Great craft beers for the masses!  Brooklyn Brewery's Oktoberfest Beer and Southern Tier's Harvest Ale were included a list of "10 Great Fall Beers" on MSN.

A solid list of beers overall, better than one might expect to see on MSN.

View the list on MSN >

The awards are in from this year's Great American Beer Fest and New York breweries have taken a few medals for themselves.

Gold Medal Winners:

Pleasantville's Captain Lawrence Brewing Co's Rosso e Marrone in the American-Style Sour Ale category.

Southampton's Southampton Publick House's Berliner Weisse in the German-Style Sour Ale category.

Silver Medal Winners:

Patchogue's Blue Point's Brewing Co's RastafaRye in the Rye Beer category.

Brooklyn's Brooklyn Brewery's  Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse in the Out of Category - Traditionally Brewed Beer category.

Lake Placid's Great Adirondack Brewing Co's Belgian Summer Ale in the French- and Belgian Style Saison category.

Bronze Medal Winners:

Lake Placid's Great Adirondack Brewing Co's Whiteface Black Diamond Stout in the Foreign Style Stout category.

Utica's F.X. Matt Brewing Co's Saranac Black Forest  in the Dark Lager category.

Utica's F.X. Matt Brewing Co's  Saranac Irish Red Ale in the Irish Style Red Ale category.

Congratulations to all New York GABF winners and participants! We look forward to tasting your beers! 

Search for winners across the country at the official Great American Beer Festival Website.

PRESS RELEASE - KPS Capital Partners, LP ("KPS") announced today that its portfolio company, North American Breweries, Inc. ("NAB"), has completed a successful recapitalization. NAB has now returned to KPS' investors a substantial amount of their invested capital, and KPS and management continue to own 100% of NAB's common stock following the recapitalization.

KPS formed NAB in February 2009 as a North American platform for investments and growth in the beer and malt beverage industries. At that time, KPS also announced NAB's first three acquisitions: Labatt USA from Interbrew International B.V., a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev; substantially all of the assets of High Falls Brewing Company, LLC; and a perpetual license for the Seagram's Cooler Escapes and Seagram's Smooth brands from Pernod Ricard USA, LLC.

Raquel Palmer, a KPS Partner, said, "NAB's progress since KPS created the Company is remarkable. As a result of the KPS-sponsored turnaround plan successfully executed by NAB's new management team, the Company is thriving and profitable, and it has returned a substantial amount of our Fund's cash investment after only six months. NAB is now solidly capitalized, with a strong balance sheet and the backing of an owner with $2.6 billion of capital under management, and well positioned to pursue a strategy of growth through acquisition."

Rich Loznyiak, Chief Executive Officer of NAB said, "This recapitalization validates the incredible progress and momentum demonstrated by our new company since its inception. We thank our customers, distributors, suppliers and employees for their contribution to our initial success and look forward to the future. NAB clearly has the capital resources to continue its trajectory through aggressive organic growth and acquisitions, leveraging its brewing capabilities, heritage brands and distribution network."

Financing for the transaction was provided by a syndicate of banks with RBS Citizens N.A. acting as lead agent and co-book runner, and JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. acting as co-book runner.

About North American Breweries, Inc.

Headquartered in Rochester, New York, North American Breweries is a national platform for investments and growth in the beer and malt beverage industries. Formed in 2009, North American Breweries owns High Falls Brewing Company, one of the largest and oldest continually operating breweries in the United States, and is the exclusive marketer and seller of Labatt brand beer and Seagram's Coolers in the United States. The company's brands include the complete line of Labatt beers, including the flagship pilsner Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light; the Genesee line and the Dundee Ales & Lagers family, which includes the Original Honey Brown Lager; and Seagram's Cooler Escapes and Seagram's Smooth. It is also America's exclusive distributor of several imports, including Steinlager from New Zealand, Toohey's New from Australia, Thwaites from the U.K. and Imperial from Costa Rica; and a manufacturer of beer and other alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages under contracts on behalf of other companies. North American Breweries is a portfolio company of KPS Capital Partners, LP. Website: www.nabreweries.com.

