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Meet The Brewer: The Beer Maiden's Last Dance

That's right, everyone - this is my last post, and for good reason - I have a job.

That being said, I want to thank everyone who has ever taken the time to read. I have had some of the best times of my life writing this blog, and I'll always look back on the time fondly. I also thank you for your patience, for sometimes when you mix beer and written work, things don't always come out perfectly - so thank you for overlooking my errors.

Thank you to everyone who gave me the time of day so that I could have a constant flow of material for The Beer Maiden - all of the Kind Barkeep, Managers, Owners, Brewers, Salespeople, Founders. I thank you.

Let's talk about the night I met Jim Robertson, the brewer for Well's and Young's.

Jim Robertson has been brewing for over 35 years, starting his career by earning a degree in brewing at Herlot Watt.

After chatting for a bit, Jim introduced me to the 2013 and 2012 vintages of the Courage Russian Imperial Stout, which is as rich in history as it is in flavor. Straight from the source:

"Russian Imperial Stout is a strong dark stout dating back to the 18th century when it was produced at Thrale’s Brewery in London to export to the court of Catherine II of Russia. The high alcoholic strength was necessary to prevent the beer from freezing in the temperatures of the Baltic Sea on its voyage to Russia and along with a high degree of hop it has the keeping quality of a fine wine.

In 1791 the brewery changed hands and the beer became known as Barclay Perkins Imperial Stout. When the brewery was taken over by local rivals Courage the beer was renamed Courage Imperial Russian Stout.

Wells and Young’s Brewing Company acquired the Courage brands in 2007 with Jim Robertson overseeing the transfer of Courage Best and Directors to the brewery in Bedford.

Courage Imperial Russian Stout has a rich, espresso body with pear overtones and an intriguing fresh, smoky, fruity finish. The beer is brewed with chocolate, amber and pale ale malts, Hersbrucker and Styrian Goldings hops and accredited natural mineral water from the brewery’s very own well."

The 2013 boasted French Roast drip on the nose ; the palate was greeted with a stiff hop bite, which calmed to a round dark chocolate dipped espresso bean on the finish.

The 2012 was considerably more fruit forward, with a plethora of dried fruit on the nose and palate. A rich coffee flavor bids the palate adieu on the finish.

We met the owner of Jones Wood Foundry, Jason Hicks and picked his brain about his new location with Yves Jadot and Star Chef Robert Aikens The Shakespeare, to be housed in the old Williams Club on 39th St...

We also met Stuart Holt, the bar's resident Fabulous Man. He was off to a Veuve Cliquot Halloween party, so he only had limited time to chat. I made my jealousy known.

Shamefully, I had not tried Wells' Bombardier up until this point. It was a delightful, easy drinking English Bitter which had a few brown ale characteristics which I enjoyed immensely. Coy and vaguely fruity on the nose, the beer greeted the palate with english hops and a nutty character pranced up and down the tongue. The finish was short and sweet, with stone fruit as the dominant flavor.

The pictures below don't do the food at Jones Wood Foundry justice at all. I encourage you to go eat and drink there immediately, as everything there was absolutely lovely. I started out with a divine root vegetable soup with goat cheese...

Then had Tuna Tartare with chips, which was an unorthodox but very welcomed pairing.

It was a glorious night, one I hope to repeat in the near future.

Since every story should have an epilogue, here are a few of the more fun moments from this past year.

Great Moments in Beer Maiden History

First Post, Somewhere around MSG. New York, NY

Captain Lawrence Brewery - Elmsford, NY

Beer Authority- New York, NY

St. Patrick's Day - Somewhere around Stout. New York, NY

The Setai Hotel - New York, NY

Rattle N Hum- New York, NY

Captain Lawrence Brewery- Elmsford, NY

Fette Sau- Brooklyn, NY

City Swiggers- New York, NY

Bierkraft- Brooklyn, NY

NYC Spring Craft Beer Fest at the Lexington Armory

The Blind Tiger - New York, NY

A Bus On The Way To AC Beer Fest

Sixpoint's Beer For Beasts - Brooklyn, NY

The Cannibal - New York, NY

Flying Dog Brewery- Frederick, MD

The Blind Tiger - New York, NY

Peekskill Brewery - Peekskill, NY

Rattle N Hum - New York, NY

Some Street- Brooklyn, NY

The Blind Tiger - New York, NY

My Bedroom - New York, NY

Some Cliff Near Albany, NY

TAP New York Festival - Hunter Mountain, NY

Yankee Stadium- Bronx, NY

The Brass Monkey - New York, NY

Great South Bay Brewery - Bay Shore, NY

Bierkraft - Brooklyn, NY

Single Cut Brewery - Astoria, NY

Half Full Brewery - Stamford, CT

Proletariat - New York, NY

Corsino - New York, NY

Downtown Bar and Grill - Brooklyn, NY

Dogfish Head Tap Room - Rehoboth Beach, DE

Of Love and Regret- Baltimore, MD

KelSo Brewery- Brooklyn, NY

Stone Brewery - Escondido, CA

Ballast Point Brewery - San Diego, CA

Green Flash Brewery - San Diego, CA

The Parking Lot at Green Flash

Port Brewing - San Marcos, CA

The Bruery - Placentia, CA

Firestone Walker - Paso Robles, CA

Bear Republic Brewpub- Healdsburg, CA

Russian River Brewpub - Santa Rosa, CA

Anchor Brewing Co. - San Francisco, CA

A Scary Hostel in The Mission - San Francisco, CA

The Thirsty Bear- San Francisco, CA

The Beer Diviner Tap Room - Stephentown, NY

Dieu Du Ciel! - Montreal, QC

Some Fountain - Montreal, QC

The Duty Free Shop at the U.S. Border

Beer Camp - Great Camp Sagamore, Raquette Lake, NY

Beer Camp...

The Alchemist Brewery - Waterbury, VT

Great Adirondack Brewery - Lake Placid, NY

Open Fermentaton Tanks at Lake Placid Brewery - Lake Placid, NY

Hill Farmstead Brewery - Greensboro, VT

BCTC- Brewery Ommegang - Cooperstown, NY

Paddy Long's - Chicago, IL

The Great American Beer Festival - Denver, CO

So long, kids - it's been real.

Where've I Been?

To tell you the truth, this started out as a seven month project, to be completed in October at GABF. I sort of dropped off without warning and many of you have asked what happened to me. The truth is, I'm currently interviewing to be a brewery sales rep. Once I'm employed, I'll have to leave you for good (for the sake of monogamy), however for now I can still catch you up on what I've been up to.

Starting from least to most recent, about a week and a half ago I attended a tasting of Loverbeer and Birra del Borgo at Proletariat. The wild D'uva ale stole my heart - and would have stolen my tolerance as well at 8% ABV, should I have had a few.

My friend Amanda and I attended Allagash night at Blind Tiger, where I finally got to try something other than White. This was the Golden Brett; with underripe stonefruit and a touch of funk on the nose and beautifully balanced tart and sweet flavors on the palate, this was the darling as far as I was concerned.

Fast forward to last night's Battle of the Importers at Beer Authority. As you will probably recall, I attended the last installment of this series in April. Joe Donagher, owner of both Beer Authority and Rattle N Hum was there to greet and guide.

I started out with Belhaven Black, an old favorite offered up on Nitro.

I was then introduced to Guanabara - a lovely, robust Russian Imperial Stout from Cervejaria Colorado in Brazil. It had a richer, boozier character than many RIS's I have tried thus far with more residual sugar and fruit on the nose and palate. Roasted espresso pops up in short spurts, though chocolate (both milk and dark) take the cake here.

