Dowd On Drinks

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Update 2: 5 Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge finalists picked

UPDATE 2 (5/15/17): The office of Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced the top five finalists in the inaugural Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge. The winner will be chosen Wednesday. The finalists, listed alphabetically: Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown; Genesee Brewing Company, Rochester; Prison City Pub & Brewery, Auburn; Roscoe Beer Company, Roscoe; Southern Tier Brewing Company, Lakewood.

UPDATE (5/13/17): Well, now we know who else will be on the judging panel for the Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge recently announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The first person the guv appointed was himself. On Friday, he revealed who will be joining him -- former Buffalo Bills football star Thurman Thomas, who owns a bar at the Batavia Downs horse track; celebrity chef Mario Batali; Noah Kaufman, an editor at Food and Wine magazine, and Anne Becerra, a writer and beer director for the Treadwell Park beer hall in New York City.

(Originally published 5/3/17)

Every one of the state's 321 craft breweries has its fans, so it will be interesting to see how large voter turnout is for the "Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge." That's the latest state government effort under its Taste NY program advocating for the state's food and beverage producers.

Then public will decide which five breweries make it into a taste-off by filling out an online ballot. Then, on a June date to be announced a judging panel led by Governor Andrew Cuomo will conduct a blind taste in Ndew York City and select a winner.

News of the contest comes right on the heels of the 20th annual TAP NY competition at Hunter Mountain, an event that decrees the best brewers and brews in the state. It has nothing to do with the Taste NY program.

If you need a refresher course on the many breweries located in the Greater Capital and environs, here is a list. I keep the geographic definition rather loose, given the propensity of people in this area to travel a bit to attend the many drinks and food shows and festivals with which it abounds. Thus, certain nearby parts of the Adirondacks, Catskills and Cooperstown area are include.

Adirondack Pub & Brewery, 33 Canada Street, Lake George
Argyle Brewing, One Main Street, Greenwich
Artisinal Brew Works, 41 Geyser Road, Saratoga Springs
Battle Hill Brewing Co., 4 Charles Street, Fort Ann
Beer Diviner, 461 Broadway, Troy, and 243 Bly Hollow Road, Petersburg
Big Slide Brewery & Public House, 5686 Cascade Road, Lake Placid
Big Tupper Brewing, 12 Cliff Avenue, Tupper Lake
Brewery LaHoff, 50 Vedder Road, Coxsackie (to open this year)
Brewery Ommegang, 656 County Highway 33, Cooperstown
Brown's Brewing Co., 417 River Street, Troy, and 50 Factory Hill Road, North Hoosick
Cave Mountain Brewing Co., 5359 State Route 23, Windham
Chatham Brewing, 59 Main Street, Chatham
C.H. Evans Brewing/Albany Pump Station, 19 Quackenbush Square, Albany
Common Roots Brewing Co., 58 Saratoga Avenue, South Glens Falls
Cooper's Cave Ale Co., 2 Sagamore Street, Glens Falls
Cooperstown Brewing Co., 110 River Street, Milford
Council Rock Brewery, 4861 State Highway 28, Cooperstown
Crossroads Brewing Co., 21 Second Street, Athens
Davidson Brothers Brewing Co., 184 Glen Street, Glens Falls
Druthers, 381 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, and 1053 Broadway, Albany
Dutch Ale House, 255 Main Street, Saugerties
Great Adirondack Brewing Co., 2442 Main Street, Lake Placid
Great Flats Brewing, 151 Lafayette Street, Schenectady (to open this year)
Green Wolf Brewing, 315 Main Street, Middleburgh
Hank Hudson Brewing, The Fairways of Halfmoon, 17 Johnson Road, Mechanicville
Helderberg Brewery, Carey Institute for Global Good, 100 Pond Hill Road, Rensselaerville
Helderberg Mountain Brewing Co., 141 Warners Lake Road, East Berne
Honey Hollow Brewing Co., 376 East Honey Hollow Road, Earlton
Hudson Brewing Co., 99 South 3rd Street, Hudson
Indian Ladder Farmstead Brewery and Cidery, 342 Altamont-Voorheesville Road, Altamont
Lake Placid Pub & Brewery, 813 Mirror Lake Drive, Lake Placid
Mad Jack Brewing, The Van Dyck Lounge,237 Union Street, Schenectady
Mean Max Brew Works, 193 Glen Street, Glens Falls
Olde Saratoga Brewing Co., 131 Excelsior Avenue, Saratoga Springs
Paradox Brewery, 154 Route 9, Schroon Lake
Racquette River Brewing, 11 Balsam Street, Tupper Lake,
Rare Form Brewing Co., 90 Congress Street, Troy
Real McCoy Beer Co., 20 Hallwood Road, Delmar
Red Shed Brewery, 817 Butterbowl Road, Cherry Valley
Rip Van Winkle Brewing, Angela's Italian Bistro & Brewery, 4545 NY Route 32, Catskill
R.S. Taylor & Sons Brewery, 3602 County Route 30, Salem
Serious Brewing Co., 116 Caverns Road, Howes Cave
Shmaltz Brewing Co., 6 Fairchild Square, Clifton Park
Sloop Brewing, 1065 County Route 19, Elizaville
S&S Farm Brewery, 174 Middle Road, Nassau
Steadfast Beer Co., 90 State Street, Albany
Suarez Family Brewery, 2278 Route 9, Livingston
Wolf Hollow Brewing Co., 6882 Amsterdam Road, Glenville

