2011 Beer Year in Review: Craft Beer Exchange

With the end of the year approaching, we decided to look back at some of the noteworthy craft beer stories from New York in 2011.

A craft beer drinker has traditionally had two options when seeking out their favorite brews.  The first option is to find a beverage store that carries one's favorite labels.  Over the last few years, this has gotten easier as stores have seen the opportunity to profit off the rise in demand for craft beer, and have started to stock their shelves.  Unfortunatly, I have found that this has brought about several new problems, the biggest one being store owners leaving beer out way past it's maturity date. 

The second option for a craft beer fan has been to head straight for the source and purchase beer from a local brewery.  While this is one of my favorite ways to buy beer, it is not always the most practical.  While buying beer from the brewer is usually the most cost-effective and guarentees you the freshest beer, not everyone in New York lives close enough to a brewery to stop on the way home and stock up.

Brewers believe that the next big market opprtunity lies with grocery stores and conveinence stores.  This Summer, Sunoco hopped onto the crowded craft beer bandwagon by starting its Craft Beer Exchange program at twelve of its APlus convenience stores.  The program offerered customers the ability to created a mixed six pack of 12-ounce bottles for $9.99 as well as a choice of 12 rotating taps to fill up 64-ounce growlers. 

The Philadelphia-based company started the Craft Beer Exchange in the Buffalo area as a test program at twelve of its stores.  The feedback was so good that Sunoco decided to expand the program to fourteen locations in the Rochester and Southern Tier regions.

The list of Sunoco locations that participate in the Craft Beer Exchange.

• 5215 Sheridan Drive, Amherst, NY 14221
• 2977 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Amherst, NY 14228
• 6730 Packard Road, Niagara Falls, NY 14304
• 8000 Main & Transit, Williamsville, NY 14221
• 2546 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Tonawanda, NY 14150
• 402 Delaware at Grove, Tonawanda, NY 14150
• 1311 Sheridan & Military, Kenmore, NY 14217
• 2731 Delaware at Kenmore, Buffalo, NY 14217
• 2180 Bullis Street, Elma, NY 14059
• 5665 Seneca Street, West Seneca, NY 14224
• 1442 Union & Center Street, West Seneca, NY 14224
• 4949 Transit Road, Lancaster, NY 14086
• 1329 Ridge Street, Lackawanna, NY14218
• 13320 Broadway, Alden, NY 14004
• 1140 Lyell Ave, Rochester, NY 14606
• 210 S. Cayuga Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
• 265 Macedon Center Road, Fairport, NY 14450
• 5136 W. Taft Road, Liverpool, NY 13088
• 3550 Mt. Read Blvd, Rochester, NY 14616
• 101 Fayette Street, Manlius, NY 13104
• 1324 Latta Road, Rochester, NY 14612
• 484 S. Main Street, Canandaigua, NY 14424
• 147 Market Street, Potsdam, NY 13676
• 71 E. Main Street, Canton, NY 13617
• 2792 Wilmington Road, Lake Placid, NY 12946
• 1255 Arsenal Street, Watertown, NY 13601

The taps at the Latta Road Craft Beer Exchange

I was able to visit the Latta Road location in Rochester, NY over the holiday weekend.  The selection of taps was impressive and the selection of 6 packs was even better.  The beers available to creat your own 6 pack was solid. The prices ranged from about $9.99 to $17.99 per growler with  If there was a downside, it was that 4 of the 12 tap lines were out and that service was a litle slow, although that taps being low might have been due to the holiday weekend rush and the service due to the fact that an elderly man had fallen outside and a Sunoco attendant was dealing with the situation.

Sunoco seems to be onto something here.  The tap area was extrememly clean and the selction available was impressive.  With convenience and grocery stores are the next big thing for the craft beer industry and it will be interesting to see if other local chains such as Stewart's start to stock more craft beers.

NY Craft Beer Week Schedule: Rattle N' Hum

It is almost time for the fourth annual New York Craft Beer Week.  While you can find a complete list of all of the events here, we here at TheFoamingHead will be posting blogs highlighting all of the events thats some of the better bars and breweries will be putting on.  First up, is one of our favorite bars in the city, Rattle N' Hum.

9/13 – An invasion of AWESOMENESS by 12% imports

9/15 – Left Hand brewing Co tasting

9/16 – Barrier & Greenport Harbor kick off the week

9/17- Allagash v Ommegang v The Bruery v Jolly Pumpkin

9/18 Dogfish Head ‘Beer N Pig’ Brunch & Dinner – Tickets Only

9/19 Empire Brewing Co. Dave and Tim in the house!

9/20 Captain Lawrence blow out with Scott Vaccaro

9/21 Lagunitas v Green Flash Breweries

9/22 Stone Brewing Company w/Greg Koch

9/23 Ballast Point v Two Brothers Brewing Co

9/24 New York State of Mind – NY breweries ONLY!