Billy Morrissey of Belukus capped off the night by popping a bottle of the Belgian IPA, Hopus, once again. Bottoms up!

BCTC, Chicago, GABF

I'm going to give you the Quick and Dirty Sum Up from August to now, and hopefully you will see why over the next few posts.

Where was I...?

We got back from Vermont just in time to attend Belgium Comes To Cooperstown, an annual festival held on Ommegang's grounds each summer. This year's theme was "A Festival About Nothing", paying homage to Seinfeld.

We swung by the Baseball Hall of Fame right before.

We made sure to arrive early so that we could set up our tent; that night, we would be passed out under the stars, while our neighbors blasted this song.

We tried a great many beers, and though a considerable number of brain cells were killed there were a few highly notable brews, some of which were Peekskill's Flavor Savor Saison, Sixpoint's Mad Scientist #15, and Stillwater's Small Black Saison.

I met Brian Stillwater Strumke and experienced being a true groupie for the first time....

Then experienced the glory of watching a bonfire and eating sausage simultaneously.

Fast forward to early October - I made my way over to The Windy City for a hot second. I was only in town for a weekend with limited transportation, but despite that I certainly made my rounds in Chicago proper.

The first thing I learned in Chicago was that Chicago style popcorn is nothing but caramel and cheddar cheese flavors mixed together. The flavors surprisingly mingle quite well...

Especially when paired with a Two Brothers brew.

We took the slightly shady mass transit into the city proper, where we discovered...

The most tender sausage of my existence at The Publican...

A river in the middle of the city...

The remnants of some time well spent...

A few amazing brewpubs and beer bars...

...as well as Chicago style pizza. Though the texture was delightful, the sauce and cheese left much to be desired.

We did an obligatory touristy walkabout...

Then I had this incredible cider at Howell's and Hood named Totally Toasted from Vander Mill in Spring Lake, Michigan. Made with over 4 lbs. of homemade cinnamon roasted pecans in a 30 gallon batch, this cider was nothing short of heavenly.

We had a pint of the easy drinking Over Ale from Half Acre...

We then tied the trip up in a bow at Paddy Long's with their incredible bacon sampler and Bacon Bomb sandwich.

One week later, we set our clocks back and flew to Denver for GABF. The Great American Beer Festival was one that I had agonized over going to for a very long time, and am so grateful that I made it.

We heard previously that Marijuana dispensaries were ubiquitous around Denver, and though not legal to the public for recreational use until January, we were able to catch a glimpse of the action at Mile High Green Cross.

We were able to peer through the doorway, but not cross the threshold without a medical card.

Thanks, Colin.

GABF was to be held at the massive Denver Convention Center, but we had a stop to make before our first session on Friday night.

Falling Rock Tap House was impressive not only because of the pace they were able to keep up in response to the throngs of beer lovers in town, but their formidable selection as well. Along with the obvious local Colorado slant, they also had two of Lost Abbey's beers on draft, something I hadn't seen since my trip to the brewery in June.

After two beers which included New Belgium's Lips Of Faith La Folie (a Flanders Oud Bruin), Lost Abbey's Red Barn Farmhouse Ale and a hell of a quesadilla later, we were ready for GABF to give us its worst.

This fest was out of its mind. Many traipsed around in full costume; I saw the most creative pretzel necklaces of all time, and there was even a beer marriage/confessional booth with a beer-oriented clergyman. I wondered how many people took the plunge, and whether it was a gag or not. Believe it or not, I can be quite gullible.

Over the course of the three sessions we attended, we tried dozens of beers, but I have to say that the following three truly stood out for me: The Bruery's Chocolate Rain, Avery's Lillikoi Keppolo, and Lost Abbey's Duck Duck Gooze.

If you haven't heard of Chocolate Rain, keep it in mind. This 19% ABV monster stout was like the beer equivalent of drinking dark chocolate sauce spiked with bourbon and vanilla. In other words, it was incredible.

Lilikoi Kepolo, a Witbier brewed with Passionfruit, kept me drinking when I thought I couldn't have another drop of beer on Saturday night. It was light, crisp, and refreshing, with a fruity subtlety on the nose and a juicy passionfruit flavor on the palate that was neither artificial nor overdone.

The Duck Duck Gooze, A blend of young and old barrel aged wild ales was aged in French oak wine barrels. It was very lemon forward on the nose with more ripe sweet fruit in the background. It was perfectly balanced on the palate, as the sour flavors of fresh citrus pulp and slightly bitter orange rind blended with ripe peach.

For a wondrous pizza and beer experience (and who can say no to that?), make sure to stop at Mellow Mushroom.

Though the festival was over (and congratulations to all who went home with awards), we had most of Sunday to wander Denver. We had a fantastic brunch at Steuben's...

Stopped at Wynkoop Brewing for a few...

And supped at The Cheeky Monk, which happened to have the Autumn Maple from The Bruery as well as some world-class burgers.

We took the red eye home, but not before stopping at a beer store. I am now the proud owner of many a Lost Abbey as well as Avery bottle, which will probably be hoarded for quite some time.

Happy Beers Come From Vermont Cont'd

After paying a visit to The Alchemist and Hill Farmstead, we sought out Lost Nation Brewing, a recommendation from the locals.

Located in Morrisville, VT, Lost Nation is "A new brewery making honest beer". Founded in 2012 by Allen Van Anda and Jamie Griffith, former brewers at Van Trapp Lager Brewery, Lost Nation is most likely known for their nonconformity. Instead of boasting the highest ABVs and IBUs, they opted out of IPAs altogether and focus on sessionable beers in general, their highest ABV standing just under six percent. In an interview with Seven Days, they added, “There are so many good IPAs in Vermont. So we thought, Why?”

We took a gander at the draft list and decided to dive right in. We first sampled the Gose; slightly sweet and bready on the nose, the flavor turned around to reveal a tart citrus flavor, mostly lime with lemon in the background.

The Vermont Pils was coy on the nose, but sweet and biscuity on the palate. The finish was delightfully crisp.

The Gose on Currant was a lovely idea. Fresh raspberries on the nose geared one up for a zesty blend of raspberry and citrus fruit on the palate.

The Petit Ardennes Belgian Blonde had a flurry of yeast, white pepper and coriander on the nose. The white pepper was the central flavor, which brought a savory quality to the beer with tropical notes in the background and on the finish.

The Saison Lamoille had slight yeast and stone fruit on the nose, with a ripe, juicy peach and white grape presence on the palate.

The Rustic Ale, an American Amber, was decidedly caramel forward on the nose. The flavor was clean, fresh, and round. It was a bit toasty as well, with grassy hops and a touch of hay on the finish.

The Pitch Black Stout was very enjoyable without falling into the trap of taking on an overabundant coffee flavor. Milk Chocolate dominated the nose, and the palate revealed more smoke than anything else with the flavor of bacon on the finish. This could have certainly used a few of the Bacon-Chocolate-Walnut cookies I made a little while ago (and if you ask nicely, I might even give you the recipe).

One thing all of the beers had in common was the intensity and range of flavors for such modest ABVs. In the aforementioned interview with Seven Days, the founders explained their method.

"The solution was an additional mash tun that enables them to put their boil through 'temperature rests,' as Griffith calls them — what’s known as step mashing. After the beer ferments, Griffith and Van Anda — like true former lager brewers — pump it into 'cellaring' tanks, where it conditions for a few more weeks on yeast 'to let the flavors really mature,' Van Anda explains."

Once we tried everything, we drove down a few blocks to do some more research at Rock Art.

