Hoppy Trails from the ADK's!

by Ryan

So I have arrived to the northcountry and spent some time with Gregson & Rachel in Albany before trekking to Ti to see my mother. We brewed some beer and visited some damn good breweries: Brewery OMMEGANG, The Cooperstown Brewing Company, & Brown's Brewery. Here are some photos of the brewing process:

First you take a hop, ideally several hops

You're not looking at pea soup. These are hops decomposing in water.

These beer ingrediants will stink up your house for at least a day

The malt is added to the mix. REALLY sticky stuff! Don't spill!

Here's the finished product ready to be transfered to the Ale Pail and then bottled

This is done by way of gravity and a hose so as not to disturb the consistency of the beer.

The bottles are sanitized, stacked, and ready to be filled with life's elixir.

We recycled used beer bottles. Naturally not all of the bottles made the cut. Notice the tiny white speck at the bottom of the bottle. Spiders think that beer bottles make a great place to lay eggs. Needless to say, every bottle is checked thoroughly even before the sanitizing process begins.

After the beer is bottled, it is then capped with this nifty capping device.

I had a great time learning how to brew beer. I have left out many steps for time's sake, but it's a glimpse into the brewing process. These finished bottles are then stored in a dark environment for a given period of time (30+ days) depending on the type of beer.

We decided to be schooled even further in the brewing process by the good folks at Brewery Ommegang, Cooperstown Brewing Company, and Brown's Brewery:

Ommegang is a traditional Belgian Brewery making the finest quality Belgian Beer known to mankind. Alright, that's like my opinion, but it happens to be correct.

The Brewery is a reconstructed traditional Belgian farmhouse.

Nice silo thingy outside Ommegang

Best bathroom at Cooperstown Brewing Co

Outside of Brown's Brewery in Troy, NY. Here's a cool history lesson. Did you know "Uncle Sam" was from Troy, NY. What was that wikipedia? OH!:

"A businessman from Troy, New York, Samuel Wilson, provided the army with beef and pork in barrels during the War of 1812. The barrels were prominently labeled "U.S." for the United States, but it was jokingly said that the letters stood for "Uncle Sam." Soon, Uncle Sam was used as shorthand for the federal government."

Needless to say, Uncle Sam is the iconic, fictional, local hero of Troy. Here is "uncle sam's" gravestone in Troy:

Cool gargoyle drinking a beer at Brown's