Western Pa. whiskey, beer and cheese win at Pennsylvania Farm Show
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Liberty Pole Spirits makes the best rye whiskey in the state — at least according to judges at the 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show.
On Saturday, the family-run distillery based in North Strabane, Washington County, walked away with first place in the Whiskey (Rye) category for its Old Monongahela Full Proof Rye Whiskey, a spirit that was a favorite in early American taverns and is remembered for helping to spark the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
While hard cider and beer have been judged for years at the annual show, this year marks the first time distilled spirits were part of the competition. To enter, the spirits had to be made with at least 75% of ingredients grown in Pennsylvania.
The competition included 12 categories, including five for whiskey, two for vodka and one each for gin, rum, brandy, ready-to-drink and specialty spirits.
Liberty Pole, which uses winter rye grown in Bucks County, also took second place in the Flavored Whiskey category for its Spiced Whiskey, which was first released in 2023 and features notes of clove, cinnamon, dark chocolate and vanilla.
Co-owner Jim Hough said the distillery doesn’t usually enter competitions because “they don’t move the needle for us, and we’re not a national product.”
But with Pennsylvania being its home state, “we wanted to support the farm show,” he said.
The show kicked off on Saturday and runs through Sunday.
Newcomer Ponfeigh Distillery, which opened in June 2024 in Somerset and is also working to restore Monongahela Rye to its former prominence, won first place in the Spiced category for its Posted Spiced Maple-Shine rye whiskey.
Three Western Pennsylvania producers of cheese and beer — one of the largest competitions at the show — also earned top honors.
The Best in Beer category featured breweries from all over the state in 21 categories, along with a Best in Show class. Allusion Brewing Co., which opened its first location in Vandergrift in 2020 and a second tap room in Duncan Manor Plaza in McCandless in 2024, took home three ribbons.
Jolly Old Elf, a winter warmer Christmas ale brewed with honey, orange peel and holiday spices with hints of raisins and dates, placed third in the Spiced Beer category. The brewery also won third-place ribbons for its Abby Normal, a German-style Dunkel brewed with roasted malts and Hallertau hops (Dark European Lager category), and its Baker Street Brown, a session ale brewed with English Maris Otter malt, English chocolate malts and English Fuggle hops (British Beer category).
“My brewers are amazing,” said co-owner John Biernoski, who has competed in the farm show since 2022.
The competition, he added, “showcases what Pennsylvania has to offer in the craft specialty business.”
Stick City Brewing Co., which launched in Mars in 2018, took third place in Pale Bitter European Lager category for its Arctos 12°, a German and Bohemian-influenced pale lager with a spicy, herbal-floral scent and flavor made with Pennsylvania Saaz hops.
To qualify for the competition, breweries must be members of the Brewers of Pennsylvania guild and produce their beer in Pennsylvania.
In the cheese category, perennial winner Goat Rodeo Farm and Dairy took home four awards. It won the blue ribbon in the Fresh Cheese from Goats Milk category for its Goat Rodeo Chevre. The Indiana Township farm and dairy, which set up shop in 2015, also won first in the Mixed Milk Cheese category for its Wild Rosemary and took home a third-place ribbon for its Cowboy Coffee in the same category.
Goat Rodeo also garnered a silver medal in the Best in Show category.
The competition is open to any Pennsylvania cheesemaker holding a valid dairy foods manufacturing permit from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. They may submit up to five cheeses, either in different classes or multiple cheeses, up to three per class, in the same class. Cheeses were judged on appearance and makeup, body and texture, and flavor and aroma characteristics.