16th Annual Steinley Cup Microbrew Festival and Competition the Winner’s are!
LANDER BREWING COMPANY WINS STEINLEY CUP
Jim Mitchell will have to find a place to display the hardware won at Saratoga’s 16th annual Steinley Cup Microbrew Festival and Competition. The Lander Brewing Company walked away with the traveling trophy for their “Bighorn Ryebok” ale which was entered into the competition. This is a big win, considering that the ownership and management is only a year old, but experienced Brewmaster Ted Briggs led the team to a victory!
The People’s Choice winner was Mitch Kunce and The Library Restaurant and Brewing Company of Laramie. The Library’s “Köln Dunkel” won the hearts of the 825 attendees to the Festival. This is their third People’s Choice win in three years, proving they know their customers.
Ten of the twelve Wyoming-based microbreweries, plus Grand Teton Brewing of Victor, Idaho, attended the Steinley Cup. “We were only missing two breweries this year,” said Stacy Crimmins, Executive Director of the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce. “The Chamber has been organizing this event for years, and this year was outstanding! I think the brewers really enjoyed the fact that this competition is invitational. We don’t invite corporate breweries, or breweries located in neighboring states. They know this is the real deal.” Crimmins went on to explain that Grand Teton Brewing is “grandfathered” into the competition as acknowledgement of their work to create state legislation for microbreweries. Other breweries competing included Altitude Chophouse & Brewery of Laramie, Bitter Creek Brewing Company of Rock Springs, Black Tooth Brewing of Sheridan, Snake River Brewing of Jackson, Saratoga’s Snowy Mountain Brewery, Suds Brothers Brewery of Evanston, Wind River Brewing of Pinedale and Casper’s Wyoming Brewing Company.
Newcomer Suds Brothers Brewery blew the competition out of the water for the People’s Choice Root Beer. “Suds Root Beer” won by a large margin, solidifying their decision to attend this year.
Twenty-three entries in the Chili Cook-off kept hunger pangs at bay. Trevor Ingraham of J.W. Hugus Restaurant and Catering won the People’s Choice for their Green Chile while Ryan Monk won the Judge’s Choice. Duke’s Bar & Grill of Saratoga won both the Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice Salsa. The Red Chili winner for People’s Choice was Charlie Dana. The Judges’ had a tough decision for the Red Chili and settled for a three-way tie between Jan Heinle, United Way’s Chris Blaize and Rayetta Kirkley of The Rendezvous Lodge.
Crimmins stated that the beautiful weather, great location, fantastic volunteers, sponsors and vendors, and outstanding breweries contributed to the record-breaking event.
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