Craft beer enthusiasts flock to CNY Brewfest
Beer enthusiasts flock to CNY Brewfest
Jason Purdy likes a challenge. Heâs been trying to stay ahead of the curve to make next yearâs pour of craft beer better than the one before it. This time, he added a Friday night VIP section to the longest-running Brewfest in Central New York at the New York State Fairgrounds for the 24th time.
Featuring more than 100 breweries and 200 beers, entertainment from soul-grass jam band Soul Risinâ and the Syracuse University menâs basketball game against ACC rival University of Pittsburgh on the jumbo screen, a record attendance was expected.
Combined with online sales, each session between Friday and Saturday brought over 2,000 beer lovers together for a taste of breweries located near and far. For Purdy, owner of Now & Later Bottle Shop and Tap Room, itâs about establishing a relationship between the drinker and the seller.
âYou get both kinds of people, people who just want to try a bunch of stuff, and maybe some who just want to try something they havenât had before,â Purdy said.
The saying âoften imitated, but never duplicatedâ guided the idea for Purdyâs fourth annual planning of the event. The Brewfest kicked off Friday night with a new addition to the festival â a VIP session that catered 16 breweries and just over 30 beers. The challenge of creating something new and memorable like the red-haired monster that donned each beer flight cup, was accepted.
Purdy and his CNY Brewfest team extended the variety of beer choices this year by inviting new breweries that donât have a distribution connection to Syracuse, while also keeping unique Syracuse brewers, like the Eastwood Brewing Company.
Pete Kirkgasser, owner of Eastwood Brewing Company, has been going the extra mile for over thirty years to create beers that have a lasting taste.
Attributing diversity of breweries to the success of the Brew Festival, Kirkgasser said, âItâs the one place you can try a variety of beers from everywhere, itâs incredible, itâs the best of the best.â
Kirkgasser brought six barrels of beer from the second oldest brewery in town. Whatâs the best way to taste a beer at Brewfest? Kirkgasser said it depends on the beer style.
âIs the beer style hitting what the style requires? Does it have uniqueness, does it exist anywhere else?â and, most importantly, he added, âDoes it have everything for maximum flavor?â
Beer was poured, minimal glasses shattered and the sound of Soul Risinâ kept the mood alive.
Next year, Purdy and his team will set the stage for their fifth direction and 25th Annual Brewfest when it returns to the Fairgrounds in January 2021, with hopes of taking on new challenges and meeting new expectations for the craft brewery lovers of Central New York.