Founded as many breweries are - in a basement, Matt and Renee Nadeau started brewing in 1997 and never looked back. Their hard work and perseverance allowed them to experience enough success to move to their current location (and upgrade to a 15 barrel system) in just five years. Their production is now at over 150 barrels per week.

I was entranced by the name of this brewery, and wondered where it originated. Luckily, the website enlightened me.

"Matt and Renee decided on the name Rock Art based on the wonderful hikes, mountain bike rides and river trips they enjoyed while living in Colorado. They discovered many petroglyph images on the rocks during their adventures. The Kokopelli was their favorite and the more they learn about its rich history, the more they appreciated all that Kokopelli represents."

From Kokopelli Legends and Lore:

"Known as a fertility god, prankster, healer and story teller, Kokopelli has been a source of wonder throughout the country for centuries. Kokopelli embodies the true American Southwest, and dates back over 3,000 years ago, when the first petroglyphs were carved. Although his true origins are unknown, this traveling, flute-playing Casanova is a sacred figure to many Southwestern Native Americans. Carvings of this hunch-backed flute-playing figure have been found painted and carved into rock walls and boulders throughout the Southwest."

Kokopelli was also known to be a god of agriculture, without which we would not have beer.

On that note, we decided to please Kokopelli and try all of the beers available that day.

From left to right: The Pilsner smelled of buttered bread which was mirrored on the palate with a bit of salinity. The Prohibition Pig Pale Ale had a citrus hop presence on the nose with tart red grapes, a touch of pine and grapefruit pulp on the palate. The Saison's aroma was an even mixture of belgian yeast and fresh peaches, also mirrored on the palate with a touch of salinity and spice. The Hourglass English Amber had subtle caramel notes on the nose which faded into the background on the palate, bringing forth more coffee and toffee.

From left to right: The IPA was extremely fruity on the nose with tngerine and grapefruit as well as mango. The palate contained a stiff hop bite, and left the flavor of pine resin behind. The Simcoe IPA was more subdued, with subtle lime and grapefruit notes on the nose and a grassy, savory flavor. The Ridge Runner Mild Barleywine was right up my alley with intense caramel and dark fruity notes on the nose. The dark, dried fruit appeared again on the palate then disappeared into a mild hop finish, which was a bit surprising for a barleywine. The Russian Imperial Stout came last and I was glad, for that is a palate destroyer. Dried figs dominated the nose and dried, dark fruit greeted the palate with a flash of espresso. Hops came in once more for the finish.

Since we were very happy with what we had tried, we decided to risk taking a few home that we hadn't.

The rest of the day was a little bit of a blur, for by this point we certainly had The Itis - the general feeling of lethargy after having consumed too much of anything.

We could not leave Vermont, though, without having some dairy...and meat. Our first stop, oddly enough, was the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory.

One cool thing about the visit was The Graveyard, where we could view all of the discontinued flavors and pay our respects.

Another cool thing (surprise!) is the ice cream. I'm pretty sure there are three flavors on here. This marked the first time I was not able to finish an ice cream cone. I was deeply ashamed.

Now, we were experiencing Double Itis - but we had to march on. We still had not stopped at Prohibition Pig, a beloved Vermont barbecue joint.

The draft list at Prohibition Pig was beyond impressive, but we could not drink a single drop. We had pretty much experienced everything on it earlier that day, anyway.

Considering the state I was in, it amazed me that I was able to eat this sandwich, but I did anyway because it was beyond delicious. That says something about their brisket...

...and with this message, Vermont bid us adieu. Thanks to all the good people of Vermont for showing us a glorious time.

Happy Beers Come From Vermont

We awoke bright and early to a lovely breakfast at the Willard Street Inn. We needed it, for we would traipse across Vermont in search of their most notable breweries.

After some lengthy strategizing, we decided that the Alchemist should be our first stop, since their double IPA, Heady Topper, is notoriously sought after.

We had no idea.

As soon as we pulled up, just minutes after the doors to the brewery opened, out filed dozens of locals, all carrying at least a case each of Heady Topper.

I hadn't tried this particular IPA before and I was considerably skeptical. After all, once you've had hundreds of IPAs, it's difficult to find one that is truly original.

After I tried it, I could definitely see what all the fuss was about. Judging from the nose I sensed it would be very aggressive on the palate, since the hop presence was staggering. I was surprised to find that it was perfectly balanced ; both refreshing and boozy, hoppy and juicy. The beer is brewed with a proprietary blend of six varieties of hops, though the specific names remain shrouded in mystery. Care to venture a guess?

We met the head brewer of this fine drink, John Kimmich and his wife Jen. They've been brewing Heady Topper since 2003, and they sell it faster than they can make it. "We only distribute throughout Vermont", Jen noted. "It's so high in demand that we will have to up our production to get it anywhere else."

Very very rarely, one may catch Heady Topper upstate - but I'll tell you what the person who passed it on to me said: You didn't hear that from me.

I'm thankful to the beer industry for providing so many of these great cutouts.

We then went all the way to Greensboro, in the Middle of Nowhere, or what some refer to as The Sticks. We schlepped for what seemed an eternity, to make it to what some have referred to as "The Holy Grail": Hill Farmstead.

Named "Best Brewery In The World" this year by Ratebeer.com, Hill Farmstead was founded by Shaun Hill. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hill says:

"Fuck. . . . I don’t know what to do about it all. There really is no other brewery that is in that position. We seem to be the only ones who ceaselessly have people buying like 20 growlers and 12 cases of beer. Sorry, I have a very somber tone here, right? Anyone else sitting in this position would probably be like, “Man, everything is so great and we’re doing this and this,” and I’m just like, “Man, success is fucking stressful . . . ”

If this were a television show, this is the part where I would cut to the first image of The Alchemist and their case-laden devotees.

Hill Farmstead's beer is solid. Is it the best beer I've ever had? No. Is it the best brewery in the world? Not in my humble opinion. The best breweries in the world don't know they're the best (at least, they don't act like it) - and they certainly don't complain about the prospect.

A brewery isn't just their beer; it's the sum of its parts. One of those parts is customer service and attitude. This was sorely lacking at Hill Farmstead. If the individuals weren't outright rude, they were abrupt and surprisingly stingy with samples. Funny- you expect this kind of experience in New York City, but you never have it. In fact, I realized how spoiled I had been up until this point all around the country with genuine, down to earth guys and gals just doing what they love and having a true appreciation for their patrons.

One lovely thing about Hill Farmstead is their emphasis on family. Each of the beers in their Ancestral Series is named after a deceased family member. Their logo is "retrieved from a sign that once hung in Aaron Hill's (our great(x3) grandfather) tavern, just up the hill, in the early 1800s."

The Walden hoppy session ale had a subtle pine presence on the nose, but on the palate it was crisp and clean with no bite. It was incredibly refreshing.

The Florence Wheat Saison had corn husks on the nose; yeast greets the palate which is coddled by delicate carbonation and a bready sweetness .

The Edward American Pale boasts citrus and a fresh spring bouquet on the nose, followed by a strong grapefruit presence on the palate. Edward was the most recent Patriarch, and this beer was made with the water from his well. It is dry hopped and unfiltered.

The Nelson Sauvin had fresh, ripe pineapple and mango on the nose mingled with something akin to rye. This was aggressive on the palate, distracting one from the tropical qualities which can come from the Nelson hop.

Soon we were off to the remaining two breweries of the day, The Ben and Jerry's Factory, and Prohibition Pig.

