After winning a trio of medals (two gold and a silver), as well as the highly coveted Governor’s Cup, awarded for the best beer in the state, at the 2021 New York State Craft Beer Competition, Eli Fish Brewing is ready celebrate, and will do so in proper fashion by rounding up all of the other medal winning beers from the competition and putting them all on tap on July 24 in Batavia.
Eli Fish will be tapping Heavy Maple, the Governor’s Cup winning beer, as well as Blackberry Peach Tiga Queen (gold medal winner, one keg only) and Gin Barrel Pillow Talk (silver medal, one keg only).
Eli Fish Head Brewer Adam Burnett says he and his team are still in disbelief over all of their success at the 2021 New York State Craft Beer Competition.
“We’re all still in disbelief,” he said. “It’s gotten difficult to get back to normal around here, and maybe this is the new normal for a while. We’re humbled and very honored. You can never expect something like this.”
In addition to Heavy Brekky, Heavy Maple with coffee and vanilla (1 keg only), Eli Fish will also have 2020 Imperial Cream Ale, 2020 Baltic Porter, 2020 Barrel Aged 100th Meridian Barleywine and 2019 100th Meridian Barleywine on draft, along with bottle pours of Steamy Grains Vaughan, 2020 Barrel Aged 810 to Stuttgart, Doppelbock and 2020 Double Barrel Braggot.
On top of all that, there will use the celebration to debut their first ever American Wild Ale, Madame Edna, which was brewed in 2019, then laid to rest in an ex-bourbon barrel that had just finished maturing local spontaneous cider. Madame Edna features Batavia grown peaches to create a soft and subtle, yet complex, effervescent and crushable beer. There are 100 bottles, available Saturday at noon. Draft will also be available.
“I’m most excited for the one sixtel of Heavy Brekky,” Burnett says. “It was supposed to be Mostra coffee, but that got delayed in shipping, so I went with some Glen Edith for this weekend. The Mostra will go into Double Barrel Steamy Grains Vaughan, which I’m hoping will be ready by next month.”
And Eli Fish won’t be alone at their Cup Celebration, they will be bringing along a host of locally produced award-winning beers, including Rusty Nickel Brewing Live Edge Irish Red (bronze, cans) and Vanilla Chai Tea Milk Stout (bronze, cans), Pressure Drop Sticky Trees IPA (silver, draft), Woodcock Brothers Honey Brown Ale (silver, draft) and Skydancer IPA (silver, draft), and Thin Man Lagerkoller (bronze, cans), plus a New York Beer Project surprise keg. NYBP’s Chevy to the Levee Barleywine and Thin Man’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Jenkins are no longer available.
“Most important to me was to showcase all the local winners,” Burnett explains. “So having gathered seven other medaled beers on short notice is the best part to me. The only two we couldn’t get don’t exist anymore.”
If you’re looking for the opportunity to drink some of the best beer in the state – that’s not just me saying that, check the trophy case – there is no better opportunity than at Eli Fish on Saturday. There is remarkable beer being brewed on the daily right here in our backyard – all you have to do is look.
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).
