Four new awards, led by Kindling Kwad’s Best of Show finish, underscore a brewery defined less by trends than by repetition and craft…
Stoker’s Brewing Company arrived at the 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show the way it often does: steadily, confidently, and with beer that speaks for itself. When judging concluded in Harrisburg, the Tamaqua brewery left with four more awards, three style-category placements, and a Best of Show finish, extending a streak that now spans five consecutive years of recognition at the state’s most prominent agricultural showcase.
The four ribbons won by Stoker’s make it one of the most-awarded breweries at the 2026 PA Farm Show. Only Wolf Brewing (Mechanicsburg, PA) won more.
For a small, owner-operated brewery rooted in Schuylkill County’s coal region, that kind of consistency matters. It points less to spectacle than to process: careful brewing, repeated execution, and a willingness to do the same things well, year after year. Those are qualities beer judges tend to reward, and they are not easily faked.
The headliner once again was Kindling Kwad, Stoker’s flagship Belgian dark strong ale. The beer earned 1st Place in its style category and 3rd Place Best of Show overall, placing it among the top beers entered across all styles at the competition. Best of Show honors are awarded from the full field of submissions, making the recognition a measure not just of style accuracy, but of overall quality. In a statewide competition drawing entries from breweries large and small, Kindling Kwad continues to distinguish itself as one of Pennsylvania’s most consistently decorated strong ales.
The rest of Stoker’s results underscored the brewery’s range. Yo Bot! Apricot Sour captured 2nd Place in the Straight Sour Beer category, a nod to a beer that balances fruit and acidity without tipping into novelty. Fantasifull Dream, a hazy IPA whose name traces back to early doubts about whether Stoker’s would ever succeed, earned 3rd Place, a fitting result for a beer that reflects persistence as much as hops.
That persistence runs through the brewery as a whole. Founded and still brewed by Doug Drost, Stoker’s is anchored in methods that favor repetition over reinvention. Drost studied at the Siebel Institute of Technology, spent decades as a homebrewer, and eventually left a long career in industrial maintenance to brew full-time. He still brews personally, on site, using tools that carry history as well as function: a mash paddle he has used since his earliest batches and a mahogany pestle that once belonged to his grandmother, known in the family as Baba. Brewing here is hands-on and direct, practiced rather than optimized away.
The same patience shows up outside the brewhouse. In 2020, Drost planted hops behind the brewery, building the trellis system himself and waiting two full years before the plants produced a usable crop. Those hops are now harvested on site, dried, vacuum-sealed, and incorporated directly into Stoker’s beers. It is a slow approach by design, one that mirrors the brewery’s results on the competition floor.
Within northeastern Pennsylvania’s increasingly crowded craft beer landscape, Stoker’s Brewing Company occupies a distinctive lane. The brewery regularly keeps around 25 beers on tap, blending traditional European styles with modern American interpretations. It operates as a brewery and biergarten rather than a high-volume production facility, positioning itself as a destination rooted in place rather than trend. The emphasis is on balance, clarity, and repeatability, qualities that tend to age well.
The Pennsylvania Farm Show awards are judge-driven, but they are not the brewery’s only form of recognition. Stoker’s beers have also earned honors through Untappd Community Awards, reflecting consumer response across a broad base of everyday drinkers. Taken together, the two forms of validation point in the same direction: beers that hold up under scrutiny and remain enjoyable beyond a judging table.
Since opening, Stoker’s Brewing Company has collected 11 Pennsylvania Farm Show awards, with recognition now spanning five consecutive years. Four more were added in 2026. The record has been built gradually, one batch at a time, guided by patience and attention to detail. At the Farm Show, year after year, that approach continues to show up in the results.