Happy Bars Come From Vermont

We were off and running to Vermont. Our noble steed this time was a white Ford Fiesta. We made sure so as not to get stranded in a place like Plattsburgh again, we picked up refreshments locally.

It was a long and rainy drive, but by evening, Vermont seemed to hold the weather together enough to make strolling the streets of Burlington a pleasurable endeavor.

What struck me about Vermont was that everything was just so pristine. A rest stop bathroom at a gas station was one of the cleanest bathrooms I had ever been in. The Inn we stayed at made us Molasses Cookies and a two course breakfast. To top it all off, the people were lovely and decent. Vermont had already put New York to shame.

Our first and hard earned stop of the night was The Farm House Tap & Grill, where we realized it was IPA day. I mulled that over while I sipped on a Hill Farmstead/Grassroots Brewing collaboration, Bliss of Absence Blonde. With Chamomile and wildflowers on the nose and a fresh lemongrass citrus flavor, I think it’s safe to say that I was blissfully present.

We finally decided that we couldn’t ignore the national holiday anymore - so we ordered the Grassroots/Mikkeller collaboration, Wheat Is The New Hops: A Wheat IPA brewed with Brettanomyces. A lemony funk prevailed on the nose and grassy hops took the stage on the palate with an explosion of lime and grapefruit, while Brett waited in the wings.

So who are these Grassroots people anyway and why do Mikkeller and Hill Farmstead love them so much?

Well, Hill Farmstead loves them because apparently, Grassroots is their baby. Yep, Grassroots Brewing is a subsidiary of Hill Farmstead.

After all that was cleared up, we promptly had my second favorite pizza experience of all time. Here was the first.

Somewhere between 1987 and 1990, American Flatbread (And my brother, Joseph) was born. The idea was simple, and is summed up by the following quote from their website.

"American Flatbread is a return to bread’s roots. We have reached back to the very beginning of bread baking and used the same artisan methods: simple, wholesome ingredients shaped by hands of thoughtful caring people, baked in a primitive wood-fired earthen oven."

In addition to the excellent food, we were also treated to this Altbier by the attached brewery, Zero Gravity (est. 2004).

It was everything I had looked for in an Altbier. Subtle fruit and caramel on the nose, with a slight hazelnut flavor and a moderate bitterness toward the end.

The good folk at American Flatbread weren’t kidding about the way their pizza is baked; it was done by exactly one person, this fellow here - right in front of us.

I was happy to learn that I can find frozen American Flatbread at my local Fairway. Fancy that.

Our last stop of the night before we were to fall over (mostly from exhaustion) was The Vermont Pub and Brewery. Named the State’s oldest craft brewery, it opened its doors in 1988 with the late Gregory J. Noonan as its founder. All of the beers are unpasteurized, unfiltered, and unadulterated.

As one can see here, we tried a great many beers. The ones that really stuck out for me, though, were the Spuyten Duyvil Flemish Red (tart cherries on the nose, ripe red fruit with a slight tang and a nutty finish on the palate), the Sugar Beet Orange Ginger (on the nose, beets, beets, and more beets. The palate revealed a bit of earth), and the Ol’ Puckerface Sour, a collaboration with Magic Hat (ruby red grapefruit on the nose, with juicy passionfruit and mango on the palate and a subtly sour finish).

And with a molasses cookie, we called it a night.

Crawl On The Way

Like NYC, The Capital Region has become one of my most visited beer areas - it's not only a pit stop on the way to Canada or Massachusetts, but a booming beer scene in its own right. This time, it was on the way to Vermont. I was glad to have had a few more days here to explore some more of the beer scene.

The Bier Abbey of Schenectady is supplied by Remarkable liquids, and more often than not, that means Stillwater, Evil Twin, Mikkeller, and many other lovelies.

The decor of the place is like no other. Previously a church, the Bier Abbey still has the original pews in place - you know, if you'd like someplace to sit while watching the game.

I had the Freudian Break, Evil Twin's marriage of Freudian Slip, a Barleywine and Biscotti Break, an Imperial Stout. Aged in red wine barrels, This had a multitude of dark red fruit on the nose, with rich espresso notes folded into the flavor of dried fruit. I was left on the finish with a sharp, tannic acidity that can only be found in red wine.

After a few more brews, we moseyed on over to the Capital City Gastropub for some Poutine and, of course, more beer. Their Burger, I've heard, is just legendary.

I had Oskar Blues's Mama's Little Yella Pils, which you may remember from this post.

If you've already forgotten my adventures in Montreal, Poutine is basically french fries, cheese curds, and gravy. Ah, gravy.

We capped the night off with one of Troy's favorites, The Ruck. Don't let the divey nature fool you; This bar supplies some of the rarest brews around. Some of the current darlings on tap are Dogfish Head's Black and Blue, The Bruery's Rugbrod, Evil Twin's Lil' B, and Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Biere.

I hear the leaves are a sight to behold right about now...perhaps a trip north is in order?

Way Uptown Girl

When I heard my friend E had a reason to celebrate, I went uptown to check out the beer bars in his neighborhood. WAY uptown.

I found myself at the Buddha Beer bar. Established in 2011, the offerings make the trip worthwhile. Not only are there 26 rotating taps and an extensive Bourbon, Scotch and Whiskey selection - bites like fried brussels sprouts and Spanikopita will make it difficult to leave the bar without thorough exploration.

I first met Anchor's California Lager in my travels. You might remember it from this post.

I next had an old favorite, the Left Hand Milk Stout. If only I had a few chocolate chip cookies to go with it...

I then had Gaffel Kolsch. Served in the traditional Kolsch glass, this beer was mildly sweet, light in body, and slightly crisp. It was (as it should be) very refreshing.

After bidding our friends adieu, we stopped at E's for a few from his collection.

Terrapin Beer Company is located in Athens, Georgia and was founded by John Cochran and Brian "Spike" Buckowski in 2002. The culture at the brewery is very community oriented, which is made evident by the educational groups, regional festivals and cupcake recipes on their website. Will do.

The Hopsecutioner IPA took me by surprise because it was much more caramel forward and rich with sweet stone fruit than I expected. The hop flavor I was expecting only came in subtly toward the end. Though the beer was a bit misleading, it was not unpleasant; I would have gone for more.

The Tree Hugger Altbier was right up my alley with rich toasted malt notes on the nose. On the palate there was a perfect balance of fruity and nutty flavor.

The Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA, though from Michigan, welcomes one to the west coast on the nose with big citrus and pine aromas. A fair amount of grapefruit steps forward on the palate but is supported by more ripe, sweet, juicy fruit. As the finish closes in there are a few subtle pine notes with malt on the very back end.

After we wrapped round two, we went on over to the famed Bronx Ale House, where many a conversation has taken place. The NYT did a spot on this place last year, highlighting the marathon runners that like to come to throw a few back. "There's nothing better than a beer after a hard run", one of them said.

That's like saying, "There's nothing better than a beer after being burned with cigarettes", "There's nothing better than a beer after just getting out of jail", or "There's nothing better than a beer after hearing that you were adopted...accidentally."

1. Running sucks. 2. There's nothing better than a beer, period. you don't have to wait to be tortured first.

Anyway, the bar has been open since 2008, it has 16 rotating taps, and it's too dark to take pictures in but the decor is lovely. Check it out.

Sailing the Hudson...Blue

It seems that even though our days of summer are numbered, we still have a few days of warm weather with which to enjoy the great outdoors- or, as close to the great outdoors as one can get, living in New York City.

Central Park and The Frying Pan are options, but neither have the beer selection that some Manhattan By Sail's Tours have. Today, we were going out on the Hudson for a day with Captain Lawrence.

