SUMMIT OF SUDS
Big crowd checks out craft beers at event
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.
» America on Tap’s Saratoga Beer Week came to a close Saturday with a soldout Saratoga Beer Summit, a joyful and festive collection of 160 craft breweries offering samples of their products.
This was the company’s seventh Saratoga Beer Summit. Going by the size of the crowd packed into the City Center, the enjoyment of craft beers is still expanding.
The summit and its tables of tapped kegs and ice cold cans of brew along with its friendly “temporary” bartenders brings Beer Week to a close each year.
With a rock band playing softly in the background, tables of snacks close by, and beer available to be sampled everywhere, this was heaven for those who love their suds.
“We had 250 for our first annual whiskey night Thursday at the Canfield Casino and 1,400, a sellout,
for Friday’s cider night,” Ashley Keating, director of live events for America On Tap, said early Saturday afternoon. ”We’ve got two sessions today for the Beer Summit — 1,500 tickets each — and there’s only about 50 left for Session II which starts at 5 p.m.”
Advance tickets were $40 for general admission for three hours of sampling and $60 for a VIP ticket that got one an extra hour before the general admission ticketholders were allowed in. The VIP tickets were limited to 300 and gave samplers a little more space for their tasting before the crowd arrived.
Randy Bakken and Lexi Slavin of Dutchess County sprung for the VIP ticks. The couple walked to the City Center after sampling four beers from Schmaltz Brewery as part of a beer breakfast at the Saratoga Arms where they were staying.
“We came out for the collection of beers,” Bakken said as he sipped a sample. “I like to walk around and sample the ones I’ve never tried first, while I’m sober. If I don’t, all is lost.”
The couple gave high marks to the breakfast where the meal’s four courses were accompanied by four different beers .
“The last course was French toast and it was like candied fruit,” Bakken said. “It was accompanied by Schmaltz’s 838 Plump Monk, and it went with it very well,”
The man who put the beers together with the meal was Mike Thompson of Schmaltz Brewers of Clifton Park.
“The hotel gave me the menu with just a general idea of what they would prepare for each course and I picked out our Slingshot Lager, the Plump Monk, Pastrami Pilsner, and Messiah Pilsner,” Thompson said. “Then the chefs and I had a sampling and they put the menu together. I like to be there to answer any questions about why we chose the beers we did for each course.”
Paul DeMarco, his wife, and five family members and friends came up from Duanesburg for the beer event. All seven were wearing pretzel necklaces, the only food allowed to be carried in to the Summit.
“This is my third one,” DeMarco said. “It’s become an event for family bonding. My wife made everyone two necklaces last night. She’s also the designated driver.”
To the rear of the City Center’s big room, where a crowd had gathered to see a Ricky Bobby impersonator in full racing togs including helmet and Wonder Bread logo, brothers Jeremiah and Zachery Pond from Malone waited for friends.
“This is my fifth one,” Jeremiah Pond said of the Summit. “It’s fantastic. I’m sorry to have missed the first two. We’ve got nine people coming down. We stay here and make a weekend of it. It’s great.”
Mike Medbury was sipping a beer and enjoying the light crowd thanks to his VIP ticket.
“I’m drinking Jubilation 20. It’s 16.8 percent alcohol. This is a tough one,” he said. “This is my fourth Summit.”
Medbury and his wife live just outside Poughkeepsie but his wife is originally from South Glens Falls . They schedule a visit to see family around the Beer Summit.
“It’s my birthday. The VIP ticket was a present from my wife,” Medbury said.
At the table for Artisanal Brew Works, 41 Geyser Road, Saratoga Springs, owner and brewer Colin M. Quinn was pulling samples of Session Pale Ale (AKA SPA), Trifecta IPA, and Daily Double IPA.
Pulling beers next to Quinn was his partner in the business, Kurt Borchardt. Quinn was asked what was the most heavily requested.
“The Daily Double,” he said never spilling a drop.
When asked what possesses someone to open a brewery, he took a breath and gave a short answer.
“You’ve got to be crazy,” he said. “You’ve got to have a screw loose.”
When asked if Borchardt felt the same, Quinn laughed.
“He’s crazier than me.”