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Update: Taste NY Craft Beer Challenge judges unveiled

Adirondack Pub & Brewery, 33 Canada Street, Lake George
Argyle Brewing, One Main Street, Greenwich
Artisinal Brew Works, 41 Geyser Road, Saratoga Springs
Battle Hill Brewing Co., 4 Charles Street, Fort Ann
Beer Diviner, 461 Broadway, Troy, and 243 Bly Hollow Road, Petersburg
Big Slide Brewery & Public House, 5686 Cascade Road, Lake Placid
Big Tupper Brewing, 12 Cliff Avenue, Tupper Lake
Brewery LaHoff, 50 Vedder Road, Coxsackie (to open this year)
Brewery Ommegang, 656 County Highway 33, Cooperstown
Brown's Brewing Co., 417 River Street, Troy, and 50 Factory Hill Road, North Hoosick
Cave Mountain Brewing Co., 5359 State Route 23, Windham
Chatham Brewing, 59 Main Street, Chatham
C.H. Evans Brewing/Albany Pump Station, 19 Quackenbush Square, Albany
Common Roots Brewing Co., 58 Saratoga Avenue, South Glens Falls
Cooper's Cave Ale Co., 2 Sagamore Street, Glens Falls
Cooperstown Brewing Co., 110 River Street, Milford
Council Rock Brewery, 4861 State Highway 28, Cooperstown
Crossroads Brewing Co., 21 Second Street, Athens
Davidson Brothers Brewing Co., 184 Glen Street, Glens Falls
Druthers, 381 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, and 1053 Broadway, Albany
Dutch Ale House, 255 Main Street, Saugerties
Great Adirondack Brewing Co., 2442 Main Street, Lake Placid
Great Flats Brewing, 151 Lafayette Street, Schenectady (to open this year)
Green Wolf Brewing, 315 Main Street, Middleburgh
Hank Hudson Brewing, The Fairways of Halfmoon, 17 Johnson Road, Mechanicville
Helderberg Brewery, Carey Institute for Global Good, 100 Pond Hill Road, Rensselaerville
Helderberg Mountain Brewing Co., 141 Warners Lake Road, East Berne
Honey Hollow Brewing Co., 376 East Honey Hollow Road, Earlton
Hudson Brewing Co., 99 South 3rd Street, Hudson
Indian Ladder Farmstead Brewery and Cidery, 342 Altamont-Voorheesville Road, Altamont
Lake Placid Pub & Brewery, 813 Mirror Lake Drive, Lake Placid
Mad Jack Brewing, The Van Dyck Lounge,237 Union Street, Schenectady
Mean Max Brew Works, 193 Glen Street, Glens Falls
Olde Saratoga Brewing Co., 131 Excelsior Avenue, Saratoga Springs
Paradox Brewery, 154 Route 9, Schroon Lake
Racquette River Brewing, 11 Balsam Street, Tupper Lake,
Rare Form Brewing Co., 90 Congress Street, Troy
Real McCoy Beer Co., 20 Hallwood Road, Delmar
Red Shed Brewery, 817 Butterbowl Road, Cherry Valley
Rip Van Winkle Brewing, Angela's Italian Bistro & Brewery, 4545 NY Route 32, Catskill
R.S. Taylor & Sons Brewery, 3602 County Route 30, Salem
Serious Brewing Co., 116 Caverns Road, Howes Cave
Shmaltz Brewing Co., 6 Fairchild Square, Clifton Park
Sloop Brewing, 1065 County Route 19, Elizaville
S&S Farm Brewery, 174 Middle Road, Nassau
Steadfast Beer Co., 90 State Street, Albany
Suarez Family Brewery, 2278 Route 9, Livingston
Wolf Hollow Brewing Co., 6882 Amsterdam Road, Glenville

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Former Schenectady tavern-restaurant demolished

The former City Squire. (Daily Gazette photo)

The former City Squire tavern and restaurant in Schenectady is not just merely dead, it's really most sincerely dead, as the coroner of Munchkin Land might put it.