There was plenty of space on the boat, and to accompany the beer tasting complimentary charcuterie was provided.

We kicked it off with the ever light, ever mild Kolsch with stone fruit on the nose and a subtle, noble hop presence on the palate. The finish was a touch grassy.

The Liquid Gold BPA was next in the lineup, with orange peel and cloves on the aroma followed by a fresh, herbal flavor with a slight fruity banana presence toward the end.

The Sunblock American Wheat was coy on the nose with hints of lemon and wheat. The palate revealed more of a herbaceous, citrusy presence.

The Freshchester Pale Ale, my personal darling of the bunch, is very floral on the aroma. Fresh fruit and a bit of earth follows on the palate.

The Captain IPA met the nose with coriander and allspice; more of a grapefruit citrus follows on the palate with a strong malt backbone.

One Beer I did not manage to get snapshots of was the Xtra Gold Tripel.

The Xtra Gold Tripel gave off many fruity esters as well as Belgian yeast. The flavor revealed candied fruit and an earthy hop finish.

A ride like this one could be the precursor to the night out or the entire show; for the staff is not stingy with the beer. We participated in many a second helping as far as the beer was concerned. If you have no motion sickness issues, I suggest you run along and buy some tickets before they're all gone for the season.

Summer Jazz

Rolling right along with my summer, The Woodsman and I went over to NYC Craft Beer's Summer Jazz. Held at Webster Hall, it was much less terrifying than I thought it would be.

Instead of four floors of wildly inappropriate men attempting to fondle me, There were four floors of craft beer. It was a bit less flattering but welcome tradeoff.

I tried many of the beers present already; Even the Connossieur lounge didn't hold too many surprises. I must say, though, that I took no issue in repeating my Element experience. They craft their beers beautifully, and it was a treat to have so many of them at the festival.

I enjoyed the creativity that went into this festival; it certainly beat going to the Armory, though the music took the conversation part out of the experience a little, if I'm going to be honest. If.

Perhaps we can have the next NYC fest in a pumpkin patch. Wouldn't that be something? drunken jack-o-lantern carving, smashing pumpkins, slime fights...Now the challenge would be to find a pumpkin patch in NYC.

Beer Camp: Part Two

Though we were technically on a campsite, we were roughing it in luxury. We had bathrooms with plumbing and hot water, spacious rooms and three glorious buffet meals in the dining room. On Saturday morning, that included chocolate chip pancakes.

Jeff Flagg, Assistant Director of Great Camp Sagamore, creator of Beer Camp and our guide for the weekend briefed us on the day's activities. We were to attend our choice of workshops, the lineup including cheese making, brewing 101, and detecting off flavors in beer, among others.

Jon Post, Head Brewer of The Beer Diviner first hosted a lecture on his experiences in Danno, Africa and led us through a ritual chant which was associated with brewing in that culture.

We peeked in on the Brewing 101 workshop...

We then were treated to a presentation by Matt Whelan and Carrie Blackmore of Good Nature on how they started their farm brewery and have been able to grow their production and distribution since 2012.

Also in attendance was Steve Miller, New York State's first hop specialist.

We then sat in on a workshop by Head Brewer of Saranac, Rich Michaels and Adirondack, John Carr on how to detect off flavors in beer. Just FYI, those flavors are...

DMS (tastes like sweetcorn, creamed corn, cooked vegetables, tomato sauce, or sea vegetables). This can be a desirable flavor in some pale lager beer styles, but is an off flavor in most others. It's formed from a malt-derived precursor during wort production.

A Papery or Cardboard flavor in beer is an off flavor that leads one to believe that their beer had been exposed to too much oxygen as it's aged.

Isoamyl Acetate (a fruity, estery, banana ro peardrop flavor) is present to some degree in all beers and a strong presence is characteristic of certain wheat beers; However, a strong concentration could be considered off in other styles of beer. This is produced by yeast during fermentation.

Acetaldehyde is also present in all beers, but at high concentrations is considered an off flavor. It's produced by yeast during fermentation, and expresses itself as a bruised apple or emulsion paint flavor.

Diacetyl, A buttery, butterscotch or milky flavor is an off flavor in pale lager beers, but is considered favorable in porters, stouts and other ales, especially of british origin. It's formed from a precursor produced by yeast during fermentation. Clearly, yeast causes a lot of trouble.

We then filed into the dining room for lunch and the homebrewer's tasting. Some highlights:

Tim Smith of Cooperstown's Watermelon Wheat with overripe watermelon on the nose with a touch of yeast and a refreshing fruity flash on the palate with balanced bread and yeast through to the end.

Kyle and Donia Kelliher of Ballston Spa's Saison with fresh citrus fruit and lemongrass on the nose, followed by white pepper on the palate.

Darrell Bush of Morrisville's Chicory Rye Belgian Ale with a subtle nose and a slightly tannic red wine quality along with subtle chicory notes on the palate, Candi sugar to finish.

We then took a stroll outside, for stationed in front of each of the cabins were the professional brewers, ready to try us out on their best. We tried Saranac's Mosaic IPA, Good Nature's Warm and Toasty Winter Warmer (Circa 2012), and Adirondack's Fat Scotsman Scotch Ale - among many others.

The evening was tied up in a perfect little bow with a campfire, music, and great company.

We dove into the final morning with Steve Miller's presentation on hops in the Northeast, and the many innovative ways hop farmers are reviving the business in the region which once was home to 40,000 acres of hops...

Followed by Greg Back's presentation on New York beer, and the importance of drinking locally.

To further illustrate Steve's point, we walked out to an old barn on the property which used to sit behind a little hop crop...

...that was replanted earlier this year.

It was wonderful seeing old faces, and meeting new ones. I hope you'll join us for the third annual Beer Camp in 2014.

Beer Camp: Part One

Apologies for the long delay. Due to a family tragedy, I took some time off - but, it does feel good to be back. I last left off with Beer Camp.

I was told there would be no cell phone service. I was told there would be black flies. I was told this would be one of the most wonderful weekends of my life. We were headed to Beer Camp, hosted by Great Camp Sagamore.

Great Camp Sagamore is located in the Adirondacks at Raquette Lake, NY. The 27 authentic National Historic Landmark designated buildings were the wilderness estate of the Vanderbilt family from 1901 until 1954.

The first Beer Camp event wason said Raquette Lake; a Booze Cruise Beer Pairing Dinner on the W.W. Durant.

The pairing dinner was hosted by Adirondack Brewery. We kicked it off with a Rock the Boat Saison.

John Carr led the tasting. Rock the Boat's watermelon and berry notes were highlighted by this white asparagus and watermelon salad with prosciutto and balsamic vinaigrette.

The Avocado Bacon mousse was paired with the Bear Naked Amber Ale; the toasty, fruity elements of the beer paired famously with the creamy texture of the avocado and smoky contribution from the bacon.

A black bean tortilla soup was paired with the Beaver Tail Brown; the malty and nutty elements of the beer complemented the earth and spice in the soup. This was an example of a pairing where both the beer and the dish improve one another.

The lovely filet below was paired with the Iroquois Pale Ale - the hops in the IPA cut through the meat and the citrus elements in the aroma complemented the steak's citrus marinade.

The dinner concluded with chocolate drizzled cheesecake and one of Adirondack's upside down label series, the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel aged Fat Scotsman Scotch ale. The boozy vanilla notes in this beer made the cream and chocolate in this dessert really pop, and having a chronic sweet tooth, I was very pleased with this pairing.

