Odds, ends, wild ales, and unexpected partnerships
A new look for Genesee classics, new wild ales from Other Half, and some historic fun at a local musem.
Note: This newsletter is supported by Donnelly’s Public House, a wonderful canal-side establishment in the village of Fairport.
There’s a lot going on. I am excited about a whole slew of things. Here are just a few of the events and beers I’m excited about right now.
More In Bloom stunners
This is just an appreciation post for the Other Half FLX crew. It's pretty wild and amazing to see world-class wild ales coming out of Ontario County. The latest batch from the In Bloom series, a new lineup called Temporal, features locally sourced fruit and the brewery's house yeast. This release included four different wild ales. My favorite, rather unexpectedly, was the melon beer.
Advertisement: For exemplary takes on traditional styles and the best pretzel in town, make sure to visit Sager Beer Works in Rochester.
Genesee’s new look
I arrived home yesterday to an unexpected package from Genny. Inside a neat little box were four cans of beer, two Genny Lights and two red eyes. I didn’t expect them to have new labels.
Two classics — Genesee Beer and Genesee Light — have a new look. Genny announced the rebranding in a series of targeted mailings to beer luminaries (myself included) across the region. It’s unclear when the new looks will be rolled out or if other beers will get refreshes.
More to come.
A striking pair of collabs
I was over-the-moon excited when I saw Other Half FLX, one of the most recognizable brands in global craft beer, was collaborating with Honeoye Falls newcomer Okay Beer Co. Other Half is the proverbial straw that stirs the Finger Lakes drink. Ask outsiders about what they know or recognize from this area and Other Half is surely one of the first two or three things (outside of Genesee and Mortalis) that you’re sure to hear about. That’s why it is so cool and empowering to see OH FLX working with a brand new spot like OBC, which just started releasing its own beers in June.
The two breweries completed a de facto home-and-home series with one beer produced at each spot. The two made a juicy pale ale in Bloomfield and then teamed up for a yeast-forward table beer in Honeoye Falls.
The partnership demonstrates the power of breweries working together. It surely brought attention to Okay Beer and established more goodwill for OH FLX. It’s an example of an established spot lifting up the new guy. (Other Half has already worked with Rochester-area spots like Mortalis, Genesee, and Fifth Frame.) And I hope we see more and more of it.
I would love to see OH team up with other local spots. How about a dry-hopped lager with Naked Dove or an overly fruited sour with Frequentem. (And the endless possibilities just keep going and going.) Because our scene will continue to grow stronger as each and every brewery improves. One of the best ways to accomplish that is through camaraderie.
Historic fun at GVCM
One of the coolest spots in this region, the Genesee Country Village & Museum, is hosting its Hop Harvest Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10. I’m gonna try to summarize everything this event entails (and I’m gonna fail). You can tour the museum’s working 19th-century brewery, sample local beers (both historic and modern), learn about local hops, listen to live music, and hang out in a beer garden. Tickets and more info available here: https://www.gcv.org/events/hop-harvest-festival/.
The museum grounds include the Grieve’s Brewery, a reconstructed 1803 spot from Geneva with pieces from other historic buildings. At Grieve’s, you can learn about how beer was brewed in the 1800s. And through its partnership with Rohrbach, you can try two historic beer styles — Stocking Hill wheat ale and Fat Ox American brown ale.
Genesee Brew House bday!
The Genesee Brew House, which I've long contended is both the gateway to the Genesee Brewery and to the entire Rochester beer scene, is celebrating its 10th birthday from 2 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10. It will be the first in-person event at the Brew House in nearly three years.
Under the stewardship of brewmaster Dean Jones, who has really become the mayor of Rochester beer, Genny invested $4 million and transformed the former plumbing supply warehouse (its last use before it became a brewpub/museum) into a Rochester landmark.
The birthday party will include live music from Tommy Brunett and Claudia Hoyser, as well as local food trucks in the Brew House parking lot. Two Genesee beer trucks will be serving up Genny classics and Brew House originals.
For more event info, check out Genesee Brew House on Facebook.
A fun afternoon at Frequentem
Frequentem, the adventurous and inviting Canandaigua brewery, just celebrated its second anniversary (can't believe it has been that long, especially during a pandemic) with the release of 10 new beers. (That's an intimidating and goofy number.) Through sampling and to-go beers, we were able to try most of the new offerings and came away incredibly impressed. The Foeder-Aged Black Lager, now in its third iteration, remains a favorite, and the rum barrel-aged hyper fruited sour drank exactly like the rum punch cocktail it was mimicking.
Title sponsor: Donnelly’s Public House
This work is made possible through support from Donnelly’s Public House, 1 Water St. in Fairport. So make sure to get out to Fairport and support one of the best establishments in our area.
I remain open to sponsorships, sponsored content, and advertisements, especially if it’ll keep the newsletter free for readers. And if you have information about upcoming releases, events, or happenings, don’t hesitate to reach out. For more information, feel free to drop me a line at clevelandprost@gmail.com.
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I've got to get my hands on some of those OH Wild Ales, and get down to Okay Beer sometime soon. I've heard great things. Also, Frequentem dropped *10* new beers for its second anniversary? 10?? That's how you do it, man...