New York Winners at the GABF

The 2008 Great American Beer Festival has just wrapped up and New York breweries took home 10 medals. There were 75 categories and over 200 medals were handed out.

Category: 14 American-Belgo Style Ale - 36 Entries
Gold: Xtra Gold, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co., Pleasantville, NY

Category: 15 American-Style or German-Style Sour Ale - 34 Entries
Silver: Brute, Ithaca Beer Co., Ithaca, NY

Category: 17 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer - 79 Entries

Bronze: Golden Delicious, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co., Pleasantville, NY

Category: 31 German-Style Märzen - 48 Entries
Silver: Saratoga Lager, Olde Saratoga Brewing Co., Saratoga Springs, NY

Category: 38 Baltic-Style Porter - 18 Entries
Bronze: SMP, Sixpoint Craft Ales, Brooklyn, NY

Category: 48 American-Style Amber/Red Ale - 65 Entries
Silver: CascaZilla, Ithaca Beer Co., Ithaca, NY

Category: 55 American-Style Brown Ale - 47 Entries
Gold: Kick-Ass Brown, C.H. Evans Brewing at the Albany Pump Station, Albany, NY

Category: 61 Belgian- and French-Style Ale - 34 Entries
Bronze: Rare Vos, Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown, NY

Category: 68 Foreign-Style Stout - 28 Entries
Gold: Whiteface Black Diamond Stout, Great Adirondack Brewing Co., Lake Placid, NY
Bronze: Black Hole XXX Stout, Chelsea Brewing Co., New York, NY

Ommegang Rouge

My buddy Marcus Guiliano, owner and chef of Aroma Thyme Bistro, invited me in to try this new offering from Ommeganag. Guiliano said that he received one of only five kegs sent to the Hudson Valley. Rouge is a Flemish sour red ale that Ommegang worked on with Brouwerij Bockor in Belgium.

It poured a brownish, dark red color with a sizeable tan head. The nose was sweet, almost candyish. The first sip was all sweet berries. There was a light malt profile and a hint of syrup. The finish is a big burst of tart cherries. The beer left a small amount of hanging lace. Ommegang's take on the Sour Ale was quite good and I hope to see this again.

Hop Prices Hitting Close To Home

"The largest -- and most competitive -- category at the Great American Beer Festival is the American Style IPA." That style is also the one most affected by the rising hop prices. The hop prices have affected one of New York's (and The Foaming Head's) favorite beers. Brewer Scott Vaccaro of Captain Lawrence Brewing Company has started to make receipe changes to his ever popular Imperial IPA. Vaccaro says that the beers big flavor allows for him to substitute some of the four different hops used, while still maintaing the flavor.

Wall Street Journal Article