Many thanks to Adirondack for hosting such a lovely dinner; I made sure to get the cheesecake recipe. We were early to bed, for the next day would be jam-packed with workshops and of course, beer drinking.

Pump It Up

Don't underestimate Albany. It is increasingly becoming one of the most concentrated craft beer hubs in New York. This was evidenced by yet another craft beer spot I was exposed to the night before Beer Camp.

We've all seen the clichéd tactic of pairing history with novelty; Condos and clubs in churches, supermarkets in old banks, and how can we forget the Neo-Speakeasy trend? One thing we don't see all too often, however, is the pairing of history with novelty with history.

This is a tale of two relics: C. H. Evans Brewery and the Albany Pump Station.

C.H. Evans was a brewery founded in 1786 by the Evans family in Hudson, New York. The brewery experienced domestic as well as international success, capping out at 65,000 barrels in 1915. They were forced to close down in 1920, the year of the drinker's apocalypse.

The Albany Pump Station, established in 1874, utilized the water from the Hudson River and pumped it under Clinton Avenue to Bleecker Reservoir, which is now Bleecker Stadium. In 1927 the pump station moved over 7 billion gallons of water, servicing the Hudson Valley - this included C.H. Evans Brewery. In 1932 the Alcove reservoir was put into operation, rendering the Albany Pump Station obsolete.

Almost Eighty years after its closing, Neil Evans breathed life into the brewery which sparked his family legacy, choosing the old Pump Station as C.H. Evans's home. The 8,000 sq ft building made a fine match.

C.H. Evans now has a 7.5 barrel brew system and are looking to expand their distribution. They currently sell kegs and growler fills, but hope to run a bottling line behind the kitchen in the future.

A flight was in order. From left to right we had the Raspberry Hefe (5.7%) with fresh raspberries, a touch of yeast and a mineral quality on the nose. Raspberries and salinity mingle on the palate and a strong bready presence comes in for the finish. The Maibock (6.7%) had sweet red grapes on the nose and a subtly tangy flavor. Gentle hops come through on the finish. The Honey Wheat Saison (5.8%) Had a yeasty aroma with a tinge of honey. The flavor was spicy with white pepper and earth. The Empire State Bitter (5.2%) had hazelnuts come through on the aroma with coffee greeting the palate, leaving you with a nutty finish.

The Kickass Brown (5.6%) gave off dark fruit and caramel on the aroma, the palate revealed roasted grain, dried dark fruit, caramel and almonds. The Pump Station Pale (5.4%) had ripe a citrus character like pineapple and tangerine pulp. The flavor was dominated by ripe tropical fruit and grapefruit pith. The Half Moon IPA (6.4%) was subtle on the nose with a hint of peach. The palate is greeted by a malty sweetness, then rye, with a piney hop presence on the tail end. We wrapped it up with the Poor Soldier Porter (7.4%) coffee, milk and dark chocolate rose out of the aroma with the chocolate completely disappearing on the palate. A coffee flavor, mingled with smoked wood, remains.

The Pump Station was having a casual contest; They challenged us all to design their next coaster on the blanks they provided. This was my contribution.

We took a walk around the cavernous space; ascend a flight of stairs and you'll find pieces of the brewery itself and remnants of its long history, as well as a lovely sitting room.

There are two cranes in the building like the one shown here, completed in 1906 and 1909. They were originally used for pump engine repair and are each able to lift 20 tons. These were used to install the fermentation and serving tanks in the brewpub in 1999.

The view from the top...

Here is a picture of C.H. Evans ale barrels dating back to the 19th Century.

It would be imprudent not to mention the Olde English Pub, which we made a stop at following the Pump Station. Located just a few yards away and nestled in the historic Quackenbush House built in the 1730's, this pub is as English as it gets, offering predominantly English beer and fare. On your birthday, they give you a giant mixing bowl sized teacup full of your beer of choice.

I knew the British would find some way to merge happy hour and tea time. It seems 5 PM might be the ultimate hour for the Olde English.

Self-Indulgent and Completely Off Topic

They say that to be a real New Yorker, you must live in the city a minimum of ten years. More on that in a bit.

At the age of nine, I glimpsed the skyline of our staggering metropolis for the first time out of a car window. I decided then and there: That was my future.

I was a junior in high school when 9/11 happened. My parents would have been completely within their rights to beg me to abstain from applying to city schools, but they knew better. They knew that I had been working for seven years to achieve one goal: To go to college in NYC. I applied to NYU early decision, and four other schools- all within the five boroughs. I received the news early senior year: I was going to NYU.

(Freshman, 2003)

("Actress" and sophomore, 2004)

(Still an "Actress" and junior, Mass Comm major 2005)

(London, Psych Minor Abroad 2006)

(Real Estate Salesperson, 2007)

(Grad School, Student Teacher 2008-2010)

(Model of backward cardigans, 2010)

(Lingerie Salesperson, 2010)

(That odd, short stretch of time I thought I could be an IT Recruiter somewhere between 2010 and 2011)

(Preschool Teacher, 2011)

(Fancy Waitress, Occasional Sommelier 2012)

From late August, 2003 until now I have had almost as many jobs as years racked up here. I have gained and lost friends, family members, significant others. This is where I've become an adult. This city has been fused with my identity. Someone once told me that was wrong; that if I allow anything to fuse with my identity, I lose the ability to have an identity of my own. I profoundly disagree with that statement. If you can't base your identity on the things you love, what can you base it on? You create your identity. Today, I am a real New Yorker.

I've had my doubts about this city. There are things and days here that are simply difficult. The subways become tangled. You're pushed around. It's 100 degrees outside one day - 50 the next. There are so many stairs. You wait on line for everything, and pay out the nose for it. You shoot to discover restaurants before they are reviewed, because you'll never get in again afterwards. Con Edison. Time Warner Cable.

You ask yourself why you stay here - but then, you go somewhere else. One of two things will happen: you will realize that you need a big break from the city (which may last the rest of your life), or that New York is a place you will always refer to as home. I experienced the latter. I remembered that I was turned from a sheltered, meek high school goody two shoes nerd to someone who isn't afraid to speak their mind, weave through crowds, pay a Mariachi band to go away, break rules, yell at cab drivers, talk to a stranger on a park bench for three hours about the meaning of life, take on a Washington Square Park Chess player as a personal guru, have what seems like thousands of romantic city mishaps, lay down in a public fountain, and finally, follow my dream of being a writer. Though someday, something might in fact take me out of this city, nothing will take it out of me.

Living here has been a privilege and an achievement. Thanks to everyone I've met here for playing a part in it.

Saratoga

We rose with the sun the next morning to ready ourselves for a Hudson River adventure. Luckily, it was white water rafting rather than being stuffed in a duffel bag and thrown in to sleep with the fishes.

After our hard work on the water, we were rewarded with a bit of barbecue and a quick beer before we headed down to Saratoga.

Saratoga Springs is rich with history: Native Americans settled here, great battles were fought, and of course the horse racing culture needs no introduction. What you'll find today is that Saratoga has recognized the importance and the historical relevance of the craft beer movement as well.

Passion and wisdom are two cornerstones of our lives. Both of these require catalysts in order to be recognized or to come into being at all. If you've been reading up to this point, you'll know that this blog is about beer, but isn't just about the beer. This blog, much like the craft beer movement, has been a journey. It's a quest that has been characterized by passion - a passion for the underdog, for good hearted people with a sense of humility, trying to bring the best product they can into the world. Through them - through this movement, I'd like to think we all have gained wisdom. It's not just about the beer. It's also about the messages behind it, the stories the people who make it have to tell.

For this I am grateful.

