Passing along the following press release for your consumption:
 
The Great Lakes Water Conservation Workshop is proud to announce that Alfa Laval USA will be the Silver Sponsor for the one-day event, to be held at the Rochester Museum & Science Center in downtown Rochester, NY. 
 
The one-day workshop will be held on Friday, March 26, 2010, 8:30-4:30 at the Rochester Museum & Science Center, 657 East Avenue in Rochester, NY, and focuses on best practices in water conservation for small and medium-sized craft brewers and cheese companies. This is the first independent workshop designed to bring together craft brewers, cheesemakers, policy makers and nonprofit organizations for education and discussion about water conservation. Registration is $55 for the full day of sessions, including a buffet lunch, until March 1, and $75 per person thereafter; details available online at conserve-greatlakes.com.
 
"We are thrilled to have the support of Alfa Laval USA," says Lucy Saunders, workshop organizer. John Berardino, Brewery Manager, and Linda A. Rastani, Tank Equipment Manager, Alfa Laval USA, will share their expertise in cleaning-in-place (CIP) solutions for water savings and safety, with case histories drawn from both the brewing and cheesemaking industries.
 
Participating brewers include Patrick Conway, president of the Great Lakes Brewing Co. of Cleveland, OH, who will speak on the sustainable use of water in brewery and brewpub operations; and Jason Fox, brewmaster of Custom BrewCrafters, Honeoye Falls, NY, who will discuss wastewater treatment systems.
 
A panel discussion on the true cost of water, and pricing, includes G. William Page, PhD., AICP, is a Professor in the Department of Urban & Regional Planning, University of Buffalo, SUNY; Michael Wolkoff, deputy chair of Economics at the University of Rochester, and  Sammis White, Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and an active participant in the Milwaukee Water Council, an industry/university partnership to solve water problems and create jobs.
 
Special to this workshop is a discussion of hydrofracturing and risks to water quality, featuring Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting, Inc., an environmental database firm in Ithaca, NY. He has worked for more than 30 years as an advocate for environmental health protection. Mr. Hang will be joined by Andrew Byers, a botanist and member of the Shaleshock Action Alliance, and Ron Bishop, a lecturer in chemistry and biochemistry at SUNY Oneonta, who will discuss hydrofracturing practices and how water contamination can occur during the gas drilling process.
 
Workshop details and registration are available online, at:
http://www.conserve-greatlakes.com 

I first saw this on BeerNews.org, and was so excited I just had to post about it here, too!

A press release from Ommegang announces a new "Innovation Program" for 2010.  If you listened to our Cooperstown-themed podcast, you might remember that Ommegang is expanding their operation.  Well, this development is a direct result of that expansion.

The Innovation Program will be bring us some new and tweaked craft beers this year.  Here's the schedule from Ommegang:

Jan-Feb 2010: Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence Stout. Very slightly revised for the 2010 edition. In release.

Mar-Apr: Ommegang BPA (Belgian Style Pale Ale). 5.8% abv. 5 malts, 2 hops, and dry-hopped. Citrus & tropical fruit aromatics.

May-Jun: Ommegang Tripel (name not yet confirmed). Around 9%, spiced, we're in the test brew stages now.

Jul-Aug: Ommegang Sour Ale. Around 6% ABV. Oud Bruin style beer made in collaboration with Liefmans of Belgium. Name TBD.

Sep-Oct: Ommegang Scotch Ale. A new Belgo-Scotch mash up. ABV, name and even recipe still to be confirmed.

Nov-Dec: Ommegang Adoration. Still 10% ABV, still malty, still big and spicy. But may be tweaked a bit.

Another result of the program will be special, on-location pilot batches. The first one will be a "Belgian-ish porter" called Porter, Sorter. 

Just another reason to take a trip to Cooperstown, NY, I guess! 

Just about a year ago, the New York Brew Authority was born.  It's over a hundred posts later, and the blog is still kicking.  Thank you to all the readers who visited the site over the last year and helped make the following blog entries the top 13 most popular pages.  I probably wouldn't have guessed it would have made it even this long :)

Some of the earlier posts have had the advantage of accumulating page views over a longer period of time, but traffic to the site has continually increased, so newer posts have had more visibility to help balance that.

Without any further ado:

1.
Brew Tour: One kick-ass ale for Albany
Original Post Date: March 9, 2009
A great place to eat and drink.  Plus use of the word "ass" in the name of a delicious beer.
2.
Sixpoint Brewery featured in Wall Street Journal vid
Original Post Date: March 18, 2009
A boost to the ego when one of your most viewed posts is two sentences and a link. 
3.
Hop farming, in your backyard
Original Post Date: Feb. 10, 2009
One of my earliest posts, touching on New York's rich hop heritage, and my own intent to try growing hops. (I did and it went pretty well).
4.
Bumper crop puts dent in hop shortage
Original Post Date: Feb. 3, 2009
Search engine traffic brought a fair amount of traffic to this quick hit about an increase in hop availability.
5.
Rusted Root added to Saranac Concert Series
Original Post Date: April 6, 2009
Hey, it's a great venue for music and beer.  'Nuff said.
6.
Saranac Thursdays band lineup announced
Original Post Date: May 11, 2009
One of the Mohawk Valley's most popular summer events.
7.
High Falls Brewery for sale?
Original Post Date: Feb. 9, 2009
This rumor which turned out to be true coincided nicely with the launch of the blog. 
8.
Beer consumption by country, state
Original Post Date: Oct. 5, 2009
A reader email was the inspiration for this post that contrasts the beer consumption in New York to the rest of the country.
9.
A look inside the FX Matt Brewery and Saranac's new 12 Beers of Winter
Original Post Date: Oct. 25, 2009
The Brew Authority,along with other beer bloggers and writers, got a chance for a special trip to the FX Matt Brewery.
10.
Saranac thinks summer with Blues Traveler, thursdays & wheat beer
Original Post Date: Feb. 15, 2009
The title speaks for itself.
11.
Ommegang charity event features Huey Lewis and the News
Original Post Date: June 4, 2009
It wasn't cheap, but at least it was great beer for a good cause.
12.
Raising the beer tax in New York
Original Post Date: Feb. 15, 2009
A quick hit on a possible increase in New York's excise tax.
13.
Congratulations New York 2009 Great American Beer Festival Winners
Original Post Date: Sept. 26, 2009
New York Breweries bring some medals home.

And...
TOP 3 MOST DOWNLOADED PODCASTS:

1- Browns Brewing
2- Cooperstown Beverage Trail
3- Southern Tier 

A couple of interesting craft beer items from Fox News recently...

First, a review of Brooklyn's Winter Ale:

Some winter beers take a more subtle approach and aim only for a seasonally-appropriate weight and taste to pair well with the heavier foods and increased couch-time of the blustery months. Brooklyn Brewery Winter Ale happens to be one such beer. Full Article >

And also this nicely produced bit on the business side of Sixpoint:

 

The last thing I needed to buy was more beer.  But the allure of Saranac's branding of their new Irish Stout was too strong.  The sleek, black packaging and celtic-inspired shamrock called out to that wee bit of Irish knocking around in my bloodstream.

Saranac has already found success with its Irish Red Ale, initially brewed for The Great American Irish Festival.  It's a great marketing ploy come March, as well.  What better beer to grab than a frothy, locally-brewed, Irish-approved beverage?

Guinness?  Could be a contender...

Unless you could order a Saranac Irish Stout!

Saranac describes the Irish Stout as "a lavish beer blended with dark malts to create a coffee like taste.... (with) a roasted character that is surprisingly smooth and refreshing..."

My beer reviewing faculties are not my strongest suit.  But I noticed some coffee-notes in the aroma, and the beer, from presentation to drinkability, is not unlike a Guinness, although not a clone by any means.

Saranac Irish Stout is available in six-packs, What Ales You, and is also on tap.

TAP New York 2009

It's only January, but it's never too early to mark your calendar for a good beer fest.  Dates for Tap New York and the Ithaca Brewfest are already firmed up.

TAP New York

Description: The Hudson Valley Beer & Fine Food Festival, Inc. invites all to TAP New York at Hunter Mountain. Craft breweries and brewpubs from across the state will be participating in the most prestigious beer and fine food event in New York. (From Website)

Dates: April 24 & 25

Tickets: $45 on Saturday and $54 on Sunday.  $20 for Designated Drivers. Prices will increase.

Official Site: www.tap-ny.com

I attended my first TAP New York last year, and have every intention of going this year.  Worth the cost of admission!
 

Ithaca Brewfest

Date: September 4 (Announced via Twitter)

Tickets: TBA 

Official Site: www.ithacabrewfest.com

A lot happened in 2009... just take a look at the archives!  Sound off on what you think the most important New York State related beer story of the year was.  Something left off?  Let us know in the comments.

Thanks for voting and have a Happy New Year!

BeerNews.org reports that a couple new beers from two of your favorite New York breweries are on the way:

Brewery Ommegang will release a Belgian-style Pale Ale for the first time this spring in bottle-conditioned 750's and on draft. The beer will ship in February for sales in March-April. It is the first of six in a new series of "specialty" beers to come out in 2010. Full Article Here

And...

Captain Lawrence Brewing has announced that it will release Golden Delicious on Saturday, January 30th, at the Pleasantville brewery. Full Article Here

You can follow BeerNews.org on Twitter @beerpulse 

The upcoming Crossroads Brewing Co. of Athens, NY was mentioned earlier in a "this week in blog" post, and now the Albany Times Union has a more in-depth article on the planned brewery and its ambitions.

From the article:

Ken Landin, a drywall contractor who has a passion for brewing beer, is turning the old Athens Opera House into a brew pub and music hall.  A brew pub isn't usually a big economic engine. But for Athens, the opera house is a special landmark that has been in ruins for years, and Landin and others in this Greene County community believe the restoration of the historic building can breathe new life into the village...

Read the full article here.

I have made a temporary change to the comments setting for this blog due to an influx of spam.  Comments may still be made anonymously, but they will be held for approval.  I will work to approve and publish comments as soon quickly as possible after they have been submitted.

Thanks for reading, thanks for the comments, and keep them coming!

- Blake