Demolition workers tore down the longtime business this week to make room for the construction of a new two-story building that will house an Irish-style spot called the City Squire Ale House under new ownership.

Go here for the background stories on the transition. And, for an album of excellent close-up photos of the demolition, go here to visit The Daily Gazette website.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Friday, May 12, 2017

State's drinks producers being spotlighted in NYC bash

Mixologist Melissa Markert will host a VIP cocktail session. (photo provided)

The state's always-expanding push to market its wines, spirits, ciders and brews will ramp up anther notch at a New York City event on Wednesday, May 24.

The multi-level event, with separate programs for the public and the trade, is titled "TasteNewYork - A New York Craft Beverage Experience." The venue is Pier A Harbor House at 22 Battery Place in lower Manhattan. It is part of the state's TasteNY program.

Two ticket options are available for the public event: the VIP Experience beginning at 6 p.m. and general admission tickets for 6:30 p.m. admission. The VIP option will include an exclusive cocktail demonstration and tasting in the
Commissioner's Bar with Melissa Markert of Dead Rabbit, one of New York City's currently trendiest bars. She will use local ingredients and New York craft beverages to build cocktails.

Among the beverage providers will be Saratoga Brewing, Saratoga Spring Water, and Shmaltz Brewing Company from the Capital Region.

Details of the event, the participating vendors, categories for the trade and the public, and ticket purchasing are available on the event website.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Finger Lakes tops list of best U.S. wine regions to visit

Thrillist, the online media brand covering food, drink, travel and entertainment, convened a panel of sommeliers to pick "Best Wine Regions to Visit In the U.S." They came up with 11 of them, and tops on the list is the Finger Lakes.

Here's what Thrillist had to say:

"No. 1. Finger Lakes, NY.

Must-hit wineries: Get a history lesson at Dr. Frank's before hitting Ravines or Hermann J. Wiemer. Perhaps we spoke too soon when we named the Finger Lakes the most underrated place in New York. This southern region of the Empire State is an like an SEC football team to sommeliers (that is, a powerhouse), except it actually deserves to be in everyone's top five.

"There are a lot of up-and-coming wineries there," says [panelist Daniel] Toral, "and better restaurants keep opening, as well." In fact, since the region started blowing up a few years ago, there are now over 100 wineries in the area. And the best part? It hasn't been overtaken by tourists and developers yet so there won't be horrendous crowds to fight when you visit the famous gorges at Watkins Glen State Park in the morning, and then head to the venerable birthplace of East Coast winemaking -- Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars -- later in the day."

You can read the evaluations of the other 10 regions by clicking here.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Local wine to flow at Finger Lakes art fest and competition

A reception by Hazlitt's Red Cat Cellars will be among the attractions at the 6th annual Finger Lakes Plein Air Competition & Festival.

The art-centric festival will run from Tuesday, June 6, through Sunday, June 11. The wine tasting is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7. Wines will be poured from various Canandaigua Wine Trail wineries.

The festival itself, held under the auspices of the Ontario County Arts Council, will feature as many as 45 artists from across the country who have been invited to the area to paint scenes of Canandaigua and the Finger Lakes. An exhibition and sale will be held on the final day of the event at the historic site Sonnenberg Gardens.

Details of the festival are available on the event website.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Thursday, May 11, 2017

In-development Fort Orange Brewing embraces local history

Building materials arrive at the Albany renovation site. (photo provided)

It seems we're talking about a new craft brewery joining the Greater Capital Region scene on a weekly basis or even more often. (Go here to see the latest list.)

Fort Orange Brewing will open in the fall at 450 North Pearl Street in Albany's Warehouse District with a nod to local brewing history, both in its name -- the same as one from the 1800s -- and its location -- a site near where its antecedent operated during the city's 19th Century brewing heyday.

Even the logo is an acknowledgement to local history, incorporating the shape of the original Dutch settlement called Fort Orange -- which became the English settlement of Albany -- in its logo.

The original Fort Orange Brewing operated from1882 to 1888 on Broadway. The new brewery will rise in a 7,400-square-foot former warehouse not far from the Druthers brewing company's Albany facility. (Druthers' original is in Saratoga Springs.)

The new brewery is from three Castleton residents who have been brewing together and decided to go commercial. They are John Westcott, a technical support manager at KeyBank; Jim Eaton, a recruiter for Siena College, and Craig Johnson, works for the architectural/engineering firm EYP.