Before I visited Druthers, I didn't know what the word meant. I assumed the brewery was named after a person, not an idea.

druth·ers

one's own way, choice, or preference

From their website:

"Given our Druthers, we are choosing to brew choice beer for good-humored, freethinkers that would rather do it their own way....Rewarding those that put their life, work, and convictions to the test.

Given your Druthers, what will you choose?"

Chris Martell, Brian Martell and George De Piro founded Druthers in August of 2012, George taking the reins as Brewmaster. George was previously Brewmaster at C.H. Evans, the Albany Pump Station but was lured up to Saratoga by the promise of part ownership.

Here is George standing proud, while patrons below watch the 15 barrel system in action.

Going from bottom left clockwise, we tried the ESB (5.5%) first which had roasted sugar on the aroma and a smoked bacon as well as a sugar sweet presence on the palate. The Druthers Porter (5.4%) was coffee forward on the nose. An effervescent sensation dances on the tongue and the finish leaves a touch of sugar. The All-In IPA (6.5%) showcases pineapple and grapefruit on the nose and fruit subsequently punches one in the face afterward. Mango, pineapple and citrus fruit come forward quickly and retreat the same way, leaving a pine resin presence on the finish. The Golden Rule Blonde (5.3%) smelled of crisp apples, and the flavor was very round and crisp with a bready finish. The Vienna Lager (5.3%) is coy on the nose with a hint of caramel that shouts out loud and proud on the palate joined by toffee and a bready finish. Bringing it home is the Brevity Wit, with a slight yeast presence on the nose and a lemon lime background, followed by grains of paradise, lemon peel, and bread crust on the palate.

Gregory wouldn't let me out of Saratoga without visiting the Henry Street Taproom and The Merry Monk, which as luck would have it are situated very close to one another.

Although the Henry Street Taproom offers a choice selection, they also go out of their way to mention that the "service is passionate – but never pretentious."

From left to right, the Walker's Reserve Porter from Firestone Walker (5.8%) had milk chocolate on the nose and a complex presence on the palate, with dark chocolate covered espresso beans as the dominant flavor. The Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (6.2%) was subtle on the nose. The palate is greeted by maple syrup and a light hazelnut presence bids farewell. Fuller's London Pride English Pale (4.7%) is bready with subtle caramel notes on the aroma. The palate is greeted with a toasty bite back, sweet effervescence following after to the finish. Stillwater's Cellar Door Farmhouse Ale (6.8%) had grains of paradise on the nose following through to the palate joined by orange pulp, coriander and yeast.

Henry Street is lucky to have Andras Janik, kind barkeep who took very good care of us.

The Merry Monk on Henry Street opened its doors in February of this year thanks to co-owners Jeremy O’Brien, Joe Gorman and Joseph Santa Maria. This is the second, larger, slightly more sophisticated version of the original Merry Monk on Pearl Street in Albany, adding steak frites, duck breast and pork chops to the repertoire. "We decided to let the chef (Brady Dillon) put his personality on the menu” said Jeremy'O Brien in an interview with The Saratogian.

The Merry Monk is known for its Belgian influence. In case it isn't apparent from the beer list, they also showcase life-sized plastic gnomes in both bars to pay homage to Brasserie d’Achouffe.

The Merry Monk introduced me to Brasserie de Silly. Founded in 1850, after trying the beers I wondered what took so long for America to import these beers. They simply blew me away.

I first tried the Pink Killer (5%). Categorized as a fruit/vegetable beer, this had grapefruit, pink lemonade and a touch of musk on the nose. The flavor reminded me of red sour patch kids.

The Sour Silly (5.5%) expressed malt and sour green apples on the aroma, with mouth-puckering sour apple on the palate. This was a very unique sour and the flavor was more complex than I have described.

We met Jeremy 'O Brien himself who chatted with us a bit. He mentioned that beers from Brasserie de Silly are few and far between due to their demand, but thanks to their distributor Remarkable Liquids, upstate's answer to 12 Percent in NYC, carrying it has become a reality.

We sampled Omnipollo's Agamemnon Imperial Stout (12.5%), with its boozy chocolate milk aroma and coffee liqueur on the palate...

Followed by Our last Silly of the day, the La Divine Tripel (9.5%). There was a healthy dose of lemon peel and sugar on the nose followed by caramel covered lemon on the palate and a slightly nutty finish.

Given your Druthers, I hope you'll choose to explore Saratoga and all of its treasures.

Adirondack Brewery

We had one more brewery to visit before driving back down south to prepare for Beer Camp. Our timing was spot on, for the founder of the brewery was to join us up at Great Camp Sagamore, along with many others.

Adirondack Pub & Brewery, located in the heart of Lake George Village was founded in 1999 by John Carr, an avid homebrewer since 1989. He admits that he began homebrewing because, "I was bored with the beer I could afford and couldn't afford the beer I liked".

Adirondack Brewery's rate of expansion has been formidable. To put it in perspective, in 2010 the brewery produced 700 barrels of beer. Now, they average 15,000 barrels annually on their 15 barrel system.

The brewery's success can be attributed to the over 25 all-natural, non-pasteurized craft ales that they offer. They try to carbonate naturally as much as they can and then bump it up in the bright tank.

"Part of the quality is in getting the yeast management to be very detailed", John added. Adirondack cultivates 5 strains of yeast at a time, which are subject to change throughout the year.

The good people of Adirondack Brewery, avid supporters of local business and environmental preservation, practice what they preach. Their labels are made on Long Island. Their boxes come from Rochester and Syracuse. Rochester also takes credit for their bottles. Their point of sale is out of Albany. Their racks are from Queensbury. Adirondack procures their grain from a company in Plattsburgh, who does business with Canada Malting. They buy as many available local hops as they can, despite low yields. From time to time, they use New York State honey in their beers as well as local apples. For their barrel aging program, Adirondack brings in wine barrels from the Finger Lakes.

Considered the "hardest job in the whole place" by Carr is the facilitation of the in-house bottling line, cranking out 40 bottles per minute. Carr explains that while there's a reason a lot of breweries don't bottle their own beers, it is important to him that this brewery is completely self-sufficient. He adds, "I want it to be my product, from start to finish".

Adirondack distributes to 40 counties in New York State, and they bottle to order. That means the beer never sits in a warehouse waiting for weeks, let alone months as some beer might. The beer is delivered as soon as it's packaged. "This is our Dirty Blonde," Carr said as he motioned to the beer on the conveyor belt. "It was brewed 11 days ago, crashed 2 days ago."

One would be hard-pressed to find a fresher beer in New York.

John then pulled two bottles of said beer right off the bottling line for us.

Having tried one, we yearned for more.

Each beer's name is an homage to New York and its history. Written on some of the brewery's paraphernalia, one can find the following message:

"Here's to the legends that live within the mountains, adventures waiting to happen, and a cold Adirondack ale at the end of every trail."

The Dirty Blonde Pale Ale , named for the "scantily-clad, pleasure-seekin', alcohol- drinkin', cigarette smokin', jazz lovin', make-up wearin', totally irresponsible and undisciplined 'Flapper" of the 1920s, boasted lemon lime citrus and floral hops on the aroma. The citrus stuck around to greet the palate followed by a honeyed sweetness and fresh baked bread. 4.6%

Named for the Black Bear of the Adirondacks, the Bear Naked Amber Ale gave off graham crackers and a bit of butter on the aroma, with a warm cinnamon honey presence on the palate. 5.2%

The Beaver Tail Brown Ale recognizes the Adirondack Beaver, "The largest rodent in the Adirondacks". It was hoppy and floral on the nose which I didn't expect. Toastiness came through on the palate with a touch of pine resin. 5.6%

The Headwater Hefe represents the origin of the Hudson River, Lake Tear of the Clouds. It had mild yeast on the nose along with a citrus character. The palate revealed citrus fruit, and rather than the surge of German yeast flavor I expected I noticed a breadiness instead; A pleasant surprise. 5%

(No lemons were harmed in the description of this beer. The slice was taken off immediately.)

