CONYNGHAM, Pa. -- A brewery from Luzerne County has already brought home a blue ribbon from the Pennsylvania Farm Show.
Marc Eble founded Conyngham Brewing Company seven years ago. His brewery and taproom on Main Street in Conyngham displays a homage to Gustavus Conyngham, a naval captain and privateer who proved to be vital in the American Revolution and serves as an inspiration.
"It just kind of started. I fell in love with beer and decided to try my hand at making it," Eble said.
As it turns out, Eble is pretty good at brewing beer. In addition to winning awards in international brewing competitions, the brewery's jalapeno lager took home a blue ribbon from the Pennsylvania Farm Show beer competition this week in the fruit, herb, and vegetable category.
"The jalapeno lager is a nice light, crisp, refreshing lager that's got an intense aroma of jalapeno peppers but just a very subtle of jalapeno and a little bit of burn," Eble said. "It's nice to win in your home state and particularly in Pennsylvania. It's the largest producer of craft beer in the nation, so I am happy to see that the state has gotten together and created a statewide contest just for Pennsylvania and to shine amongst all the craft breweries in Pennsylvania. That's special."
Eble says the win came as a surprise. He almost didn't make the competition deadline.
"It was really kind of on a whim. But what's exciting about that is this beer wasn't particularly brewed to win this competition. Nothing special was done to it. It was actually the end of a batch that we had sold out of."
Now he's happy he made it in on time. If you would like to give the blue ribbon beer a taste, you can visit the taproom in Conyngham, or ask your local bar if it has it on tap.
The Pennsylvania Farm Show is the largest indoor agricultural exposition in the nation, featuring nearly 12,000 competitive exhibits and 300 commercial exhibits.
The 2020 show runs January 4-11 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, except Sunday, January 5, when it runs 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, January 11, when it opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m.
Admission is free. There is a $15 parking fee at all Farm Show Complex-operated lots.