The Steinley Cup Remains The OG Trophy Of Wyoming’s Legacy Brewfests

SARATOGA — The big can be small and the small can be big. In Saratoga, Wyoming, the Steinley Cup is definitely an example of the latter.

It’s the OG microbrew festival in the state, started when the Cowboy State’s craft brewery industry was still just a baby nearly 30 years ago.

“There were very few breweries in Wyoming at the time,” Mitch Kunce, brewer at The Library Sports Grille and Brewery in Laramie told Cowboy State Daily. “It was just a handful. My recollection is that it was like Bowman brewing in Laramie, The Library, Snake River and there was a brewery in Cheyenne called Medicine Bow, and maybe the Otto brothers up in Wilson.”

These days, Wyoming has a beer trail that runs through just about every community and includes more than 40 breweries.

But 29 years ago, the bragging rights that came with the Steinley Cup — a play on words with the NHL championship trophy Stanley Cup — were everything. The traveling trophy still has tons of of cachet with the state’s brewers, even as bigger brewfests have come along.

“We come up here to Saratoga because it’s the Steinley Cup. It’s the oldest brewfest in Wyoming,” Eric Kilmer with Freedom’s Edge Brewing in Laramie told Cowboy State Daily. “But it’s also in a great spot, and it’s just fun coming up here and enjoying the brewfest itself, relaxing in the hotsprings, and just having a good time.”

Competing For The Cup

One reason the Steinley Cup has retained its reputation is that it’s not the easiest competition to win. It takes effort. Brewers can’t just bring their most popular beer. They have to brew a specific style for the competition, and that style might not be one they normally make.

This year, for example, the beer style was pilsner, which is not the most common of brews in the Cowboy State.

“I don’t make lagers very often,” Kunce told Cowboy State Daily.

Lagers take almost twice as long to make. They also require more yeast and additional refrigeration. A good lager can’t be rushed.

Kunce also feels that his water source contains more minerals than is ideal for making lagers.

But he made three lagers over the winter and brought the best one to the competition. He also brought his crowd favorite, a pomegranate blueberry, which doesn’t really fit easily into any particular beer style.

It’s been a frequent People’s Choice winner at the Steinley Cup, though, and it’s brought the brewery notoriety in other ways as well.

“Everyone does pomegranate wheat beers,” Kunce said. “So I found this pomegranate blueberry from POM Wonderful, and I thought man, the aroma on this is really good. It has that wonderful blueberry aroma.”

So, he gave the juice a try in a beer, and it created a pleasant, refreshing and fruity summer beer. Word of mouth quickly spread and before too long, Kunce was taking a surprise phone call.

“It was POM Wonderful, and they said, ‘Yeah, we understand you’re using our product in a beer,’” Kunce said.

At first, he thought he might be in trouble, but that wasn’t it at all.

“They go, ‘Oh no, we think it’s great!’ So great, they flew their whole operations department out to me to see how we use it,” Kunce said.

The Gold Standard

Freedom’s Edge won the Steinley Cup the last two years and was really hoping for a three-peat this year with its pilsner. That would have made it one of the only breweries to achieve a hat trick of Steinley Cup wins.

The bragging rights would have been huge, Kilmer told Cowboy State Daily, but the competition was stiff.

Blue Raven Brewery of Cheyenne was among brewers that came over to admire the Steinley Cup during the competition, and razz Freedom’s Edge about who was going to win.

“We’re taking this home,” Nick Shassetz with Blue Raven told Kilmer with a big smile.

There was a little friendly banter between the colleagues before Kilmer filled up Shassetz’s beer stein with some of Freedom’s Edge’s pilsner.

“Pilsners are a very difficult style of beer, so we’ll see what happens,” Kilmer said after Shassetz left.

Ultimately, neither Freedom’s Edge nor Blue Raven took home the trophy and the bragging rights. That went to Altitude Chophouse and Brewery’s team, which consisted of incoming brewer Jobiann Inman and outgoing brewer Sean Minichiello, who is graduating from University of Wyoming and taking a new job.

“This was very special because it’s the first we’ve won together,” Inman told Cowboy State Daily. “This is our last brewfest together, so it was a beautiful special moment.”

It is actually the second time in a row that Altitude’s Pilsner has taken home the Steinley Cup, Minichiello told Cowboy State Daily.

“There have been different styles (of beer) in between,” he said. “And yet we win pilsner again. So, it’s definitely a legacy thing.”

Especially if, in five or six years, Inman can come back and win the pilsner again when that style of beer returns to the competition’s rotation.

“If you can get the same thing, I will be like, holy crap, I guess Altitude makes the best pilsners,” Minichiello said.

Win or lose, Kilmer said he always really appreciates the Steinley Cup, and how it highlights Wyoming beers. It also gives him the chance to share additional beers with people who attend the festival and get Freedom’s Edge’s name out there.

He brought a watermelon gose, his ever-popular jalapeño chili beer, the pilsner and an apricot sour.

Over at the Blue Raven tent, brewer and co-owner Kevin Tighe agreed with Kilmer’s summation of the Steinley Cup as a cult classic in Wyoming, even though it’s now one of the smaller brewery competitions in the state.

“We started our brewery two and a half years ago,” he said. “The Steinley Cup is just like the coveted thing for Wyoming craft brews, so we come up here every year. It’s like the best craft beer in Wyoming. We’ve been here every year, and we’re not going to miss one. This is my favorite brewfest ever.”

Contact Renee Jean at Renee@cowboystatedaily.com

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.