Best in Beer – Farm Show Awards (2024)
The 108th Annual Farm Show
On Friday – January 5th, 2023 – the 108th Annual Pennsylvania Farm Show kicked off at the (historic?) Farm Show Arena / Expo Hall / Building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The annual event brings people from all across the states in various agricultural industries to Harrisburg; to showcase, to compete, to interact, intermingle, and have a good time.
It also usually brings bad weather as well. As was apparent Saturday (January 6th) when we did our podcast with Lew Bryson for his “Seen Through a Glass“.
Friday was primarily just the food market and a few other events. The milkshakes were out, the talk of all the land, as always, and there was also free parking Friday so the food court was absolutely jammed pack. There was also a rodeo hosted on Friday.
Today – Tuesday, January 9th, they announced the winners of the Beer Competitions.
Farm Show – Best of Beer Awards
The Farm Show introduced the Best of Craft Beer Awards in 2019. This makes it the fourth year of them doing the awards (the awards went virtual in 2020).
You can read the rules for entry here: Department 34 – Beer Awards Rules and Entry Information.
Over the years there has been numerous winners from across the state. In this year’s competition, 44 breweries across 26 Pennsylvania counties submitted 255 beers to be judged, with 32 different breweries placing in the top 3 of these categories.
Let’s get to this year’s winners:
Best in Beer Winners – 2024
First, you can see the full list of entries and winners directly from the Farm Show’s site here: Department 34 – Craft Beer Entries (PDF). The PDF page is a bit confusing and shows all entries, how many points they received, if they are PA Preferred, and if they won a medal. No mention of categories or anything.
I will help you out here and break down the categories (best that I can) and show who won what place, and will list if it’s PA Preferred (more on what that is afterwards).
For a full list of all Farm Show competitions, and winners, you can view their Results page here: 108th Annual Farm Show Results.
| Category: | Brewery: | Beer: | Style: | Award: |
| Light American Ales and Lagers | BruDaddy’s | A-Town Light | American Light Lager | 1st |
| Light American Ales and Lagers | Wolf Brewing | Golden Gaze | Cream Ale | 2nd |
| Light American Ales and Lagers | Wallenpaupack Brewing | Paupack Cream Ale | Cream Ale | 3rd |
| Light International Beer | Spring House Brewing | Grease the Poles | Alternative Grain Beer | 1st |
| Light International Beer | McCall Collective | Speakeasy Series – Kentucky Common | Kentucky Common | 2nd |
| Light International Beer | Wolf Brewing | Rhein Lock | International Pale Lager | 3rd |
| Czech Lagers | Stoker’s Brewing | Plzyenský Drozd – Czech Pilsner | Czech Premium Pale Lager | 1st |
| Czech Lagers | Antifragile Brewing | Rational Flaneur | Czech Pale Lager | 2nd |
| Czech Lagers | Wolf Brewing | Dusk til Dawn | Czech Dark Lager | 3rd |
| Light German Beer | Locust Lane | Farmhouse Pils Lager | German Pils | 1st |
| Light German Beer | Hemauer Brewing | Helles Lager | Munich Helles Lager | 2nd |
| Light German Beer | Locust Lane | Kolsch Ale | Kolsch | 3rd |
| Malty German Lagers | Wallenpaupack | Festbier | Festbier | 1st |
| Malty German Lagers | Lavery Brewing | Vanguard Lager | Vienna Lager | 2nd |
| Malty German Lagers | Lost Tavern Brewing | Das Lagerhosen | Festbier | 3rd |
