The Albany Ale Project

Clarksville Hop Drying Barn

Chef Daniel Smith of Jake Moon's and I visited the old Van Wie Hop Drying Barn now owned by Bob and Linda Bathrick outside of Clarksville, NY.  As you can see from the photos the barn is in great shape.

Barn is in better original condition than the one the Famer's Museum in Coopertown has and the Hop baler is in what looks like working condition.

Down stairs the walls are lathe and plaster to create a more airtight surface so the heat of the wood stove would travel without too much loss to the second floor drying racks.

Malt Valley goes Solar

                        Malt Valley Goes Solar

Wild Game Night

The Helderberg Historian and myself attended the Wild Game Night at The City Beer Hall last night.  Seating is upstairs and family style.  HH and I sat with a very nice group from State Ed.
Chef Dimitri and Brewer Hutch Kurgman from The Crossroads Brewery did a lovely job with beer pairing.

Best pairing of the night was Crossroads BPA with the rabbit dumplings in hot and sour soup.
Brewer Hutch sat and told us this BPA was a collaboration with the Great Adirondack Brewery.  It was brewed with  Belgian Westmall yeast, Amarillo hops and some experimental hop that doesn’t have a name yet only a number.  If you were to compare it to say Ommegang’s BPA Crossroads would be fruitier with a more complex hop aroma, richer mouth feel and smoother finish.The fruitiness of the BPA was a perfect  balance to the hot and sour soup.  The soup had such complexity of flavors you would have been hard pressed to pair it with a wine.

Sorry we drank the last keg of the BPA last night.  Let’s hope they make more.

Chef Dimitri did an out standing job with all the food. There is a lot of love in his food. You know a meal was great when you find yourself savoring that last bite of roasted parsnips, fennel and cippolini onion with the last sip of Outrage IPA.

Farm Brewerys= Hotels?

This from Edible East End

Allowing Farm Breweries to Open Restaurants: The legislation allows Farm Breweries to obtain licenses to operate restaurants, conference centers, inns, bed and breakfasts or hotels on or adjacent to the farm brewery. 
Selling Related Products: The legislation would allow farm breweries to sell beer making equipment and supplies, food complementing beer and wine, souvenir items, and additional products similar to those allowed under the Farm Winery statute.

          Text of the legislation is Here

I Hopped in it.

I really hop[ed in it  this week.  Council and I were having a beer and a tiny pizza at The City Beer Hall on a quiet Tuesday afternoon--it being council’s birthday and all. My cell phone rang.  I answered (odd in of itself).  It was Rick Karlin a reporter at the TU looking for info on hop growing in New York State--a subject near and dear to my heart. I gave him the 411 on NY hop growing.  Including history, craft beer facts and figures as well as contact info for people far more educated than myself.  Never once did I say Indian Ladder Farms would be brewing beer.  Sometimes it’s good to have a lawyer with you.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/State-raises-a-toast-to-local-craft-beers-3387247.php

Cold Beer and Ammo