Fermenting Innovation in the Southern Finger Lakes
Armed with wild yeast and even wilder ideas, regional breweries and cideries are creating groundbreaking beverages
Ring Around the Lake
This scenic lake (Seneca), 38 miles long, more than 600 feet deep and stocked with plentiful trout, is circled by some of the region’s most deliciously surprising breweries. Start on the eastern side of Seneca at Lucky Hare Brewing Company (6085 Beckhorn Road, Hector; 607-546-2036), which you’ll spot by the old green truck parked near New York State Route 414.
Former marine biologist Ian Conboy and his mother and stepfather, Sue and Richard Thiel, opened the brewery in May 2016. They converted a century-old barn that once contained cattle and farming equipment into a three-barrel brewhouse, serving beers such as Fruit Salad, a zingy sour ale made with seasonal local produce, and a farmhouse ale flavored with local linden flowers.
“I want to make some real wacky stuff,” says Lucky Hare brewer and project manager Tony Cordova, sitting inside the brewery’s original taproom in a converted farmhouse. (Lucky Hare operates a satellite location in Ithaca and has moved beer production to a larger facility.) “We don’t really chase trends.”
We’ll say. On our visit to the snug and warm taproom, we sipped a refreshing cream ale swirling with glitter as well an IPA smoothed out with oat milk and the magenta-hued Beeting a Dead Horse saison—brimming with organic beets.
Lucky Hare complements its experimental beers with crowd-pleasers such as the sunny and citrusy Falcon Punch IPA, partly made with New York State hops, and an all-American corn lager suited for sipping outside, lake shimmering in the near distance. “We stand out by having high-quality beer and a lot of personality.”
What’s Old Is Freshly Brewed
Sometimes innovation is less about looking to the future than celebrating the past. Steer south around Seneca Lake to its western shores and you’ll find Seneca Lake Brewing Company (4520 State Route 14, Rock Stream; 607-216-8369), where the house specialty is classic British-style cask ales, gently carbonated via living yeast and hand-pumped into proper pint glasses at cool cellar temperatures somewhere around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
That’s the way the beer is meant to be served, not ice-cold and as gassed up as seltzer. “The hardest thing is when people come in and have no idea what cask ale is,” says Bradley Gillett, the principled British ex-pat. He grew up some 50 miles southwest of London, punching the clock at pubs, before a tech job took him to Texas and then New York City. With the ability to work remotely, he settled in the scenic Southern Finger Lakes, his job making it “achievable for someone like me to open a brewery,” he says.
He bought a 20-acre spread from his girlfriend’s aunt and outfitted the lakefront property with a brewery, an upscale campground with comfy canvas tents, and a Tudor-style British pub dubbed the Beerocracy. It’s decked out with dark wood, dartboards and a policy prohibiting cell phone usage, save for snapping pictures. Make a call and you’ll pay a $10 fine. “Most people obey the law,” Gillett says. “We’ve only collected $20.” (The fines went to charity.)
So pocket your phone and raise a pint of Baker Street, an agreeably malty British pale ale, or the floral Dunmore extra special bitter, flavored with New York State hops. The beers go well with the conversation and Gillett’s weekend Cornish pasties, maybe filled with Stilton cheese and stout-simmered steak, or perhaps slow-cooked leg of lamb, the baked hand pies as British as the beer. “If you’re going to do cask ale, do it properly because there’s a story behind it,” he says. “It’s too near and dear to my heart to go against my heritage.”
Put down a couple pasties before the winding, one-hour journey southwest to Cider Creek Hard Cider (6459 Cunningham Creek Road, Canisteo; 607-301-3244), part of a 2,500-acre farmstead where cattle roam, hunters can bag turkeys and deer, and Kevin Collins is putting a fresh shine on an all-American fermentation. Slowly navigate twisty, rocky Cunningham Creek Road until you reach a spacious, scratch-built building that’s by turns a tasting room and production facility, apple juice evolving into unusually elegant cider.
“I wanted to start a family business that would sustain the farm,” says Collins, whose father founded the property. Collins, who began making hard cider as a hobby, uses pressed New York State apples as a template for experimentation. He ferments Saison Reserve with Belgian brewing yeast, lending an earthy underpinning and tinge of tartness, while another version is finished with cranberry and mango juices for a sharply tropical twist. Beer also meets cider in Dreams of Charlotte, flavored with strawberries, guava and honey and fermented with the same wild yeast used to produce Belgian lambics.
There’s a ton to try, so we recommend settling into a seat in the spacious taproom, ideally with one of the cidery’s pizzas and some smoked wings. When the weather is agreeable, you can sip cider on the porch in a rocking chair while kids play in the grassy field, tall trees swaying above, musicians soundtracking every afternoon. At the end of the day, a visit to Cider Creek might be the apple of everyone’s eyes, a crowd-pleasing finale for an innovative adventure.
About the writer:
A Brooklyn-based beer, spirits, food and travel journalist who has written for numerous newspapers and magazines, Joshua M. Bernstein is a contributing editor in charge of beer coverage for Imbibe and the author of six books. Along with beer-writers Ben Keene and Kate Bernot, Bernstein offer their expertise and services by traveling to destinations and writing about the beer scene for Want Beer, Will Travel, providing an fresh and experienced third-party perspective.
