AREA FUN ON TAP
Annual Saratoga Beer Week set to begin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Beerlovers from throughout the greater Capital Region are getting ready for Saratoga Beer Week.
The annual event, now in its ninth year, promises fun, food and fantastic beer.
Following dozens of events at local bars within the Spa City throughout the week, Saratoga Beer Week culminates with two signature events: Saratoga Cider Night from and the Saratoga Beer Summit.
Saratoga Cider Night will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21 at the Saratoga Springs City Center, located at 522 Broadway in Saratoga Springs.
“We’ll be featuring 60 ciders and spiked seltzers from over 30 different cider and seltzer makers – local, national and internationally,” said event spokesperson Brigid Clare, noting that featured brands are Citizen Cider and the new Bud Light Seltzer. This event will also include live music by local act aCoustiK, and gluten free food options for guests to enjoy.
“Cider Night has exploded in recent years and we heard a lot of feedback asking for seltzers, especially as it’s another gluten free option,” Clare said.
The next day, thousands are expected to flock to the City Center to attend the Saratoga Beer Summit. This event has two sessions, one from 1 to 4 p.m. and another from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22.
VIP ticketholders get early access and an extra hour of sampling, vouchers for food, and a souvenir Beer Summit beanie. All- day entertainment will be provided by The Coverups. For this event, “We’re featuring beer from Founders Brewing, Walt & Whitman Brewery, and Guinness,” Clare said, noting that local favorites like Unified Beerworks, Common Roots, Sloop and Rare Form will be at the event as well.
“Summit has always been a great event and having these local breweries involved and present is great for them and for us,” Clare said. “It’s just a really fun time to get out of the house during a long upstate New York winter and sample some great beer (and ciders and seltzers too).”
For food, event organizers have teamed up with local eateries BWP Saratoga, Ribbon Café and Esperanto to provide concessions, “which is great that we have these awesome local options for attendees,” Clare said, adding that other local vendors will also be selling jewelry, tshirts, hats and other products.
Over the two- day period, local radio personalities from 107.7 GNA, Q105.7, and ESPN 104.5 will be pouring beer and cider and hanging out with the crowd as well.
Local breweries love being part of Saratoga Beer Week’s festivities.
“We look forward to Saratoga Beer Week/Summit every year as it draws a large, lively crowd, and gives us the chances to touch base with potential future customers just a short drive from our home in Albany,” said Sam Pagano, head brewer at C.H. Evans Brewing Company.
This year, the brewery is bringing its Ditch Digger IPA, a New England IPA that’s soft and juicy,
as well as Smile More, a sour ale featuring 50 gallons of New York state concord grape juice.
Saratoga Springs brewery Artisanal Brew Works is participating in Saratoga Beer Week for its fourth year, since it opened in 2016. “Every week is Beer Week here at Artisanal Brew Works,” said Daniel Kravitz, the company’s general manager and director of sales, but during the official beer week the brewery does some special offsite events.
This year, those will include a pre-Beer Week tap takeover on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Spa City Tap & Barrel, and another tap takeover at The Local on Tuesday, Feb 18, along with the Beer Summit, where the brewers will share some of their latest treats.
Events like these offer great exposure to craft beer drinkers, Kravitz said. “We really appreciate being involved. We love the city of Saratoga, and everyone that resides in it and all craft beer drinkers far and wide.”
Rare Form Brewing Company of Troy has been involved with Saratoga Beer Week for five years. “It’s always a good time and a great way to introduce our beer to the Saratoga market,” said Greg Back, director of sales. “This year is our first with a steady supply of canned offerings like Troy Division IPA and Moxie DIPA, which opens up a whole new market for us, and we plan to bring many of our core portfolio beers to Saratoga on a near- constant basis.”
He continued, “Beer Week is the time when we get to build relationships with the bars and restaurants while simultaneously interacting directly with our consumers, which is a win-win for us.”
Recently, Rare Form Brewing Company and Bolton Landing Brewing Company collaborated to create a new brew called Oakey Dokie, an oaked IPA that will make its debut during Saratoga Beer Week, with a launch on Wednesday night at Saratoga City Tavern.
“We are thrilled to once again partake in the Saratoga Beer Week,” said Brendan Murnane, president of Bolton Landing Brewing Company. Saratoga is a great city that loves and appreciates craft beer from the area.”
After a workweek filled with tap takeovers, food pairings and other special events, “The Saratoga Beer Summit is always a great way to cap off Saratoga Beer Week,” said Greg Chanese, marketing manager for Adirondack Pub & Brewery in Lake George. “Lots of times we’ll bring some of our newest products to the event to share with all the craft beer fans. This year we’re bringing a preview of some of our barrel-aged beers that will be a part of our 9th Annual Festival of Barrels on March 7th.”
Ahead of Saratoga Beer Week 2020, Northway Brewing Co. in Queensbury worked with a few fellow local businesses to make three different collaboration beers: an oatmeal stout called Oatbituary made with Death Wish Coffee, a Chocolate Cherry Stout in partnership with Barkeater chocolate of North Creek and a brand new sour beer that uses Argyle Cheese Farmer yogurt as the souring agent. All three beers will be available at The Barrelhouse on Beekman Street starting at 6 p.m. on Friday as well as both sessions of the Beer Summit.
“We are very excited about this year’s beer week,” said Northway Brewing Co.’s director of sales and operations Max Oswald, who has been a part of beer week since it started.
Another longtime participant in Saratoga Beer Week is Brown’s Brewing Company. Founded in 1993, this Collar City-based brewery is one of the first craft breweries to open in New York state since prohibition. Though it’s based in Troy, Saratoga Springs is special to the folks at Brown’s Brewing Company. One of Brown’s featured brews for Saratoga Beer Week is an IPA called Joann, named after co- owner Kelly Brown’s mother, a lifelong Saratoga Springs resident.
“Saratoga is really important to us, because it’s a really great walkable town, and there’s so much great beer available. So, to have a beer week up there kind of makes sense,” said Pearson Constantino, director of marketing and sales for Brown’s Brewing Company. “People can stay safe, but still experience a lot of really, really incredible liquid.”
New to the Saratoga Beer Week scene this year is Walt & Whitman Brewing, a new brewery located at 20 Lake Ave. in Saratoga Springs. “We are so thrilled that beer week is coming up,” said coowner Will Crager. “It is another great opportunity for us to introduce ourselves to new guests and craft beer enthusiasts.”
Walt & Whitman Brewing is sponsoring the tasting glasses distributed at this year’s Beer Summit. “So Walt will be there enjoying the scene with everyone,” Crager said, referring to the cartoon Walt Whitman in the company’s logo. “He is pumped!”