Syracuse,
NY – August 2014 / Newsmaker Alert / State Agriculture Commissioner
Richard A. Ball and Acting Director of the New
York State Fair Troy Waffner announced that Rochester home brewer Sean
Coughlin’s beer rose to the top of a class of 405 entries to be judged
Best of Show at the State Fair’s annual Homebrew Competition. His Belgian
Dark Strong Ale, called “Abbey Cat”, had won its category and was one of
25 category winners up for the top honor.
“I was pretty shocked to
win,” Coughlin said. He was one of the volunteer judges of the competition
(he did not judge his category) and was scheduled to judge the Best of
Show when a contest official tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to
leave the room.
Coughlin is more than a beer
fan. He works for Genesee Brewing in Rochester managing the company’s online
store and providing in-house beer education. He’s been a judge for the
competition for the last three years and decided that “as long as I’m judging,
I might as well enter.”
Judges heaped praise on the
brew. “An excellent beer. No technical flaws were noticed. A nice malt
profile draws you to the beer. The flavors with the malt, phenols and esters
are well balanced,” one judge wrote. Coughlin’s beer had been aging for
about a year and a half by the time of the contest.
The F.X. Matt Brewing Company
in Utica, will bottle and enter the beer in the Great American Beer Festival’s
national competition in Colorado.
“This competition is exactly
the kind of thing that brings emphasis to New York State products,” said
Nick Matt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of F.X. Matt Brewing Company.
“We’re glad to host the winner to brew in our nanobrewery. It’s a unique
and fun experience for both the homebrewer and our team. Then to have this
beer entered into the country’s most coveted competition in the industry,
the Great American Beer Festival, now that’s really something special.”
State Agriculture Commissioner
Richard A. Ball said, “This competition brought some of the best homebrewers
across the state together to show what they could do. There are number
of varieties of homebrews and the State Fair’s competition does an incredible
job of gathering them from around the state to compete. Congratulations
to all participants.”
Troy Waffner, the Acting
Director said, “The fair’s competitions bring out the best of New York,
and this competition was no exception. Hosting this year’s Homebrew Competition
was an excellent experience and I look forward to seeing how ‘Abbey Cat’
does at the Great American Beer Festival’s national competition.”
Robert Sells of Fredonia
took both second place and fourth place Best of Show for his Old Ale, named
“Old And In The Way,” and his Kolsch, named “Summer Schwill.” Mark Zambron
of West Seneca took third place honors for “The Watcher,” a Weizen/Weissbier.
This year, 96 homebrewers
entered 279 beers in the competition.
The New
York State Fair, operated by the New
York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, runs from August
21 – September 1, 2014. The Fair’s mission, reflected in its 2014 theme,
“Summer’s Best in Show,” is to showcase the best of New York agriculture
while providing top-quality entertainment. This year’s tagline – “New Attractions,
Old Favorites, Timeless Fun” – highlights the more than two dozen new events
and attractions and the expansion or enhancement of several Fairgoer favorites.
In addition to the annual
New York State Fair, the Fairgrounds host dozens of agricultural events
throughout the year, including some of the Northeast’s most prestigious
horse and livestock shows.
The home of the Great New
York State Fair is a 375-acre exhibit and entertainment complex that operates
all year. A year-round schedule of events is available on the Fair’s
website.
Find The Great
New York State Fair on Facebook, follow @NYSFair
on Twitter, and enjoy photos from the Fair at Flickr.com/photos/NYSFair.
Also, New Yorkers are invited to send their ideas for the Great New York
State Fair at statefairideas@agriculture.ny.gov.
Media Contacts:
Joe
Morrissey
Public Information Officer
NYS Department of Agriculture
& Markets
518-457-0752
Dave
Bullard
Public Relations
New York State Fair
315-487-7711 x 1377 |