Brewing up a good time

After having been cancelled last year due to COVID-19, Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Amanda Knotwell knew the 25th Annual Steinley Cup Microbrew Festival had to go big.

If the number of brewers in attendance were any indication, it certainly did that.

This year, the Steinley Cup Microbrew Festival saw a total of 17 microbreweries gather on Veterans Island on August 21. Of those 17 however, only 12 could compete for the coveted Steinley Cup, a traveling trophy which goes to the Wyoming microbrewery that tickles the tastebuds of the judges.

With 12 breweries from the Cowboy State in Saratoga, the remaining five came from around the west with three brewing companies from Colorado-including Left Hand Brewing Company and Tommyknocker Brewery-along with Roosters Brewing from Ogden, Utah and Stone Brewing Company from Escondido, California.

The breweries in competition for the Steinley Cup each brought a porter, a type of beer developed in London, England known for being well hopped and dark in appearance. The dark look of the porter is due to the use of brown malt. A number of breweries brought vanilla porters this year, which seemed to be a favorite among the festival attendees.

People's Choice, in fact, was awarded to Bond's Brewing Company of Laramie, Wyoming for their Vanilla Teddy Graham Porter. Showing that every vote does indeed count, Knotwell said Bond's beat out Freedom's Edge of Cheyenne and their vanilla porter by a single vote. Additionally, both brewers were in the top five when it came to judging for the Steinley Cup.

The six judges, who spent the afternoon tasting the various porters in a canopy tent by the North Platte River, requested three call backs before finally making their decision and awarding Accomplice Beer Company of Cheyenne for their Slumber Car American Porter.

For a number of the brewers, this was their first year attending the Steinley Cup Microbrew Festival and, according to Knotwell, they were impressed. So, too, were the return brewers.

"I had compliments on how the relaxed setting was phenomenal, rather than just being 100 percent busy the whole entire time." said Knotwell. "A lot of them commented on the location. We had a lot that were new here and they liked the location and the ambience of it."

Knotwell, in turn, was impressed with the brewers. A prerequisite to being able to taste all the beer you could stand was to not only pay the entry fee, but have your age verified and a colored band around your wrist. This was stressed by Knotwell to the brewers in a pre-festival meeting.

"I had a few people that snuck in and finally came up to the desk and they were like 'Guess we didn't know how this works'," Knotwell said. "Well, apparently a few brewers told them 'I'm not serving you'."

In previous years, a chilli and salsa competition has been held concurrently with the Steinley Cup. According to Knotwell, the side-event to the microbrewing competition has grown so popular it has required an event of its own which will be held during a tailgate party later this year. In the place of chilli and salsa, local food vendors were able to set up shop on Veterans Island.

"As the Chamber, we thought 'What a great way to get some of my chamber members in that do serve food that have kind of had a rough year'. We had some that couldn't make it due to staffing issues," said Knotwell. "They were all chamber members that wanted to come and do that and all of them said they had lines throughout the whole entire day."

While event attendees formed lines at their brewer of choice, or waited to get some food, they also were able to listen to Third Rail, a Wyoming band fronted by Saratoga native Casey Jones.

While exact numbers haven't been finalized yet, Knotwell estimates a total of 500 people were on Veterans Island throughout Saturday between volunteers, attendees, vendors and brewers. According to Knotwell, her board was pleased with the turnout.

"Everyone thought it was a great turnout for the state of things at the moment," Knotwell said. "Not just the economy but also the events that are trying to happen."