They have purchased a 7-barrel system and, Westcott tells me, they "are looking to have four to six of our beers on tap at all times. We will have a taproom in the facility and offer flights, pints and growler fills. We plan to have two IPAs, a sweet/hoppy pale, and pilsner on tap for our opening. We will also be brewing several pilot batches for opening, like a stout, red ale, and blonde."

Marker shows new brewery location. (Google Earth)

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Adirondack Wine & Food Festival vendors list unveiled

The full list of vendors for this year’s Adirondack Wine & Food Festival has just been released.

The event, to be held on the weekend of June 24-25 at the Charles R. Wood Festival Commons in Lake George Village, has sold more than 1,000 advance tickets, and a crowd of more than 6,000 is anticipated.

"This festival celebrates the bounty of amazing craft beverages and locally made foods that New York has to offer, and we’re excited to report that we will have more vendors and variety than ever before,” said Sasha Pardy, co-owner and president of the festival’s presenting sponsor, Adirondack Winery.

At this point, the vendor list has more than 80 vendors, including 23 wineries, eight distilleries, four breweries, three cideries, 23 artisan food vendors, six specialty vendors, eight food trucks, a local restaurant and a weekend full of culinary demonstrations provided by the SUNY Adirondack culinary students.

Vendors, ticket information, and other details of the festival are available on the event website.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Troy venture an eclectic tap room and curiosity shop

The doctor will see you now. Well, not right now. And not the actual doctor. But, there will be a number of things to remind you that a new business in the Victorian rowhouse at 45 2nd Street in downtown Troy once functioned as a doctor's office.

The premises are being converted into a venture called Elixir 16, what creator Megan Reavey and boyfriend David Linen of Collar City Renovations describe as a "bottled beer emporium, tap room and curiosity shop." They're hoping to have a soft opening in June, serving drinks and specialty foods as well as home-entertaining items.

“It was the building’s history as a doctor’s office that inspired the name, Elixir 16, as a nod to the elixirs that doctors prescribed around the turn of the last century, the magical potions often promising to induce love, eternal life and to turn metals into gold,” Reavey said in an interview with The Record.

She said the renovation process on the building they bought last year has uncovered a variety of medical paraphernalia accumulated over a century of use, some of which will be incorporated into the business's decor.

You can access the full interview online.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Gloversville nano pads ever-expanding local brewery scene

Stump City partners, from left, Casey Oare, Matt Sherman and Nick Sherman. (photo provided)

And, we have yet another small brewery in the Greater Capital Region.

The newcomer is Stump City Brewing. which just held a grand opening ceremony at its brewing and taproom facility, located at 521 West Fulton Street Extension in Gloversville. That brings to 49 the number of breweries of all sorts in the area.

The nanobrewery was created by Nick Sherman, Matt Sherman, Casey Oare and Jerry Sherman, all of Gloversville, financed in part by $13,000 raised through an IndieGoGo online funding page. It has been in soft opening mode since January, limiting its customers to those who contributed to the fund, but now will be open to the public from noon to 5 p.m. each Saturday.

The quartet explains the one-barrel brewery's name and motto "From the Ground Up" this way: "The name Stump City is a historical name of the area before it was incorporated as Gloversville. The proximity of hemlock forests to supply bark for tanning made the community a center of leather production early in its history. Prior to that Gloversville had been known as 'Stump City' because of the large number of trees that had been cut down. ...

"Our motto has a personal meaning as well as relating to the beers that we make. We put so much work into the [business] and wanted to do as much of the work ourselves. We did a large majority of the work with some help from friends and family and truly built the brewery and taproom from the ground up. The other half of it is our dedication to ingredients that we put in the beer. We source as much as possible from New York Farms allowing us to be call a farm brewery." That designation requires 90% of ingredients be produced in the state. Currently, it sources hops from Goderie’s of Johnstown and malt from Germantown.

Stump City currently sells beer on tap, or in refillable growlers, with no canned or bottled products.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Surprise! Southern Comfort has no whiskey, but soon will

• From The New York Times

When the Sazerac Company bought Southern Comfort from the liquor conglomerate Brown-Forman last year, the business motivation was clear. “If you and I ended on a desert island and there was a bottle of liquor, there’s an even-money chance it would be Southern Comfort,” Mark Brown, the chief executive of Sazerac, said... .

Southern Comfort has long borne a double-edged reputation as being both famous and infamous. The blend of spirits and fruit and spice flavorings is a storied brand, with roots that are believed to go back to the 19th Century, and it can be found in nearly every bar in America. Yet it is widely regarded as the drink of unwise youths and undiscriminating palates. ...

