Ithaca Beer Company's Dan Mitchell has proposed plans to expand his popular business on Route 13 with a new brewery, pub/restaurant, and beer garden -- but the site may contain Native American archaeological artifacts, Ithaca's Town Planning Board heard Tuesday night.
Read the full story.
]]>As they have for 12 years, the brewery is looking for bands to play Saranac Thursdays - one of the area's telltale signs that summer has begun. The Thursday party features Saranac beverages and raises money for the United Way. Demos from bands will be accepted until March 29, according to the brewery...
You can read the full article here and visit the official Saranac site here.
]]>Little is known about origin of Biere de Mars, but experts believe it was made in mid-winter with ingredients from the fall harvest, including wheat. Because cask cellars would be colder, fermentation was slower. It would age for six, eight weeks before it was released to welcome the new season...
Read the full story at the appealdemocrat.com, featuring former Ommegang brewer Randy Thiel (now with New Glarus) and Southampton brewer Phil Markowski.
]]>Some "aspiring" hop farmers attended a hop tutorial in Geneva, NY this weekend, according to The Daily Mail:
Aspiring hops producers attended a tutorial at the Agroforesty Resource Center on Saturday, receiving instruction on the do's and don'ts of growing the crop. Rick Pederson, a successful producer from the Finger Lakes whose crop was used in 2004 to create the first beer brewed using only New York hops, spoke to more than 10 attendees via teleconference from the New York state Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva.
Check out the full article here.
I'll be interested to see how my own hop plants do in their second year. Vines go higher!
]]>Fifty jobs are being added at Genesee Brewing Co. in Rochester as the beermaker begins producing Blue Light Lime, the brewery's CEO said today.
Read the complete article at the D&C.
Not so sure about the beer, but having more jobs is always good. "Blue Light Lime" appeals more to my love of alliteration than to my taste buds...
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From Delaware Online:Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and three other brewers have joined forces with the powerhouse restaurant team of Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich to create Italian-style beers for a New York City rooftop brewpub.
Read the full story here.
Jason Drewniak, brand manager for The Original Honey Brown, said: "We're excited to re-launch a popular beer that people once loved. Back in the late 90s, the brewery failed to recognize they had a hit on their hands with The Original Honey Brown.
Check out the complete article here.
]]>Fortuitously, the Foaming Head site has been running at full speed recently! The number of updates have been quite commendable:
Beer reviews
Kevin of the Foaming Head has a great system for reviewing beers, and has a lot of New York beer reviews recently posted including Brown's Brewing, Shmaltz and Cooperstown Brewing Co.
Beer news
The New York blog at the Foaming Head has also had some very interesting posts including news of the Peekskill Brewing expanding and Saranac mulling over a purchase of the Flying Bison brewery in Buffalo, NY.
Newsletter
The Foaming Head has also put together a nice newsletter with lots of updates. You can sign up for it on the homepage. A lot of local events are included.
Cheers to the Foaming Head for all the updates, and I promise to keep at the blogging over here as well!
]]>]]>The F.X. Matt Brewery is rising from the ashes of the May 2008 fire with additional storage space, increased efficiency and more versatility, company officials said...
In this edition of the Beer Break podcast, we sample craft beers from Shmaltz Brewing Co., discuss the one-year anniversary of the blog, and other craft beer news.
Want to be heard on a future podcast? Call (315) 908-BREW (2739) and leave a brief voicemail.
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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!
]]>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
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:
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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.
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