It feels like we’ve be open for years and it’s really just been 3 1/2 months. During that time we’ve learned our brewing system, our ingredients (especially those sourced from local NY farms) and our customers. The analyst in me finds it really interesting to see what people buy and what they don’t. Much to the surprise of my assistant brewer, people like lighter beers rather than more flavorful ones or hop bombs. Our top sellers are light ales and Festive Trickster which is a hybrid beer (Festbier with Norwegian Farmhouse yeast -sorry style purists!). Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. They are well made, light and crisp, but still interesting. They all go great with almost any food and really that’s what you want in a beer if you are planning on having more than one.
That’s not to say that IPA’s don’t sell. They just aren’t the top sellers . It doesn’t matter if they are mine or from a guest brewery. My goal for this year is to get people to try darker beers. People in the know, know that our Red ale is awesome and None the Weizer is a great winter beer. We have a small but devoted following for our Toasted Black and Tan which is a unique beer owing to the malt we use. I’d like to see more people branch out from their comfort zones and try them. Having said that our goal remains making beer people want to drink rather than just taste. I think we are doing well in this regard.