| Dark European Beer | Rough Edges Brewing | Mr Yum | Schwarzbier | 1st |
| Dark European Beer | Boal City Brewing | Doppelbock | Doppelbock | 2nd |
| Dark European Beer | Saucony Creek | Rye Bock | Dunkels Bock | 3rd |
| Dark European Beer | Otto’s Brewpub | Schwarzbier Lager | Schwarzbier | Honorable Mention |
| American Blonde and Pale Ales | GearHouse Brewing | Canary in the Coal Mine | Blonde Ale | 1st |
| American Blonde and Pale Ales | Aldus Brewing | American Blonde Ale | Blonde Ale | 2nd |
| American Blonde and Pale Ales | Wolf Brewing | American Pale Ale | With a Little Help From My Friends | 3rd |
| American IPAs | McCall Collective | American IPA | Wayward West Coast IPA | 1st |
| American IPAs | GearHouse Brewing | American IPA | Ninja Boots | 2nd |
| American IPAs | Dock Street Brewing | American IPA | Golden IPA | 3rd |
| Hazy IPAs | Second Sin Beer | Hazy IPA | Burgerstaxx | 1st |
| Hazy IPAs | Bent Run Brewing | Hazy IPA | Pearl O’My Eye | 2nd |
| Hazy IPAs | Antifragile Brewing | Hazy IPA | Moonlit Grotto | 3rd |
| European Wheat Beers | Wallenpaupack Brewing | Weissbier (Hefeweizen) | Hawley Hefeweizen | 1st |
| European Wheat Beers | GearHouse Brewing | Weissbier | Hefe Weight | 2nd |
| European Wheat Beers | Wolf Brewing | Weissbier | El Hefe | 3rd |
| Traditional English Ales | Two Rivers Brewing | Strong Bitter | Old Squire Abel’s ESB | 1st |
| Traditional English Ales | Two Rivers Brewing | British Brown Ale | Bankers Brown Ale | 2nd |
| Traditional English Ales | Olde Bedford Brewing | Strong Bitter | Dog Bollocks ESB | 3rd |
| British Ales | Appalachian Brewing | Scottish Export | Jolly Scot Scottish Ale | 1st |
| British Ales | GearHouse Brewing | Irish Stout | Sally O’Mally | 2nd |
| British Ales | Hemauer Brewing | Irish Red Ale | McFadden | 3rd |
| Strong British and American Ales | ZeroDay Brewing | Double IPA | Double Rodeo | 1st |
| Strong British and American Ales | Wallenpaupack Brewing | English Barleywine | Sixth Anniversary Ale | 2nd |
| Strong British and American Ales | Aldus Brewing | Double IPA | Can I Kick It? (IPA) | 3rd |
| Belgian Ales | Stoker’s Brewing | Belgian Dark Strong Ale | KINDLING KWAD | 1st |
| Belgian Ales | Dock Street Brewing | Saison | Bindlestiff | 2nd |
| Belgian Ales | Yorkholo Brewing | Belgian Golden Strong Ale | Barn Beer | 3rd |
| Fruit Beer | Allusion Brewing | Specialty Fruit Beer | In Another Castle | 1st |
| Fruit Beer | Boom City Brewing | Fruit Beer | Last Raft Raspberry Wheat Ale | 2nd |
| Fruit Beer | Lavery Brewing | Specialty Fruit Beer | Liopard Oir | 3rd |
| Fruit, Herb, Vegetable | Twisted Elk Brewing | Fruit, Herb, Vegetable | Kona Dream | 1st |
| Fruit, Herb, Vegetable | ZeroDay Brewing | Fruit, Herb, Vegetable | OOO Spooky | 2nd |
| Fruit, Herb, Vegetable | Spring House Brewing | Fruit, Herb, Vegetable | Kerplunk! | 3rd |
| Specialty Spice / Herb / Veg Beer | Shy Bear Brewing | Autumn Seasonal Beer | Emmie Voorhees | 1st |
| Specialty Spice / Herb / Veg Beer | Saucony Creek | Autumn Seasonal Beer | Maple Mistress | 2nd |
| Specialty Spice / Herb / Veg Beer | Otto’s Brewpub | Autumn Seasonal Beer | Small Batch Series Ale: Pumpkin Ale | 3rd |
| Specialty Wood Aged Beers | Aldus Brewing | Specialty Wood Aged Beer | Red Rye Revival | 1st |
| Specialty Wood Aged Beers | Chatty Monks / Pagoda City Brewing | Specialty Wood Aged Beer | Rum – Barrel Aged Jester’s Song | 2nd |
| Specialty Wood Aged Beers | Yergey Brewing | Specialty Wood Aged Beer | Three Kings And A Bourbon Street Wench | 3rd |
