2026 Winners

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New York State Craft Beer Competition

presented by Ultimate Brew Service

2026 Governor’s Excelsior Craft Beer Cup

Wild East Brewing Co. (Brooklyn, NY)

“Hexenkessel”

Category: Dark Lager

2026 New York State
Brewery of the Year

The New York State Brewery of the Year Award is given to the brewery who earns the highest number of points in the competition. Points are determined by number of medals won.

Point system: Gold = 3pts, Silver = 2pts, Bronze = 1pt

Grimm Artisanal Ales (Brooklyn, NY)

5th “NYS Brewery of the Year” win (2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026)
3 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze (16 points)

Gold: Amber & Red Ales - “Houndstooth”
Gold: Belgian Farmhouse - “On Fairy Stories”
Gold: Pale Ale - “Crisp Air”
Silver: Kettle & Simple Sours - “Heliogram”
Silver: Wild & Sour Ales - “En Passant Fruix”
Bronze: American IPA - “Flash Frame”
Bronze: American DIPA - “This Is How We Do It” Collab w/ Wayward Lane
Bronze: Wild & Sour Ales - “Moonlight Shadow”

points

Best New York Farm Beer

“Black Currant Brett”

Category: Field Beer (Sour)

Ausable Brewing Company (Keeseville, NY)

Best Collab Beer

"This Is How We Do It"

Category: American DIPA

Wayward Lane Brewing (Schoharie, NY)

x Grimm Artisanal Ales (Brooklyn, NY)

*2025 New York State Breweries of the Year!

Competition Highlights

Top 6 Style Categories Entered

Light Lager - Traditional (92 entries)
Hazy IPA (89 entries)
American IPA (57 entries)
Light Lagers - Modern and Contemporary (54 entries
Amber Lager (53 entries
Dark Lager (52 entries)

2026 Competition Summary

1142 beer submissions from 178 breweries.
101 medals awarded in addition the titles of “NYS Brewery of the Year”, “Best NYS Farm Beer”, “Best Collaboration Beer”, and the coveted “Governor’s Cup” for the best-in-show beer.
The Governor's Craft Beer Cup was presented to Wild East for their “Hexenkessel” in the Dark Lager Category as the best-in-show-beer.
Grimm Artisanal Ales won their 5th New York State Brewery of the Year Title (2021, 2022, 2024,2025, 2026).
Judging took place over 2-days 2/28 - 3/1, 2026 in Rochester, NY.
The industry-member-only Awards Celebration presented by Hart Print took place in-person at the Albany Capital Center as the closing event of the NYS Brewers Conference.
Enthusiasts tuned-into the awards ceremony via the New York State Craft Beer YouTube Channel. Breweries throughout the state hosted remote watch parties.
For the first time, ‘Light Lager’ took the top spot from ‘Hazy IPA’ as the most-entered category.

Watch Ceremony

WATCH CEREMONY

Winners by Category

American Lager - 43 Entries

Gold - All (American Light Lager) - Artisanal Brew Works
Silver - Bridge Pilsner - Resurgence Brewing Company
Bronze - There And Back - Bright Eye Beer Co.

Light Lagers - Traditional - 92 Entries

Gold - Devil Log - Lower Lake Brewery
Silver - Daytripper - Kills Boro Brewing Company
Bronze - Reference Method - Common Roots Brewing Company

Golden & Blonde Ales - 33 Entries

Gold - Kölsch Kömmander - Apex Brewery
Silver - Brunette’s Revenge - Wolf Hollow Brewing Company
Bronze - Kölsch - Kingston Standard Brewing Co.

Cream Ale - 22 Entries

Gold - TALEA Brite - TALEA Beer Co.
Silver - Off-Road Soda - Wayward Lane Brewing
Bronze - Cream Ale - Prison City Brewing

Light Lagers - Modern and Contemporary - 54 Entries

Gold - SALÜ - Kings County Brewers Collective
Silver - Mangia, Mangia! - Pearl Street Grill and Brewery
Bronze - Whale Herder - Strangebird Beer and Barrel House

Wheat Beer - 34 Entries

Gold - The Messenger - Okay Beer Company
Silver - Gather House - Drowned Lands Brewery
Bronze - Wayfinder Wit - Solitude Brewing

Amber Lagers - 53 Entries

Gold - Sager Bock - Sager Beer Works
Silver - Vienna Lager - Druthers Brewing Co.
Bronze - Oktoberfest - Big aLICe Brewing Company

Amber & Red Ales - 47 Entries

Gold - Houndstooth - Grimm Artisanal Ales
Silver - Upside Down Alt - Liquid State Brewing Company
Bronze - Brickyard Red - Horseheads Brewing

Brown Ale - 28 Entries

Gold - 1845 Brown Ale - Heritage Hill Brewery
Silver - Wolves Of The Midlands - Wolf & Warrior Brewing Company
Bronze - Mild Return - Underground Beer Lab

Dark Lager - 52 Entries

Gold - Hexenkessel - Wild East Brewing Company
Silver - Champlain - Cigar Brothers Brewing
Bronze - Tmave Pekar - Wayward Lane Brewing

Porters (Non-Imperial) - 26 Entries

Gold - Pumpernickel Porter - Rusty Nickel Brewing Company
Silver - Baritone - Seven Points Brewing Company
Bronze - Silk Spinner - Spider Bite Beer Co.

Stout (Non Imperial) - 35 Entries

Gold - OG Stout - Two Havens Brewing Company
Silver - Dry Irish Goodbye - Beer Tree Brew
Bronze - Oatmeal Stout - Stumblin’ Monkey Brewing Company

Belgian Farmhouse - 16 Entries

Gold - On Fairy Stories - Grimm Artisanal Ales
Silver - Magnetic North - Brickyard Brewing Company
Bronze - Wandering Bine - Threes Brewing

Belgian Other - 28 Entries

Gold - Monk’s Dream Dubbel - Soul Brewing Company
Silver - Savoir-Vivre 10° - Strangebird Beer and Barrel House
Bronze - Amai - Drowned Lands Brewery

Pale Ale - 24 Entries

Gold - Crisp Air - Grimm Artisanal Ales
Silver - I Think We’re Alone Now - Bright Eye Beer Co.
Bronze - Oregon High Five - Griffon Brewing

Hazy Pale Ale - 35 Entries

Gold - Kaaterskill - West Kill Brewing
Silver - Sly Move - Strangebird Beer and Barrel House
Bronze - Mountain Life - West Kill Brewing

American IPA - 57 Entries

Gold - Kick Back - Finback Brewery
Silver - Terraform - Wayward Lane Brewing
Bronze - Flash Frame - Grimm Artisanal Ales

Hazy IPA - 89 Entries

Gold - Hazy Train - New York Beer Project
Silver - Uncurious - Druthers Brewing Co.
Bronze - Captain, We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat - Lunchbox Brewing Company

American DIPA - 19 Entries

Gold - Pacific Dawn - Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
Silver - Biosphere - Wayward Lane Brewing
Bronze - This Is How We Do It - Grimm Artisanal Ales & Wayward Lane (Collaboration)

Hazy DIPA - 40 Entries