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NYS Craft Brewers Festival

Do you have what it takes to become the first annual New York State Craft Brewers Festival “Rock, Paper, Scissors” champion? Because this year, on top of all the great brew and delicious food, you just might win!

Paul Leone, the Executive Director of the NYS Brewers Association, a not-for-profit trade association, explains: “At the Great Taste of the Midwest, a Madison, Wisconsin brewer’s festival with about 8,000 attendees this past year, they held a “Rock, Paper, Scissors” contest. About 80 people started the game, and two by two they faced off, like in basketball brackets, until there was a winner. We decided that was just too much fun to not bring it to the New York State event – so sign up at the stage when you arrive, and if you win you take home bragging rights plus a special gold medallion!”

And while you’re at it, you’ll be attending the festival that marks the end of Syracuse Beer Week, and the kickoff to the holiday season with all the things that make this festival such a hit with visitors: delicious food, an atmosphere of fun and even some glamor (it is at the Landmark Theatre, after all), good company, a chance to share great NYS craft beer, and meeting and greeting the people who put their time, energy, expertise and enthusiasm into one of the oldest of human occupations: brewing beer!

With more than 45 craft breweries gathering from all corners of New York State to present their wares in Syracuse, this event has been in place for more than a decade. What’s even more exciting this year, Kingston Standard from the Hudson Valley will be attending, they were the 2024 winners of the New York State Brewers Competition Governors Cup for best of show beer. Also, Heritage Hill will be pouring their Coconut Cluster, winner of a 2024 Great American Beer Festival silver medal!

Brewing has been a part of New York State history from its earliest days, given the state’s wealth of fresh water and its ideal conditions for growing hops.

By the early 1800s, hops had become “a key agricultural commodity in New York with over 60,000 acres in production,” according to Cornell University. And as we learn from Wikipedia the flower of the hops plant (Humulus lupulus, a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants) is used in brewing beer,“…primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to which, in addition to bitterness, they impart floral, fruity, or citrus flavors and aromas.”

Before Prohibition times, the state boasted 386 breweries. Today, there are over 500 craft breweries. Each brewer will strive to create a flavor and aroma “profile” based on the unique combination of carbonation, hops, malt, water and yeast their own special recipe blends. Brewers will experiment with the basics, and then add flavors – working to add specific notes that beer lovers seek: everything from fruit and spice, to a tartness, sourness or smoky taste – and more – to give it its unique quality.

“Another ingredient,” Leone adds,“ is that the beers are produced by New York, in New York – and by that we mean the people of this state, from New York City to Buffalo, the Adirondacks to the southern tier – and everywhere in between. And that’s what we, and this festival are about – local. It’s the producer and the consumer coming together to celebrate one of the great tastes of New York State.”

Especially for Central New Yorkers and the city of Syracuse – the crossroads of all that is right here, in our city. And for one wonderful day in November, you can sample the work of some of the best craft brewers in the business!

The NYS Craft Brewers Festival is brought to you by the New York State Brewers Association, an organization dedicated to the support and marketing of the brewers located here in New York. Their mission is to make craft brewing a win-win for New York – happy beer lovers enjoying the dedication and art of brewing craft beers by New Yorkers, for New Yorkers. Cheers!