About KPS Capital Partners, LP

KPS Capital Partners, LP is the manager of the KPS Special Situations Funds, a family of private equity funds with over $2.6 billion of committed capital focused on constructive investing in restructurings, turnarounds and other special situations. KPS has created new companies to purchase operating assets out of bankruptcy; established stand-alone entities to operate divested assets; and recapitalized highly leveraged public and private companies. The KPS investment strategy targets companies with strong franchises that are experiencing operating and financial problems. KPS invests its capital concurrently with a turnaround plan predicated on cost reduction, capital investment and capital availability. Typically, the KPS turnaround plan is accompanied by a financial restructuring of the company's liabilities. The KPS investment strategy and portfolio companies are described in detail at the firm's website: www.kpsfund.com.

SOURCE: KPS Capital Partners, LP

It's been a busy summer for Saranac, with the ever-popular Saranac Thursdays and a robust schedule of live music at the brewery. But the season has simmered down, and autumn has arrived, bringing with it colorful foliage and seasonal offerings.  Here's a peek at what's available to you on supermarket shelves.

12 Beers A Falling

Each season Saranac throws together a new 12-pack offering.  You probably have already seen 12 Beers A Falling at the store for a couple of weeks now.  Inside the box:

• Irish Red Ale
• India Pale Ale
• Black Forest
• Pumpkin Ale
• Octoberfest
• Caramel Porter

This is a solid offering and definitely worth picking up.  You can find more on the 12 Beers A Falling at the Saranac site. 

Pumpkin Ale

You probably noticed this listed above for the 12-pack. A few years ago, I hadn't even tried a pumpkin ale.  Now there seems to be a mini-explosion of craft brewers offering them.  Saranac's is pretty good and it won't break your bank.  It's available in a six-pack, but if you're unsure, get the 12 Beers A Falling before you commit to more.

Octoberfest

It's October and drinking Octoberfest just makes sense.  Saranac describes their Octoberfest as a medium bodied, copper lager with a rich, malty taste balanced by Saaz and Tettnang hops.  Available in 12 Beers A Falling or in a six-pack.

Saranac Blog

A lot of breweries start blogs and other "faddish" Web presences, ultimately drying up from a lack of content and updates over time.  Cheers to the Saranac blog, which has been fairly consistent in offering new material, hopefully a continuing trend.  The latest entry is a video tasting with Nick and Fred Matt of the FX Matt Brewery as they sample from 12 Beers A Falling.

The New York Times has a quick article on a pair who quit their entry-level day jobs to pursue their beer dreams, specifically, opening the Brooklyn Beer Shop. 

I'm sure this fantasy has crossed many a mind.  It's crossed mine.

From the article:

Stephen Valand, 23, and Erica Shea, 25, quit their jobs earlier this year to start the Brooklyn Beer Shop, which makes gallon beer-brewing kits sized for New York City apartments. The couple starting selling the kits in early July at the Brooklyn Flea Market and online...

Full Story >

The Oneida Daily Dispatch has a nice little article with photos covering the Madison County Hop Fest that took place this weekend.  I missed my opportunity to go, but I will be making a serious effort to attend next year.  In attendance were New York State brewers such as Middle Ages, Sackets Harbor,  Ommegang, Brooklyn, Cooperstown and Empire.

From the article:

Names like Pork Smack, Druid Fluid, Kilt Tilter and Wailing Wench might sound like something from a children's book, but drink up -- those were the names of some of the craft beers available at the Hop Fest this weekend. Now in its 14th year, the annual event is a major fundraiser for the Madison County Historical Society....

Read the complete article here.

Yes, time for another edition of "This Week in Blog" and other items of interest to the New York craft beer drinker on the Web!

Lexington Herald-Leader
The best cheap beers by a yard
So, Saranac Pale Ale is mentioned in this article and there is also a poll for "the best cheap beer."  "Inexpensive" sounds like a better adjective to me, but Saranac Pale Ale got my vote, and you can add yours too!

NY Craft Beer Week
Events
Last chance to participate... ends tomorrow.