9/25 Hill Farmstead ‘Beer N Pig’ Brunch & Dinner – Tickets Only

Dogfish to Help DeCicco's Open New Bar

Date: Thursday, April 14th  

Time: 6-8 pm

Location: 50 Independent Way

Brewster, NY, 10509
Phone: (845) 278-0836

Join Elizabeth Lyons from Dogfish as DeCicco's in Brewster Opens New Bar.  DeCicco's will have five different Dogfish beers on tap as well as 10 bottles for purchase.  Customers will receive a Dogfish glass with each purchase while supplies last.  Draft lines will include Red & White, Olde School, 90 Minute IPA on the Randall, My Antonia and bottles will include Namaste, Bitches Brew, Theobroma, Squall, Palo Santo Maron, and Chateau Jiahu.

The Vanderbilt to Host Dogfish Beer Dinner

The Vanderbilt is pairing up with Dogfish Head Brewery for a St. Patrick's Day themed celebration. Brooklyn dining founding father, Chef Saul Bolton will dish out his take on Irish food while Elizabeth Lyons shares the taste and tale of Dogfish Head’s craft brewed ales with every course.

The Vanderbilt invites food and beer lovers alike to join them on March 15th for rounds of crispy fried eggs, slow roasted lamb, soda bread and of course, the perfect beer pairing.
Please check out the menu (below and attached) for a full look at what the Prospect Heights gastropub will be serving to celebrate their Irish brethren.


House Smoked Salmon
Beets, turnips, and horseradish
Pangea

Crispy Fried Egg
Blood Sausage and potato hash
Squall

Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder
Potato, cabbage, and pearl onions
Red & White

Soda Bread Pain Perdue
Stout Ice Cream, cranberry compote
2007 Fort

$50.00 per person
Complimentary Dogfish Head Curved Pint Glass
March 15th 2011 @ 7:30PM

Tickets are available for $50/person (does not include tax & tip) and can be reserved over phone (718.623.0570) or email (info@thevanderbiltnyc.com).

570 Vanderbilt Ave # 1
NY 11238-3518

China Institute To Offer Dogfish Beer Lecture and Tasting

On October 7th, the China Institute will host Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione for a lecture and tasting of his 'archeological' beers that have recipes that date back to ancient civilizations. Anyone intrested can purchase tickets here.

Archaeology of Beers: Tastings of Ancient Ales

This two-part series will be jointly hosted by Dogfish Head Brewery’s founder and president Sam Calagione, Dr. Patrick McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Agnes Hsu, China Institute’s Resident Scholar and Consulting Archaeologist to UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Since 1999, Calagione has worked closely with McGovern, a leading molecular archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, to bring ancient brewing history back to life.

The first beer they created together was Midas Touch, based on molecular evidence found in a tomb in Turkey believed to have belonged to the legendary King Midas of Greek mythology.

The second ancient ale was Chateau Jiahu, based on an ingredient list unearthed from a 9000-year-old Chinese burial. This recipe is the earliest evidence of fermented beverage in the history of civilization—proving that drinks made from fermented grains (beer) have a longer history than beverages made from fermented grapes (wine). Chateau Jiahu was awarded the Specialty Beer Gold Medal at the 2009 Great American Beer Festival.

Their third creation, Theobroma (“Food of the Gods” in the Aztec language), is based on the chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras that showed evidence of the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink used by early civilizations to toast special occasions. Tastings of this ancient trio will be complemented by other exotic and seasonal ales that have become signatures of Dogfish Head’s craft brew masters.

Part I of the series will be hosted by Sam Calagione, Founder and President of Dogfish Head Brewery, who is also starring in Brewed, a Discovery Channel series about the fascinating history of beer making.

Part II will feature an in-depth talk by Dr. Patrick McGovern, Scientific Director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology. He is the author of Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture (2003) and Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages (2009), as well as over 100 periodical articles.

The Valley Table is the Hudson Valley's premier magazine for Hudson Valley farms, food and cuisine. The March-May 2008 issue lists Weihenstephaner's Hefeweissbier Dunkel, Flying Dog Brewery's "Wild Dog" Collaborator Doppelbock and Dogfish Head's "Olde School" Bottle-conditioned barley wine-style ale as their seasonal beer picks. I called Chef Marcus Guiliano at Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville, NY and asked him if he had any of the beers since Aroma Thyme has one of the most expansive beer lists in the area. He just happened to have all three on his list and invited me over to try the Dogfish Head "Olde School". Dogfish only produces five beers year round (one of which is available only in the Mid-Atlantic), but produces 18 more seasonal and limited releases. The Deleware brewery has recieved much acclaim over the years for their brews and have been praised for their innovation. "Olde School" is one of those limited releases and was launched in November 2007. The beer pours a dark orange copper with a very thin head. The beer is fermented with dates and figs, and the nose gives off a smooth, fruity smell with a lot of malt. The first sip hits the palate strongly and you can taste a wide range of flavors. This pattern continues into the mid palate before tailing off slightly into a very nice finish. The beer has a whopping 15% ABV but hides it nicely. The beer is very good now but will only get better with time as the flavors have a chance to balance out. I strongly suggest buying a four pack of this beer, tasting one now, and laying the other three down for a while. This rich, complex beer will only get better with time, as the flavors have time to smooth out.