MaltBlog

Images from the 2005 edition of Belgium Comes To Cooperstown at Brewery Ommegang

It was a STEAMY day in Cooperstown, the humidity must have been 99.99%. Despite that, over one thousand people showed up for a day of beer, music, and fun. This was the first time I'd attended an event at Brewery Ommegang that featured other breweries. Having just attended the Empire State Brewing & Music Festival eight days earlier, I had tried many of the beers already. But this event was clearly geared toward lovers of great beer. Brewers from San Diego to Maine were represented, and dozens of Belgian beers were being poured as well. As always, the people of Ommegang were super-friendly, helpful, and put on a great event.

This man rode these two horses around for much of the afternoon. Ommegang had advertised a "children's area" and said children were welcome, but there was really not much for kids (or non-drinking adults) to do.

Bottle-cap Bingo - or PROST in this case. Instead of letters and numbers, the caller drew codes representing styles of beer, and the codes were printed on the cards.

The Brewhouse inside Brewery Ommegang

Cambridge Brewing Company. I tried their Saison, it was tasty. Interestingly, many brewers were pourins Saisons - appropriate for summertime, but not something I had seen much of at all before today.

Chimay

Cooperstown Brewing Company, located just a few miles from Brewery Ommegang, was my first beer of the day - I had the Pride of Milford. In the hubbub about Ommegang, Cooperstown's excellent beers are often overlooked due to their family ownership and low profile.

The crowd was big and the day was steamy - imagine what it felt like inside this big tent!

Dogfish Head, from Delaware. I learned that they have a distillery on the site of their brewery and restaurants, and their spirits can be consumed there.

Flying Bison, from Buffalo, New York. These were the folks who kindly let me photograph their malted barley display at the Empire State Brewing & Music Festival.

Hop Union. This place smelled GREAT, as you can imagine!

Iron Hill Brewery, a small chain in the northern Delaware and greater Philadelphia area. The gentleman in the center of the picture did the pouring for me - very nice guy. The Saison was representative of the style - mellow, refreshing. The Oud Bruin was a sour, earthy Flemish-style ale. And the Lambic was really tart despite having no fruit added.

Keegan Ales, from Kingston, New York. Kingston was the first capital of New York State, and the aptly named Old Capital was a refreshing thirst-quencher. According to the guy I talked to at Keegan, they use the same yeast as Ommegang, and Keegan's founder is an old friend of one of the principals at Ommegang.

An assortment of Belgians, many of which I had never seen, at the St. Bernardus booth.

The woman in this photo was from Victory, the gentleman from St. Bernardus. Very nice people - smiling and friendly despite the heat!

These two guys played great music on a xylophone and... well, I don't know what the instrument on the right is but the artist was really wailing out some great stuff on it!

This band played driving rock, exactly what was needed at 5 PM to keep people moving!

The Ommegang station

Ommegang Merchandise - I love the BC/TC shirt!

Two of the staff from Ommegang. The tap at left is for "Ommegeddon", which I believe was brewed specifically for this festival. It was a crisp, dry-finishing ale.

Russian River. This place had three beers:
1. Damnation: A crisp-finishing slightly tart beer
2. Temptation, aged in 3-5 year old Chardonnay barrels
3. Supplication, aged in Pinot Noir barrels with cherries, lactobacillus, and other stuff. It was unique and tasty.

Shelton Brothers, an importer from Belchertown, MA. My friend Pat likes to say that he is the mayor of Belchertown whenever we pass its exit on the Mass Pike.

Southampton Publick House from Long Island, New York. I had their Cuvee de Fleurs, yum!

Stone Brewing was pouring their Vertical Epic 2004. I have the '04 and '05 in bottles in my cellar (OK, the workshop room in my basement) and hadn't tried it. It was lighter than I expected but I think that's part of the Vertical Tasting plan.

Stoudt's Brewing. Amazing tattoos on the person dishing out the beer (Pils and Triple), plus they had cool bottle openers. Stoudt's is always a winner in my book, making quality beers in a wide variety of styles.

"The Tap", from Haverhill, MA, and Bullfrog Brewery (Williamsport, PA) had some tasty stuff, too. Bullfrog had an organic Belgian-style ale called "Diabolique" (8% ABV) that went down nicely.

Tröegs (prounounced "troags") from Harrisburg, PA was pouring their Hopback Amber and a Holiday Ale (a strong, malty ale with a slightly tart cherryish flavor). You have to love any place that has a Dreamweaver Wheat and a "Troegenator" doublebock.

Unibroue, where I finally learned that "Trois Pistoles" is pronounced "twah pistoals".Not that that was all that hard to figure out. I also learned that even though one of my favorites, Raftman (made with whisky malt) is not available in the US, it's still available in Montreal!

Weyerbacher, from Easton, PA. I think I went to this place back when I lived in Western New Jersey, but if I did it was in 1995 and I think I'd better go back to reconfirm.

Appalachian Brewing Company. These people were really friendly and the women had awesome red hair. The Grand Cru was very tasty, and the ESB was - as the guy described it to me - subtle and balanced like a real English bitter should be.

There were a LOT of tents - many people clearly came expecting to enjoy beer and music well into the night. Next year, I may join them!