This article discusses a brewery that has been discovered in the Andes mountains in Peru; it was a large-scale operation and dates to some time between 700 and 1,000 A.D. This is cool to me because I spent my undergraduate years learning about pre-European American cultures.
Brewery Ommegang is hosting Belgium Comes To Cooperstown, a festival featuring a pouring of 30 different breweries' Belgian-style beers. The event will be held Saturday, August 21, 2004. I hope to see you there!
Here's the press release for the ninth annual Madison County Hop Festival. The county historical society holds the hop festival every year, usually (including this year) at the society's grounds at Cottage Lawn in Oneida, NY.
To encourage interest and increase knowledge about hops, the Madison County Historical Society will host its 9th Annual Madison County Hop Fest September 18, 2004 on the society’s grounds at 435 Main Street in Oneida.
The Hop Fest morning activities begin at 9 am with diverse hop related presentations and demonstrations ranging from agriculture, medicine, history, culture, brewing demonstrations, displays of hop growing tools, and displays of brewing memorabilia. The afternoon events from 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. offer musical entertainment by Fritz Polka Band and samplings from the following breweries: Brewery Ommegang, Electric Brew Pub Inc.,/ The Van Dyck, High Falls Brewing Company, Ithaca Beer Company, Landmark BRewing Company, Middle Ages Brewing Company, and Wagner Valley Brewing Company.
This year’s event will also feature the historical society’s exhibit, Bitter Sweet: Hop Culture in Central New York and the showing of the video When Hop Was King. Later on in the afternoon, there will be the crowning of the Madison County Hop King/Queen. Throughout the day stroll through our gift shop for interesting hop products while visiting with the area’s historical organizations who will be set-up on the grounds. The Hop Fest opens at 9:00 a.m. with the hop culture presentations are scheduled from 9:00 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. The brew tent will open at 1 p.m. and close at 4 p.m. Fritz Polka Band will also be performing from 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. General admission to the event is $5.00, admission for the brewery sampling is an additional $10.00. Come visit Madison County on September 18 to learn about hops and its influence on the area’s past and present. For more information about the Ninth Annual Madison County Hop Fest, please contact the Madison County Historical Society, 435 Main Street, Oneida, NY 13421, or call us at 315 363-4136, or 361-9735, email mchs1900@dreamscape.com, or visit our website at www.dreamscape.com/mchs1900/
This article from the April 28 Post-Standard describes two new players in the CNY beer market: Rheingold and Stone Brewing.
I remember seeing Rheingold advertisements in footage of New York baseball games of the 1950's, and I seem to recall it being associated with the Mets in the early 70's (though I know Schaefer was a major sponsor then). The article quotes a beer retailer calling Rheingold a "ballpark beer", so my recollections may be right...
I've had Stone Brewing's "Arrogant Bastard" ale - it's a very hoppy imperial IPA - one of a new breed (a la Middle Ages' excellent Wailing Wench) of very strong (7-8% ABV) IPA's. Clark's Ale House had Arrogant Bastard on tap one recent summer evening, and I also found a bottle in a package store in Orleans, Massachusetts.
This article from Time Magazine profiles Miller Brewing CEO Norman Adami and provides an overview of the tactics Miller is taking to become a stronger second-place in the US beer market.
The Empire State Brewing and Music Festival turned away visitors at last night's event in Clinton Square in Syracuse. They had already let 3,500 people in. By all accounts the event was a success. Well, all accounts except one. They had just 20 toilets for those 3,500 people, and the lines were routinely 32 people long for EACH toilet.
Hopefully next year they'll get it right!
Here's the Syracuse Post-Standard's article about the festival.