for the best collaboration beer (co-produced by more than one brewery) went to BreakingBird, a Wild & Sour Ale made by Strangebird Beer of Rochester in partnership with Breakside Brewery of Portland, Ore.

The best New York State Farm Beer went to Coconut Cluster, made by Heritage Hill Brewhouse of Pompey in Onondaga County. That’s a strong (8.9% alcohol) Imperial Stout whose ingredient list includes coconut cream, Tahitian vanilla beans and Mexican cocoa nibs in addition to New York malt and hops.

Other Central New York breweries winning medals include ONCO Fermentations of Tully, Underground Beer Lab of East Syracuse, Talking Cursive of Syracuse, Prison City of Auburn, Shep’s of Auburn and Lunkenheimer of Weedsport. (See full list below).

“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 the New York State Brewers Association, which coordinates the competition each year. “It reaffirms the fact that quality continues to be of the highest priority to the brewers in our state.”

2024 Medal Winners : The 2024 NYS Craft Beer Competition was sponsored by Ultimate Brew Service. The awards ceremony was hosted at the Albany Capital Center Friday by Malteurop. The competition itself is produced by the NYSBA and the non-profit Raise a Glass. Foundation.

This year’s competition included two new categories, Cream Ales and Dark Lagers. Cream Ale, in particular, has a strong historical association with New York.

Here’s the list of 2024 medal winners, by category:

Light Lagers (Traditional) - 66 entries

● Gold: Eleven - Strong Rope Brewery

● Silver: Bezucha Brothers - West Kill Brewing

● Bronze: Brook & Reed - Drowned Lands

Light Lagers (Modern and Contemporary) - 77 entries

● Gold: Contiguity - Threes Brewing

● Silver: UN1 Basmati Rice Lager - Transmitter Brewing

● Bronze: There & Back Helles - Bright Eye Beer Company

Amber Lagers - 34 entries

● Gold: Pleasantbräu Oktoberfest - Soul Brewing Company

● Silver: Fly In Any Weather - Rising Storm Brewing Company

● Bronze: Polotmavý Peka? - Wayward Lane Brewing

Dark Lagers - 51 entries

● Gold: Dark Encounter - Druthers Brewing Company

● Silver: Nightfall - Wagner Valley Brewing Company

● Bronze: Heavy Handed - Kills Boro Brewing Company

Wheat Beers (American, Wit, Hefe) - 33 entries

● Gold: Grimm Weisse - Grimm Artisanal Ales

● Silver: Gather House - Drowned Lands

● Bronze: Lit Wit - Shep's Brewing Company