The city’s breweries were confused by the governor’s craft beer challenge.
The inaugural Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge, organized by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, put 170 breweries in the state to the test, calling on residents to go online to vote for the best — but none of New York City’s breweries made the cut.
Five finalists were announced on Tuesday, all of them from upstate. The city’s breweries were gracious about their defeat, but some said the process of participating in the challenge was confusing and not transparent enough.
“We don’t know if any of us finished sixth or tenth, or 170th,” said Kyle Hurst, one of the owners and head brewer at Big Alice Brewing in Long Island City, noting that the full list of brewery standings have not been made available to the 165 other participating companies.
Hurst also said he reached out to Taste NY halfway through the competition to try to get standing information, but never heard back.
“We don’t have context,” he said. “All we know is we weren’t top five, so it’s tough to make any conclusions.”
The grand winner of the finalists will be announced at Pier A on Battery Place at 5 p.m. Wednesday, and will be attended by Cuomo and a panel of judges. Hurst said he’d also be there.
Judges of the best craft beer include celebrity chef Mario Batali, NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas and Brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery Garrett Oliver.
Finalists include: Brewery Ommegang from Otsego County, Genesee Brewing Company from Rochester, Prison City Pub and Brewery from Cayuga County, The Roscoe NY Beer Co. from Sullivan County and Southern Tier Brewing Company from Chautauqua County.
Competition in the five boroughs is tough with more than 30 breweries whipping up their own unique suds, including The Bronx Brewery, Staten Island’s Flagship Brewing Company and Red Hook’s Sixpoint Craft Ales.
But there’s also a lot of love in this tight-knit community.
“One of the great things about New York State is it’s well represented from NYC to Buffalo — there’s a lot of great breweries,” said Dan Bronson, general manager at SingleCut, said.
Governor Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
