Beer Distributors Forced To Pay Up

Earlier this month four beer distributors in Chautauqua County were ordered to repay local taverns $108,000 in fees withheld from them for more than 10 years. The fees stemmed from New York's bottle bill which was passed to encourage recycling. The bill states that distributors must pay the establishments $.02 for each bottle that they return. New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo was happy to reach the agreement saying: "For years, these four distributors have withheld money from local Chautauqua County businesses and that ends today." The settelement was a result of an investigation by the Attorney General's office.

I decided to post this since I had only seen it in this one source. I usually see beer stories in multiple places so I was curious as to why a story like this would be so well hidden. It's hard to defend a lot of these beer distributors as they never have the best interest of the brewer or the consumer in mind. Hopefully this gets the word out. I look foward to placing calls to Arthur R. Gren Co., Inc., George Bentges Distributing, Inc., Salamanca-Area Beverage Co., Inc., and J&M Distributing Co., which does business as Certo Brothers Distributing to see what they have to say.

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Dundee Honey Brown Has Sick Graphics!

High Falls Brewing Company has recently completed an overhaul of their J.W. Dundee craft beer line. High Falls has dropped the J.W., now calling the line simply Dundee, and has overhauled their old design to a new more eye-catching graphics. The changes attracted our eye during a recent summer trip to Rochester. We picked up a mixed 12 pack and even reviewed the Pale Bock Lager, which we liked. In the past, several staff members were not huge fans of the J.W. stuff (completely passed their booth at TAP-NY) but have been pleasantly surprised by the new line.

It turns out that those new graphics are a product of some pretty fancy technology. The labels are made "using Eyeris enhanced beverage can printing technology from Ball Corporation. The can graphics feature a 150-line screen, which is likely the highest graphic resolution ever achieved in full scale beverage can production."

It seems that High Falls has not only improved the flavor of their beer, they are now the label graphic kings of the craft beer world. Once again, New York Beer holds top billing in a beer category. Let's all raise a pint in celebration of High Falls!

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Syracuse Beer Week

Syracuse Beer Week will be starting on November 2nd and running through November 8th. The event is being put on by GreatBrewers.com, and the primary focus is to "enhance beer knowledge and appreciation through a series of events in the great city of Syracuse, New York." The list of venues includes The Blue Tusk, Clark's Ale House and breweries included will be Middle Ages and Empire Brewing Company.

http://syracusebeerweek.com/

Ithaca TEN

I tried this beer at Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville, NY. TEN poured a cloudy apple cider color with an off white head. The aroma was mostly hops with some malt balancing it out. The first sip had plenty of malt with a hint of sweetness. The body is nice and rich, yet smooth before a dry lingering finish that is not overpowering. The beer left a nice hanging lace on the glass further evidence of the rich flavor profile of this beer. This beer was the gold medal winner at TAP-NY as the best beer in the entire state. Marcus Guiliano, owner of Aroma Thyme was ironically a judge on that panel. I highly recommend trying it as it is one of my favorite beers from this great company.