The new Rock The Boat Saison was straightforward and delicious. A strong fresh raspberry and wheat presence opens on the aroma, followed by yeast and raspberry preserves on the palate. 4.8%

The Cafe` Vero Stout had coffee grounds on the nose, with coffee liqueur on the palate. 3.7%

The Iroquois Pale Ale is dedicated to the Iroquois Nation, composed of six tribes: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.

"Known as the six nations, they were a powerful force that controlled most of the Northeast United States and Canada, but made the land spanning from the Adirondacks to Niagara Falls their homeland and hunting grounds. The word 'Adirondack' actually means 'those who eat trees' in the language of the Iroquois."

This closely resembled a west-coast IPA, with a strong grapefruit and pine presence on the aroma along with a severe hop bite on the palate. 7%

The Belgian Style Amber gave off a fruitiness along with toast and caramel on the aroma. The palate revealed a firm hop bite with a breadiness to soften along with a touch of caramel on the finish. 5%

The ESB was coy on the nose with a hint of what seemed like candi sugar. The palate was much more forward with a firm bite, and a rush of caramel sweetness straight after to the finish. 4%

Many thanks to John Carr, and a special thanks to That Dude In The Tank.

Lake Placid

If you remember, dear reader, when I began this project I was deep into my IPA phase. As time went on, however, I began to especially appreciate the maltier side of things. This new phase was sparked by Lake Placid's Ubu Ale (which you may remember from this post). I was not only ensorcelled by the brewery for this reason, but I was also told that they had a do-it-yourself s'mores dessert. I found it difficult to keep the excitement inside.

We met Warren Hendrickson (below), who was kind enough to offer us a draft of our choosing for the tour. I went with Bruce's Brown Bag Ale.

Lake Placid's story begins with a local bar named PJ's. This bar was open for 40 years before founder Chris Ericson, 24, had the opportunity to build the Lake Placid Brewery on the property in 1996. Honoring that, Ericson didn't want to change PJ's much. He built the brewpub on the second floor, but left the bar as is. One of the local guys who frequented PJ's had a Chocolate Labrador Retriever named Ubu who hung around all the time and became the De facto mascot of the brewery. With that, the flagship ale was born.

Lake Placid's brewing team consists of Kevin Litchfield as head brewer, Warren, Scully, and Chris who does most of the sales.

We began the tour with Lake Placid's open fermentation vessels. Breweries that use this old school English-style method are difficult to find; it's a rare treat to see the contents of a fermentation vessel in all their frothy bubbly glory.

To take care of yeast propagation, they simply use a device which looks like a large slotted spoon to scoop the yeast out of the tank and transfer it to the next batch. They store their yeast in milk crates when necessary, and reuse the yeast about 25 times before a new strain must be developed, to avoid contamination.

Along with their recent win at the TAP-NY Brewery Festival (Matthew Vassar Cup, "Best Brewery in the Hudson Valley"), Lake Placid just celebrated a new expansion on the bottom floor, making room for 5 new fermenters 3 new conditioning tanks. With the new space, they look forward to making more lagers. Their seven barrel system churns out roughly 220 gallons each batch to supply the brewpub's taps; all of the beer in bottles is contract brewed in Utica at Matt Brewing Co., the same company that brews for Saranac. All of the water used to brew beer served at the brewpub comes from Lake Placid.

Their mash tun is unique. Instead of having a rotating arm that pushes out the grist, they strain out the wort through a pipe running from the mash tun. When that's done, they take a coffee scoop and remove the grain remnants by hand.

They don't forcibly filter their beer, opting to use Isinglass instead, which is derived from fish bladders (usually sturgeon). It comes in powder form. They take two ounces of that, mix it with 5 gallons of water and dump it right into the beer as they transfer it to the conditioning tanks. Though many of their practices follow a traditional English style, they make an exception and opt to force carbonate in the interest of time. Warren does mention, however that he would like to try cask conditioning.

Lake Placid uses a healthy dose of English hops in their beer, though they also use German and American hops shipped from the UK and the West Coast, respectively. Though many breweries work with one proprietary strain of yeast, Lake Placid uses several different types depending on the beer they wish to brew. They use Celist, a Belgian strain, Thames Valley, a strain tolerant of high alcohol levels often used for Barleywines, and the house strain that they use for most of their beers is the London Ale strain.

Lake Placid also has a number of serving tanks, which run directly to the taps in the bar upstairs. They have six of their beers on tap at all times, four of them year-round (46'er, Ubu, Moose Island, IPA) and two seasonal (Currently Bruce's Brown Bag and Wolf Jaw Wit)

Warren mentioned that he was just given the go ahead to try out one of his own recipes on the system, the Fade To Black IPA.

Here we have yet another bucket picture which I am so fond of taking. This is Lake Placid's Ubu Ale.

It was beer time. We filed back into the lumberjack log cabin themed tap room and, practically vibrating, sat down for a flight.

The flights all arrive on a semi-hollowed out section of a tree trunk, and it took everything I had not to ask where I could buy several.

From the bottom left going clockwise we have the Wolf Jaw Wit (5.5%), the Moose Island Blonde Ale (4.2%) , the 46'er Pale Ale (6%), the IPA (6.8%), Bruce's Brown Bag (English Brown) Ale (6.3%), and the Beloved Ubu English Strong Ale (7%).

Named for the Wolfjaw mountain in Essex County, this wit had a slightly yeasty presence on the aroma with a touch of coriander. Spicy Belgian yeast dominated the palate which continued throughout all the way to the finish, with undertones of lemon and lime zest as well as a white bread crust.

The Moose Island had a subtle fruity essence reminiscent of crisp apples on the nose. The palate revealed more of a mineral character with slate and a sharp acidity, cleansing the taste buds.

The 46'er, named for hikers who have climbed to the summits of the 46 major peaks of the Adirondacks was all stone fruit on the nose, specifically stewed peach. The palate was especially balanced; hops, salinity, and fruit mingle together and leave in unison.

The IPA gave off ruby red grapefruit pulp and passionfruit on the aroma. A grapefruit hop bite hung around on the palate joined by ripe tangerine for a sweet finish.

Bruce's Brown Bag had a lot of caramel on the nose with a mineral presence as well which I attributed to the water. The caramel continued onto the palate with a toastiness and a chocolate pop. Hops appeared to tie up the finish.

The Ubu had a multitude of nuts on the nose, and the palate revealed caramel and toffee with an added crispness, courtesy of Lake Placid.

We lounged around in some Adirondack chairs before going back for Round Two : Dinner.

It was two-for-one Tuesday, so we took full advantage.

We started out with Pub Bruschetta: Toasted Ubu baguette slices served with a trio of sides - goat cheese spread, red pepper hummus, and black bean & roasted corn salad.

...followed by The Schulzy burger: An Angus sirloin burger with melted Cheddar & American cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo & ketchup, with fries.

I promptly paired them both with Ubu.

The S'mores were even better than I imagined, and were extremely fun to make. They were even more fun to eat, especially with Bruce's Brown Bag Ale.

Thanks to Warren and everyone at Lake Placid. I'll be back!

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