Kevin Richards, the new senior marketing director for Southern Comfort, admitted as much, saying that when Sazerac bought it, the brand was “in danger of losing a lot of relevance in the mind of consumers.”

Sazerac hopes to reverse that. A new-and-improved Southern Comfort will hit the shelves in July, with a redesigned label and bottle. Flavored versions like Lime Comfort and Caramel Comfort will be phased out. But, most important, Southern Comfort will get back the one ingredient that many people have long assumed it contained: whiskey.

Go here for the full story.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
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Monday, May 8, 2017

When news breaks ...

... it's really broken. The Times Union website today posted this headline as breaking news:

Beer, cider help Taste NY triple revenues

So, what's wrong with that? Only that the story is three months old.

I know that because I wrote about it back in February when the Cuomo administration released the numbers on the program.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Saturday, May 6, 2017

'Liquor wall' appears about to fall in Florida

• From Florida Today

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- The long-standing liquor wall, which was been around since Prohibition ended, is facing the wrecking ball under a bill headed to Governor Rick Scott’s desk.

After two days of debate, the House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Senate’s bill (SB 106) by one vote. It is the first time since at least 2000 that a bill in the House has been decided by a [single] vote, according to Lobbytools, a service that tracks Florida bills.

The bill allows grocery stores, big box retailers and other stores to sell liquor in the same space as other products. Currently, liquor must be sold in a side store separated by a wall.

“Any debate that includes the topic of alcohol is going to be tense and contentious,” said State Rep. Bryan Avila. “This issue is one that I feel is not a religious or social issue, it is one of an outdated policy.”

... Florida would become the 28th state to allow the sale of liquor alongside wine and beer.

Go here for the full story.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Labatt honoring its history with multi-purpose Buffalo facility

1939 Labatt delivery truck -- red with gold lettering. (Ken Goudy Collection)

John Kinder Labatt

Buffalo is about to get a new beer-centric attraction. Labatt USA, part of North American Breweries, has announced plans to open the John Labatt House, a facility that will include a small test brewery, a restaurant, and company headquarters.

The project is part of the $10 million redevelopment of a five-story warehouse in the city’s Cobblestone District by Pegula Sports and Entertainment.

Plans call for the restaurant to function as a space for beer drinkers to taste, experience and even influence new beer development for Labatt by offering feedback on what they sample there. The test brewery will develop and test new products prior to introducing them to the market.

The new headquarters is projected to open in the fall of 2018, with the restaurant and brewery opening in the months to follow.

The project's name can be seen as an honorific for the Labatt Brewing Company's history of being headed by men named John. The Irish-born John Kinder Labatt (1803-1866) founded the brewery. Under his son John Labatt (1838-1915), it grew to be Canada's largest. Then, John Sackville Labatt (1880-1952), one of his nine children, took over and ran it for decades.

Since 1995, the company has been part of a whirlwind of mergers that dominated the industry. It was purchased that year by the Belgian brewer Interbrew. In 2004, Interbrew merged with the Brazilian brewer AmBev to form InBev. In 2008, InBev merged with American brewer Anheuser-Busch to form Anheuser-Busch InBev (abbreviated AB InBev), and last year a $100 billion merger between AB InBev and SABMiller closed.

So, Labatt now is part of the ridiculously named Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, merfifully trading as the simplified designation BUD on the New York Stock Exchange.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook

Friday, May 5, 2017

Bombay Sapphire: A case of accidental overproofing

This is one batch of Bombay Sapphire Gin that will become a collector's item if Canadian officials are unsuccessful in rounding up all the bottles.

A nationwide recall of a particular batch of Bombay Sapphire has been issued after Canadian health authorities discovered a batch of bottles containing gin that is 77% alcohol -- in other words, a phenomenal 154 proof! By law, the maximum proof is 80.

Bacardi, parent company of Bombay and other brands such as Grey Goose, Martini, St. Germain and Bacardi rums, said that as many as 6,000 Bombay Sapphire 1.14-liter bottles may be affected, and were sold only in Canada. They bear the number "L16304." All have been recalled.

In a news release, Bacardi said, "The over proofproduct inadvertently entered the bottling line during a short period of time -- [up to] 45 minutes -- when [workers] were switching from one bottling tank to another bottling tank." It also said the recall was launched after "an isolated consumer complaint and subsequent quality assurance checks."

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has warned consumers to throw away the bottles or return them to the place of purchase.

• Go here to visit the Capital Region Brew Trail
• Go here to visit Dowd On Drinks
• Go here to visit Dowd's New York Wines Notebook