Mill House, CIA win at NY's largest craft beer competition

When the results came in from the inaugural New York State Craft Beer Competition, Jamie Bishop said they reflected something he already knew.

When it comes to craft beer, the Hudson Valley delivers.

Mid-Hudson breweries shined during the inaugural New York State Craft Beer Competition in Rochester, where Mill House Brewing Company and The Brewery at The CIA both won medals in the state's largest competition.

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The New York State Craft Beer Competition is the second-largest state competition in the country, just behind California. The competition featured 707 beers from 143 breweries, with 50 expert judges reviewing the beer.

Bishop, the brewmaster at Mill House, said the competition gave a variety of brewers across the state an opportunity to shine.

"I'm really excited that they had so many great categories," he said. "I really think it represented the bandwidth of beer that's being brewed here in New York state because it's just about every style you can think of."

Craft beer is big business in New York, ranking fourth in craft breweries with 269 total in 2016, according to data from the Brewers Association.

The industry produces 1,000,785 barrels of beer per year, ranking ninth in the U.S. And that beer had an economic impact of $2,921,000,000 in 2014. 

"With the brewing industry growing at a steady rate, the breweries were looking for a state beer competition that would be judged at the highest level possible, and a competition of this quality would be the best way to show off the extraordinary beer being made here every day," Paul Leone, executive director of the New York State Brewers Association, said in a press release.

The competition was held last month, and the results were revealed last week.

The City of Poughkeepsie-based Mill House Brewing Company's Citra Bridges tied for gold in the wild and sour ale category, and its Cucumber Blessings took bronze in the experimental category.

Citra Bridges' category included 41 other entries.

"It's a pale ale that meets a sour that meets the dry hop character of a really dank IPA without any bitterness," Bishop said. "It's really kind of a unique style that is being brewed right now, and it's drinkable, approachable."

Cucumber Blessings' category included 12 other beers.

"It's really a baby of mine," Bishop said. "I worked on this recipe for two-and-a-half years. It's fresh cucumber in a glass. It is a truly experimental beer for us."

The Brewery at the CIA won silver in the Belgian Farmhouse category for its Stay Sharp Saison, a class project beer created in part by the students at The Culinary Institute of America. It competed against 15 other beers.

"It was fun to have a beer with so much student input win a medal at the competition," said Hutch Kugeman, head brewer at the Hyde Park school.

Winners of the competition will be featured at the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, which runs Aug. 23 to Sept. 4. Attendees will also be able to buy some of the winning beers at the fair.

"These were some amazing beers from some amazing breweries across the state," Bishop said, "and I think New York state should be really proud of that."

Geoffrey Wilson: gwilson@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4882, Twitter: Geoff_LW