New York State Craft Beer Competition is ready for your submissions

The New York State Brewers Association (NYSBA) is now accepting submissions for its fourth annual New York State Craft Beer Competition, held on March 14 in Rochester, N.Y., with the help of Raise a Glass Foundation, an organization with expertise in coordinating beverage competitions of the highest caliber.

The cost of submitting a 72-oz entry is $45 for NYSBA members and $65 for non-members. Each NYSBA member receives one free beer entry with their membership and there is no limit to the number of beers a brewery can submit. Beers must be entered online no later than March 10, 2020, and arrive at the warehouse no later than March 11, 2020. 

Competition details

Sponsored by 1886 Malt House, the competition is the largest beer competition in New York and the second largest state beer competition in the United States.

Open to all licensed New York State Breweries, NYSBA is expecting to receive over 1,000 beer submissions for the 2020 competition. The competition will bring together 60 of the most respected and influential people in the New York beer industry to judge the submitted beers, including brewmasters, Cicerones, BJCP judges, educators, retailers and industry writers and consultants. 

All entries will be blind judged by a panel based on pre-established criteria and using a custom scoring sheet developed by NYSBA. The top three finishers in each of 25 beer style categories will receive gold, silver and bronze medals. The overall winner will receive the Governor’s Excelsior Cup to the “Best of Show” beer which will be awarded by a member of the Cuomo administration.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on April 3, 2020, as part of the third annual NYS Craft Brewers Conference presented by DWS. The awards ceremony will be live streamed from the Desmond Hotel in Albany, N.Y. 

“Each year the New York State Craft Beer Competition continues to grow- both in the number of entries and in the quality of submissions,” said Paul Leone, executive director, New York State Brewers Association. “We are incredibly proud of the beer being produced by our members. This competition showcases the amazing and diverse craft beer of New York State and elevates New York as a foremost craft beer state.” 

Beers may be submitted for the following 25 beer style categories:

• Light Lagers
• Amber and Dark Lagers
• Wheat Beer (American, Wit, Hefe)
• Golden/Blonde Ale (American, Kolsch, Cream Ale)
• Amber/Red Ale (British, American, Irish, Scottish)
• Pale Ale
• Hazy Pale Ale
• American IPA
• Hazy IPA
• American IPA Variations
• American DIPA
• Barrel Aged Sour
• Barrel Aged (Non-Sour)
• Belgian Farmhouse
• Belgian Other (Trappist, Strong, etc.)
• Experimental
• Fruit and Spice Beer – Non-Sour
• Fruit and Spice Beer – Sour
• Brown Ale (American & British)
• Porter (Non-Imperial)
• Stout (Non-Imperial)
• Imperial Stout and Porter
• Strong Ale (Non-Belgian)
• Kettle and Simple Sours
• Wild and Sour Ale

Last year…

In 2019, the New York State Craft Beer Competition received 813 entries — the largest number of entries in the competition’s history — from 160 breweries across New York State. Seventy-four medals were awarded to 53 breweries and the 2019 Governor’s Craft Beer Cup was awarded to Prison City Pub and Brewery out of Auburn, N.Y., for their Wham Whams in the experimental beer category.