'Our white whale:' Wallenpaupack Brewing Company wins World Beer Cup medal

JEFF HORVATH, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·1 min read

Wallenpaupack Brewing Company took home a silver medal at last week’s World Beer Cup in Las Vegas.

The Hawley-based brewery claimed the award in the Belgian-Style Strong Blonde Ale category for its Kroon Belgian Golden Strong Ale, a 9% alcohol-by-volume beer featuring “a rich blend of yeast-derived aromatics, including pear, bubble gum and cracked peppercorn.”

It was the local company’s first award at the World Beer Cup that this year featured more than 9,300 entries from more than 2,000 breweries representing 50 countries.

“The World Beer Cup has been our white whale beer competition, so finally hearing our name called and walking across that stage brought a flood of emotions, including elation, pride, and relief,” Wallenpaupack Head Brewer Logan Ackerley said in a news release. “Our production team works tirelessly to produce beer of the highest possible quality, so it was really gratifying to see Kroon be named one of the best in the world.”

Rebecca Ryman, the company’s owner and president, called the World Beer Cup the world’s largest and most prestigious beer competition.

“Winning here affirms our brewery’s spot — not only as one of the top breweries in Northeast Pennsylvania — but the country as a whole, and we’re honored to be recognized by this esteemed panel of judges,” she said in the release.

Kroon, which is still available at the brewery and at select retail outlets, is the first of a two-part Belgian Strong Ale series from Wallenpaupack. Its counterpart, Trône Belgian Dark Strong Ale, is slated to hit shelves later this year.