It was another solid showing for Western New York breweries at the 2025 New York State Craft Beer Competition as craft beer from the region once again showed up and showed out at this year’s awards, which took place Friday night (March 21) at the Albany Capital Center as part of the New York State Brewers Conference.

In total, 207 NYS breweries entered 1,320 beers across 32 categories and 96 medals were awarded. By comparison, In 2024, 232 breweries entered 1,421 beers and were awarded a total of 96 medals. To no surprise, Hazy IPAs (104 entries) and Light lager (traditional) (91 beers) were the two most-entered categories. Beer judging took place over 2 days, March 1-2, in Rochester.

Resurgence Brewing opened up the night with a silver medal for their White Ale in the first category (Wheat Beers), Pearl Street Grill & Brewery won gold for Saber’s Edge DIPA (one of my all-time favorite local beers) in the American DIPA category, Hamburg Brewing scored WNY another gold for OMS in Stout (Non-Imperial) and New York Beer Project Irish Coffee Stout took bronze in Specialty Beers (Stouts & Porters).

The highlight of the awards ceremony was Western New York breweries producing a clean sweep in the Experimental category, with Eli Fish Brewing scoring bronze for Chateau Tropicale, Resurgence’s Another Caucasian, Gary nabbing silver and Big Ditch Brewing going gold with their Carrot Cake Winter Ale.

“Year after year the beer continues to get better, and this competition really highlights the best of the best out there right now. It’s great to see so many new breweries take home a medal this year, and several others that continue to keep the bar high when it comes to making award winner NYS craft beer,” Paul Leone, executive director, New York State Brewers Association, said.

Grimm Artisanal Ales repeated as Brewery of the Year, their fourth time winning the award, this time sharing the award with Wayward Lane Brewing. It’s the second time in the last three years Wayward has won the honors, while Grimm has taken it home four times in the past five years.

“This year we were proud to bring together over 75 qualified judges from across the Northeast to celebrate our many incredible New York State breweries. For the first time in the competition’s history we ran two comprehensive sensory panel training sessions,
one spanning five cities across New York State, and the other lead by scientists at Genesee Brewery, further emphasizing the high caliber of judging and commitment to excellence that defines this competition,” Emily Forrester from the New York State Brewers Association, said.

The 2025 Governor’s Craft Beer Cup given out each year to the beer that is deemed the best in the state, was awarded to Grimm’s Grimm Weisse.

In 2024, New York Beer Project amassed a total of five medals. They won bronze for Brewers Reserve BA Sour Blend in the Barrel Aged Sour category, silver for Man’s Best Friend in Belgian Other, bronze for The One V.56 in Hazy IPA, silver for Irish Coffee Stout in Specialty Beers (Stouts & Porters), and capped off their night with a gold for Island Edition in the Experimental IPA category. Resurgence Brewing won a silver medal for Citmo IPA in the Hazy IPA category and Big Ditch Brewing took home a bronze for Double Barrel Aqueduct in the Barrel Aged (Non Sour) category.

“On behalf of the Raise A Glass Foundation I want to thank everyone in the NY beer industry that participated in this year’s competition – whether by entering your excellent beers, spending two days as a judge, or working hard to organize the entire production – because of you, we will be able to support more than 20 local, national and international charities this year. You made a difference – thank you!” Ron Doughtery, executive director, Raise a Glass Foundation, said.

There is remarkable beer being brewed on the daily right here in our backyard – all you have to do is look. These awards are simply further proof of that.

Brian Campbell is co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League, and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on Twitter (@buffbeerleague), Instagram (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).