Reason
Latest weapon in the fight against drunk driving... Syringes?
This may not be happening in NYS yet... but... creepy. Link via @beerwars on Twitter.

The Foaming Head
Review: Ithaca alpHalpHa
An interesting beer with an interesting name.

Burgers and Brews
Review: Blue Point Oktoberfest
This was actually posted August 31st, but it seems timely.  Spoiler: graded a B.  Oops.

Syracuse.com Drinks Blog
Hops in Upstate New York: It's a small but growing industry
A preview of the Madison County Hop Fest this weekend with a little color.

Here's one for beer lovers, homebrewers and hop enthusiasts in particular:  The 14th Annual Madison County Hop Fest (official site) in Oneida, NY.

Things kick off Friday, September 18 with a paired beer dinner... though that appears to be sold out.  Luckily the main event is Saturday, and you have a few options:

* Hop Fest - The admission is free and the event features guest speakers, a raffle, homebrew clubs, hop exhibits, hop growing and the crowning of Hop Queen 2009. 10am - 5:30pm.

* Taste of Hops: a food & beer pairing.  This runs from 12:00 to 2:00 pm and features local restaurants and businesses including The Colgate Inn, The Copper Turret, Meyers Chocolates, and Ye Olde Landmark Tavern.  Tickets: $15 advance/$20 door (only 150 available).

* Brewery Sampling -  This runs from 2:30-5:30 pm with over 40 styles of craft beer to sample. Tickets: $25advance/$30 door.

On Sunday you have the option to go on a tour of local hop kilns; tickets for that are $45.

This event is designed nicely, becuase it gives you options on how much you want to participate, and there's something for every budget.  The Madison County area used to be a global hop superpower.  You can read more about it in an earlier post and also this historic New York Times article I wrote about earlier in the year.

Tis the season for getting swept up into "real" life and forgetting about the blog... at least until @rtgirard on Twitter reminded that NY Craft Beer Week begins today.  And considering the moniker of this here site, well, it would be a crying shame to let it slip by.

This second annual event runs September 11 - 20 in New York City with 83 participating venues.  You can get a "passport" for exclusive deals and discounts.  More information can be found at the official site.

I would be remiss to leave out an Ommegang event happening this weekend that was emailed to me.  Because I love Ommegang, and so should you.  This event is 7-course "feast" with THREE Ommegang beers brewed JUST FOR IT.  Wow.

Details:

On Sunday September 13th, RESTO (111 East 29th St, NYC) and Brewery Ommegang team up to host a seriously decadent 7-course feast to kick off NY's 2nd Annual Craft Beer Week.  The feast will be paired with exclusive Ommegang ales - including three brews which were developed by Ommegang's Master Brewer specifically for this dinner - a Triple, Rouge and a Holiday Ale.
 
This over-the-top feast will showcase Resto's locavore approach and will offer diners the rare opportunity to indulge in one of Resto's celebrated large format-feasting rituals.  Chef Bobby Hellen will be roasting a Black Pig and a lamb - one animal will get the Caja-China treatment the other will be broken to primal cuts and various preparations will be made (including an abundance of Bobby's homemade charcuterie) .   Featuring Paffenroth Farm's veggies and Violet Hill Farm's meats, the dinner will be a celebration of some of New York's finest locally available product.  In addition, Brewery Ommegang will provide beer for all of Resto's draft lines (7 kegs in total).  And of course there will also be as many vintage beers available as possible.

When: Sunday, September 13th
Time: 6pm- 10pm
Where: RESTO - 111 East 29th St, New York NY
Tickets: $175 for seven-course dinner paired with Ommegang beer
http://www.restonyc.com

I officially harvested my first homegrown hops yesterday.  I had purchased two pairs of hop rhizomes, chinooks and cascades, from freshops in the spring.  They took right off, but two ultimately perished after being nibbled on by a mystery animal while I was away on a trip.

One of each type survived.

The hops pictured are from the surviving chinook vine which was the more laden of the two.  In a day or two I will also harvest the cascade hops- they appeared to need a bit more time to mature.

The hops are drying on a window screen under a fan, and the process seems to be going well as they have already lost much of their moisture content from when I picked them.