| Sour and Wild Ales | Locust Lane | Fruit Lambic | Cherry Preserves Sour Ale | 1st |
| American Ambers, Browns, and Porters | Boom City | American Porter | Muddy River Porter | 1st |
| American Ambers, Browns, and Porters | Bent Run Brewing | American Brown Ale | Deerfoot Nut Brown Ale | 2nd |
| American Ambers, Browns, and Porters | Bent Run Brewing | American Amber Ale | Allegheny Amber Ale | 3rd |
| Smoke and Wood Aged Beers | Lost Tavern Brewing | Wood Aged | Barrel Aged – If Time Is Money | 1st |
| Smoke and Wood Aged Beers | Yorkholo Brewing | Rauchbier | Yorkholo Lager | 2nd |
| Smoke and Wood Aged Beers | Lavery Brewing | Classic Style Smoked Beer | Belfast Black Smoked Porter | 3rd |
| Mixed-Style and Experimental Beers | Wallenpaupack Brewing | Mixed Style Beer | For The Love Of Lager: Italian-Style Pilsner | 1st |
| Mixed-Style and Experimental Beers | Fegley’s Brew Works | Mixed Style Beer | Pilsner Noctumo | 2nd |
| Mixed-Style and Experimental Beers | Chatty Monks Brewing / Pagoda City Brewing | Experimental Beer | Hey Bae Rose | 3rd |
| PA Preferred | Wallenpaupack Brewing | Hazy IPA | Avery Mt. Fresh Hop DIPA | 1st |
| PA Preferred | Olde Bedford Brewing | IPL | Ranch Life IPL | 2nd |
| PA Preferred | Olde Bedford Brewing | Fruited Sour | Becky’s Bistro Wild Blackberry Sour | 3rd |
| Best in Show | Stoker’s Brewing | Belgian Dark Strong Ale | KINDLING KWAD | Best in Show |
PA Preferred
PA Preferred is a big deal, but even a bigger deal around Farm Show time. The breweries and brewers who do it make a big mention of it and a big “to – do” about it. The point of it is to use all Pennsylvania products, from the malt and grain to the hops and to the water and everything else in between. There is becoming more and more of a bigger push to go “all Pennsylvanian” with breweries. Troegs Brewing, Wallenpaupack Brewing, Logyard Brewing, Boneshire Brew Works, Hemauer Brewing, and several others are striving to make more and more of their beers this way.
For More Information on the Farm Show
- Farm Show Documents: Department 34 – Beer Awards
- Farm Show Documents: Department 34 – Entry Rules
- Farm Show Schedule
For More of our Award Articles
Looking for more articles about breweries and brewers winning awards? Check these out:
- 2023 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Winners: Pennsylvania
- 2022 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) Winners: Pennsylvania
- 2021 Great American Beer Festival: Pennsylvania Award Winners
- 2020 Great American Beer Festival: Pennsylvania Award Winners
- 2019 Great American Beer Festival: Pennsylvania Award Winners
- 2020 North American Guild of Beer Writers Awards
- 2021 North American Guild of Beer Writers Awards
- 2022 NAGBW Awards
- 2023 North American Guild of Beer Writers (NAGBW) Awards
- Farm Show Beer Competition – Best in Beer (2023) – Stats
- Best in Beer – Farm Show Awards (2023)
- Allusion Brewing Company Wins Two Top Awards (2022)
- Allusion Brewing Wins Three Awards at the 2023 CBMAs
- The Battle of the Breweries (2021) Winner Is….
- The Battle of the Breweries (2022) Winner Is….
- The Battle of the Breweries (2023) Winner Is….
- World Beer Cup 2023 Winners – Delaware
- World Beer Cup 2023 Winners – Pennsylvania
- World Beer Cup 2023 Winners – Maryland
- Top 50 Craft Brewing Companies in the United States (2023)
- Top 50 Overall Brewing Companies (2023)
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