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How are the Cups awarded?
TAP-NY is the largest beer festival in New York with over 4,000 people and 30 breweries attending the 2009 festival.
As TAP has grown in size, so has the attention being paid to the awards being handed out at the festival. The Matthew Vassar Brewers' Cup and F.X. Matt Memorial Cup have become sources of pride for those who are awarded the titles of "Best Brewery" or "Best Beer" in
either the Hudson Valley or New York State as many breweries are using the awards in their advertisements and promotions.
As the Cups gain importance, we decided
to sit down with Bill Woodring, the President & co-founder of Hudson Valley Beer & Food Festival, as well as the man
who oversees the judging and awarding of the Cups, to find out exactly how the Cups are awarded.
The process of identifying which brewery will win each cup is simple. Each brewery is allowed to enter up to three
beers which will be judged on a 50 point scale. The brewery with the highest score (150 being the maximum) wins the
Cup. The beers are judged by a collection of approximatly 30 judges who come from all walks of life. Quite
a few of the judges have been with Bill and his staff from the start.
On Saturday morning, event workers walk around to each brewery and collect samples of whatever three beers the brewery chooses
to nominate for judging. The beers are then taken to a secluded room where they are given number ID's to eliminate
any bias. The beers are then handed to the judges along with a score sheet (see below). The judges follow
the guidelines and award the beer points based on appearance, aroma, flavor, finish, and overall impression.
The judges then check their scores againt the score guide (see below) to see if their numeric score of the beer
matches the verbal description. After all the beers have been judged, the scores for each of the three beers
from a single brewery are added and the brewery with the highest score in the Hudson Valley wins the Matthew Vassar Brewers'
Cup and the brewery with the highest score in New York State wins the F.X. Matt Memorial Cup. It is important to remember
that a brewery who is located in both regions is eligible to win both awards. This has happened three times in the nine
years that both Cups have been awards. Lake Placid has accomplished the feat twice in 2005 and 2007, and Keegan Ales
accomplished the feat in 2009.
While the process seems quite straightforward, there is a twist
as to what breweries are eligible for the Matthew Vassar Brewers' Cup by being located in the "Hudson
Valley". The festival started in 1997 as the Hudson Valley Beer and Food Festival, and as the event drew more people
and more breweries, the staff at Hunter wanted to stay loyal to the local breweries so they established a second Cup.
When determining what would constitute the Hudson Valley territory, the staff decided that a radius that went about 90 miles
North, South, East, and West would sufice, which is why breweries such as High Point Wheat Beer
Co in Butler, NJ are invited each year.
The
process for awarding individual beer medals is a little different. After the judges have graded all of the beers their
job is done. On Sunday, Bill goes looking for what I deem celebrity judges. Bill roams the floor of the festival looking
for people who are taking a real interest in what they are drinking rather than throwing the beer back and moving
on. Bill approached these people and asks something along the lines of "hey, how would you like
to be a judge for the individual medals later?", to which he usually gets a response along the lines of "YES!".
After Bill has found 8 celebrity judges, he and his team then organize the 10 beers from each category that the judges
awarded the highest scores to on Saturday to send out to the celebrity judges. With about an hour left on Sunday, the
celebrity judges assemble at the front of the big hall to sit at two different tables. Four judges sit at one table
to judge the Hudson Valley beers and four sit at another table to judge the New York State beer. Just like the Cups,
a beer can be entered in both contests. The celebrity judges then taste the final ten beers and each panel of four must agree
on a consensus #1,#2, and #3 beer based on the sole criteria of most enjoyable to drink rather then style guidelines.
Tap Score Sheet
TAP Score Guide
Past winners of the Matthew Vassar Cup: 2009: Keegan Ales - Kingston, NY 2008: Brown's Brewing - Troy,
NY 2007: Lake Placid Pub & Brewery - Lake Placid, NY 2006: Captain Lawrence Brewing Co. - Pleasantville 2005: Lake Placid
Pub & Brewery - Lake Placid, NY 2004: Original Saratoga Springs Brewpub - Saratoga
Springs, NY 2003: Lake Placid Pub and Brewery - Lake Placid, NY 2002: Great Adirondack Brewing - Lake Placid, NY 2001: Gilded Otter -
New Paltz, NY 2000: Woodstock Brewing Co. - Kingston, NY 1999: Big House Brewing Co. - Albany, NY 1998: Troy Pub & Brewery
- Troy, NY
Past winners of the F.X Matt Cup: 2009:
Kingston Ales - Kingston, NY 2008: Ithaca Beer Co. - Ithaca, NY 2007: Lake Placid Pub & Brewery - Lake Placid, NY 2006: Black Forest
Brew Haus - Farmingdale, NY 2005: Lake Placid Pub & Brewery - Lake Placid, NY
2004: Chelsea Brewing - New York City, NY 2003:
Brewery Ommegang - Cooperstown, NY 2002: John Harvard's Brew House - Lake Grove,
LI, NY 2001: Brooklyn Brewery - Brooklyn, NY
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