Rural Upstate New York Brewery Named State’s ‘Brewery of the Year’

At the 2023 New York State Brewers Conference, the award for "Brewery of the Year" was handed out, and a rural Upstate New York taproom took home the prize. The competition featured 1,300 total beer entries from around the state, but after all of the points were added together, only one brewery was left standing.

We were eager to learn more about the folks at Wayward Lane Brewing, and what makes their brews so special.

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Schoharie's Wayward Lane Brewing Names NY's "Brewery of the Year"

A story in The Daily Gazette told the story of the Schoharie-based Wayward Lane Brewing, the brewery/taproom that was recently dubbed New York's Brewery of the Year. The award was handed out at the conclusion of the New York State Brewers Conference, which was held in Albany on Friday, March 31st.

Check out this photo of the trophy, which was posted on Wayward's official Instagram page:

The award for Brewery of the Year was handed out roughly one month after the actual judging took place. As explained in the Gazette, a panel of experts gathered in Rochester at the beginning of the month, and underwent blind taste tests for the 1,300 total submissions from across the state.

Gold, silver and bronze medals are given to the best submissions in each category of beer (27 in total), and each medal carried with it a point value (3, 2 and 1, respectively).

Here's how Wayward scored:

• Gold Medals: Hazy Pale Ale, Cultivar: Motueka, English Style Wheatwine conditioned on amburana, Xylem
• Silver Medals: Hazy Double IPA, Cloud Generator, Cold IPA, Prizm

After reading more about Wayward Lane Brewing on their official website, I am compelled to make the trip to 255 Ward Ln, Schoharie, NY this summer. The brewery occupies a restored 1800’s hop house, and is situated on 65 acres of rolling farm land in the scenic Schoharie Valley of upstate NY; [they] also offer a large outdoor event space where we hold concerts on the weekends.

The brewery is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 4-8PM, Saturdays from 12-8PM, and Sundays from 12-6PM. It is closed Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

A huge congratulations is owed to the Schoharie-based brewery, as they can officially state their brews are New York's best in 2023!