Fermenting Innovation in the Southern Finger Lakes
Armed with wild yeast and even wilder ideas, regional breweries and cideries are creating groundbreaking beverages
Ring Around the Lake
This scenic lake (Seneca), 38 miles long, more than 600 feet deep and stocked with plentiful trout, is circled by some of the region’s most deliciously surprising breweries. Start on the eastern side of Seneca at Lucky Hare Brewing Company (6085 Beckhorn Road, Hector; 607-546-2036), which you’ll spot by the old green truck parked near New York State Route 414.
Former marine biologist Ian Conboy and his mother and stepfather, Sue and Richard Thiel, opened the brewery in May 2016. They converted a century-old barn that once contained cattle and farming equipment into a three-barrel brewhouse, serving beers such as Fruit Salad, a zingy sour ale made with seasonal local produce, and a farmhouse ale flavored with local linden flowers.
“I want to make some real wacky stuff,” says Lucky Hare brewer and project manager Tony Cordova, sitting inside the brewery’s original taproom in a converted farmhouse. (Lucky Hare operates a satellite location in Ithaca and has moved beer production to a larger facility.) “We don’t really chase trends.”
We’ll say. On our visit to the snug and warm taproom, we sipped a refreshing cream ale swirling with glitter as well an IPA smoothed out with oat milk and the magenta-hued Beeting a Dead Horse saison—brimming with organic beets.
Lucky Hare complements its experimental beers with crowd-pleasers such as the sunny and citrusy Falcon Punch IPA, partly made with New York State hops, and an all-American corn lager suited for sipping outside, lake shimmering in the near distance. “We stand out by having high-quality beer and a lot of personality.”
What’s Old Is Freshly Brewed
Sometimes innovation is less about looking to the future than celebrating the past. Steer south around Seneca Lake to its western shores and you’ll find Seneca Lake Brewing Company (4520 State Route 14, Rock Stream; 607-216-8369), where the house specialty is classic British-style cask ales, gently carbonated via living yeast and hand-pumped into proper pint glasses at cool cellar temperatures somewhere around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
That’s the way the beer is meant to be served, not ice-cold and as gassed up as seltzer. “The hardest thing is when people come in and have no idea what cask ale is,” says Bradley Gillett, the principled British ex-pat. He grew up some 50 miles southwest of London, punching the clock at pubs, before a tech job took him to Texas and then New York City. With the ability to work remotely, he settled in the scenic Southern Finger Lakes, his job making it “achievable for someone like me to open a brewery,” he says.
He bought a 20-acre spread from his girlfriend’s aunt and outfitted the lakefront property with a brewery, an upscale campground with comfy canvas tents, and a Tudor-style British pub dubbed the Beerocracy. It’s decked out with dark wood, dartboards and a policy prohibiting cell phone usage, save for snapping pictures. Make a call and you’ll pay a $10 fine. “Most people obey the law,” Gillett says. “We’ve only collected $20.” (The fines went to charity.)
So pocket your phone and raise a pint of Baker Street, an agreeably malty British pale ale, or the floral Dunmore extra special bitter, flavored with New York State hops. The beers go well with the conversation and Gillett’s weekend Cornish pasties, maybe filled with Stilton cheese and stout-simmered steak, or perhaps slow-cooked leg of lamb, the baked hand pies as British as the beer. “If you’re going to do cask ale, do it properly because there’s a story behind it,” he says. “It’s too near and dear to my heart to go against my heritage.”
Put down a couple pasties before the winding, one-hour journey southwest to Cider Creek Hard Cider (6459 Cunningham Creek Road, Canisteo; 607-301-3244), part of a 2,500-acre farmstead where cattle roam, hunters can bag turkeys and deer, and Kevin Collins is putting a fresh shine on an all-American fermentation. Slowly navigate twisty, rocky Cunningham Creek Road until you reach a spacious, scratch-built building that’s by turns a tasting room and production facility, apple juice evolving into unusually elegant cider.
“I wanted to start a family business that would sustain the farm,” says Collins, whose father founded the property. Collins, who began making hard cider as a hobby, uses pressed New York State apples as a template for experimentation. He ferments Saison Reserve with Belgian brewing yeast, lending an earthy underpinning and tinge of tartness, while another version is finished with cranberry and mango juices for a sharply tropical twist. Beer also meets cider in Dreams of Charlotte, flavored with strawberries, guava and honey and fermented with the same wild yeast used to produce Belgian lambics.
There’s a ton to try, so we recommend settling into a seat in the spacious taproom, ideally with one of the cidery’s pizzas and some smoked wings. When the weather is agreeable, you can sip cider on the porch in a rocking chair while kids play in the grassy field, tall trees swaying above, musicians soundtracking every afternoon. At the end of the day, a visit to Cider Creek might be the apple of everyone’s eyes, a crowd-pleasing finale for an innovative adventure.
About the writer:
A Brooklyn-based beer, spirits, food and travel journalist who has written for numerous newspapers and magazines, Joshua M. Bernstein is a contributing editor in charge of beer coverage for Imbibe and the author of six books. Along with beer-writers Ben Keene and Kate Bernot, Bernstein offer their expertise and services by traveling to destinations and writing about the beer scene for Want Beer, Will Travel, providing an fresh and experienced third-party perspective.
