Four of its flagship beers also won medals at the 2026 New York International Beer Competition…
Beer awards are funny things. They don’t make a brew taste any better. They don’t suddenly transform an ordinary brewery into a great one. What they can do, however, is confirm what the people already sitting at the bar have suspected for a long time.
That’s exactly what happened when Wallenpaupack Brewing Company was named Pennsylvania Brewery of the Year at the 15th Annual New York International Beer Competition.
The Hawley brewery didn’t earn the title because one flashy barrel-aged novelty caught a judge’s attention. It earned it by proving it can brew damn near everything well.
Four beers entered. Four beers medaled. More importantly, they weren’t four variations of the same hazy IPA chasing the latest trend. They represented four distinctly different brewing traditions: a German-style wheat beer, a hazy IPA, a Belgian Golden Strong Ale, and a classic American cream ale. That’s the kind of range that separates a brewery with one great recipe from one with a genuinely deep bench.
Leading the charge was Hawley Wheat Ale, known to many longtime fans as Hawley Hefeweizen before the brewery updated its branding, which earned a Gold Medal and a 94-point rating. Brewed with a generous portion of wheat malt and a traditional Bavarian yeast strain, it delivers the classic notes of banana and clove that define the style while remaining crisp, refreshing, and endlessly drinkable. It’s the kind of beer that reminds you how rewarding simplicity can be when the fundamentals are executed exceptionally well.
Next came Largemouth Hazy IPA, awarded a Silver Medal with 93 points. This isn’t the bruiser IPA of twenty years ago that punished your palate with bitterness for sport. Instead, it leans into ripe peach, mango, and pineapple aromas, while wheat and pilsner malts provide the soft, pillowy body hazy IPA drinkers expect. It’s expressive without becoming exhausting, a balance that’s much harder to achieve than most people realize.
Matching that Silver Medal was Kroon, Wallenpaupack’s Belgian Golden Strong Ale and one of the brewery’s most decorated beers. Already a Great American Beer Festival gold medal winner, Kroon walks the fine line that defines the style: deceptively light on the palate despite its strength, layered with delicate fruit character, gentle Belgian spice and a dry, champagne-like finish. Belgian ales don’t leave much room for error, which makes Kroon’s growing list of accolades all the more impressive.
Then there’s Paupack Cream Ale, one of the beers that helped establish Wallenpaupack Brewing’s reputation in the first place. Its Bronze Medal and 91-point rating add another accolade to a résumé that already includes being named the World’s Best Cream Ale. Crisp, balanced and remarkably clean, it’s a beer that demonstrates just how difficult “easy drinking” can be to execute at an elite level. There isn’t anywhere for flaws to hide in a cream ale, which makes repeated recognition like this especially meaningful.
That’s probably the most interesting part of this story.
These aren’t one-off experimental releases brewed for a festival or a limited can drop. They’re the beers people order every day. The ones sitting in coolers across Northeastern Pennsylvania. The beers are expected to taste exactly the same whether they’re poured on a busy Saturday afternoon in July or a quiet Tuesday night in February.
Consistency is the least glamorous skill in brewing, and arguably the hardest.
Anybody can stumble into a great batch. Building a brewery where flagship beers repeatedly earn medals on national and international judging tables takes something entirely different. It takes discipline, repetition, and an unwillingness to settle for “good enough.”
Since opening in 2017, Wallenpaupack Brewing has quietly become one of Pennsylvania’s most consistently decorated breweries. International awards have accumulated year after year. Distribution has expanded throughout the region. The brewery has grown into as much a destination around Lake Wallenpaupack as the lake itself, drawing locals, weekend visitors, and vacationers who often leave with a mixed four-pack tucked under one arm.
For the 570 craft beer scene, this recognition means something beyond another plaque on the wall.
It reinforces what local beer drinkers have been saying for years: you don’t have to drive to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, or Vermont to find world-class beer. Sometimes it’s waiting in Hawley, poured into a clean pint glass by people who’ve spent years refining recipes until there’s almost nothing left to improve.
That’s what Pennsylvania Brewery of the Year really says.
