Craft Beer Sampling at Saratoga

Craft beer tasting is worth the visit on Fridays at Saratoga. (Photos courtesy of Geoff Worden)
Saratoga Race Course hosts Taste NY: Craft Beer every Friday from noon to 5 p.m. in the Pavilion. Be sure to stop in and partake of a fun exploration on New York beer. I had a blast.
The event location, time, price and admission policy are the same as Thursdayʼs Taste of NY featuring wine, spirits and cider. If you need one, here’s a map.
For this tasting I persevered and sampled nearly every beer available. Here are my notes, in no particular order:
Brewery Ommegang has a strong reputation well beyond the local area and it has been too long since I drank their beers. The Witte (Flemish for white) is a wheat beer that is usually unfiltered (slightly cloudy) and brewed with spices like coriander and even orange peel. This one has the classic nose of fresh wheat and citrus with a perfect color. I found this version hoppier than some other whites but that was not a negative. Some people say wheats are too sweet for them, this one offers all the classic notes but with a drier bite. Nirvana IPA is their American-style IPA and it confused me a bit. There was the expected hoppy mid-palate and the bite on the finish but it seemed a bit sweeter than most IPAs. I wasnʼt unhappy with it and Americans typically talk dry but drink sweet so maybe itʼs perfect. Rare VOS is a Belgian Amber and brewed similarly to the Witte with coriander and orange peel as well as grains of paradise but is darker and richer. I loved it and called it “Witte on steroids.” The gentleman pouring that day nailed it with “drinkable complexity.”
Captain Lawrence Brewing Company offered a Belgian-style ale called Liquid Gold which also had some coriander added during brewing. I found the beer creamy and gentle with a long finish and very subtle bitterness. This beer wanted food but didnʼt need it, a soft pretzel sprung to mind. Kolsch is always a favorite of mine, it falls between ale and lager in style and this was a good example. The palate was light and pretty with a high-toned finish and a lingering touch of roasted malt. It is delicious and I could drink it all day long.
Saranac brought their Legacy IPA which left me cold last year but I thought I would try again. They use lighter malts which explains the lighter color. I found tartness on the front end and juicy dryness on the finish, followed by a snap of hoppy-ness. It is a moderate IPA, not trying to intimidate you and it would be a good introduction to IPA for those interested in trying the style.

CRAFT BEER TASTING AT SARATOGA

Lake Placid Pub & Brewery offered an English Strong Ale with lots of roasted flavors and aromas and a fairly dark color. The palate was smooth and had a robustly roasted element, not as strong as coffee but rich. The finish was dry, mouthwatering and, while it was smooth as silk, still made you pay attention. A bit much on a warm day but a great beer.
Hurricane Kitty was the entry from Keegan Ales. The namesake is not an actual storm, but the brewmasterʼs grandmother who apparently drove rather quickly, and maybe recklessly as well. At any rate, it is an IPA with a medium brown color and a great mix of hoppy and roasted aromas. A hint of sweetness on the entry gives way to a dry finish. This would pair really well with food from the grill but itʼs also a good one to drink while grilling.
Druthers Brewing Company offered one beer that got my attention when a taster poured the rest of his out on the ground and made a gagging face to his friends. The woman pouring brought him a different option and I headed over immediately to see what caused the commotion. He clearly hadnʼt paid much attention to the description, she was very clearly explaining to everyone that it was a sour beer. First, however, I tasted their Brevity Wit, a Belgian style white beer, like Ommengangʼs Witte. This was clean and fresh with less of the wheaty aromas. It is a subtle version that didnʼt have too much of anything and just about screamed for a warm day and a beach or pool. It went down very easily. The Gose (pronounced “go-za”), they also call it “The Dare,” is a sour beer with coriander and citrus but also some lactobacillus bacteria which creates a unique sourness. Slightly cloudy, with a lightish color, I found it tart, like a kiwi, and delicious! I could easily understand someone not liking it, especially if they expected a “regular” beer but I absolutely LOVED it! My mouth watered for more than a minute after just a little taste.
Adirondack Brewing poured their Iroquois Pale Ale, another American IPA. A light color led to a seriously hoppy nose and got me excited about an intense taste. For my palate, however, the finish was too delicate and subtle, almost timid, and did not match the nose at all. It tasted like two different beers. Drinkable but not worth seeking out. Their Dirty Blonde was much better.

CROWD AT TASTE NY

Olde Saratoga Brewing Company had their Lager and IPA (click here for last yearʼs positive review of the latter). I opted for the former this time around. It was easy, clean, refreshing and offered more than the color would lead you to expect. A subtle roasted flavor appears on the finish. It features really nice balance and character that needs no explanation. This is a beer with actual flavor that will please a lot of different palates.
Brownʼs Brewing Company had a few entries. The Riveter IPA was soft and round, not what I usually expect in an IPA, but tasty enough. The bitterness didnʼt seem well integrated into the rest of the beer. The Oatmeal Stout was fantastic, easy to drink, not too heavy yet full of flavor. The finish tasted amazing and lasted a long time. Stouts often fatigue my palate but I wanted a lot more of this one. Plus, if horses drank beer this would probably be their favorite. The Cherry Razz had lots of fans that day. They crush whole cherries and raspberries to get the flavor and, while I love the purity of the concept, the fruit didnʼt shine through enough for me. The relatively dark color got my attention since most fruit beers are fairly light. I found it more “beery” than fruity, not a terrible thing but it seemed like a beer stuck in the middle: if you wanted fruit it might not be intense enough but if you wanted a more standard beer it would be too fruity. People loved it though.
1911 made a reappearance for the beer event with Raspberry Hard Cider. The aroma was bursting with raspberries and the apple aromas and flavors were a bonus. Not too sweet but very juicy, I loved this. Simple and easy, a cooler of these would be a major hit on a hot day.
When itʼs all over, you can go enjoy Party in the Paddock with a decent selection of beer and a free gozinta (because beer “goes into” them) to keep them chilled. Or just find a nice perch and relax.
A NICE PERCH AT SARATOGA