Winery to open in Destiny USA

Listen up all of you slap-the-bag fans: Bellangelo, a Seneca Lake winery, plans to open a retail shop and tasting room in Destiny USA this month. The store, which will be a “New York state craft beverage parlor and farm to table mercantile,” according to the winery’s website, will be located on the first level of the mall’s expansion section. Customers will have the ability to taste and purchase from a selection of New York farm-based beverage producers. As a very casual wine-drinker I will not be rushing to Destiny to be the first visitor to the store, but the prospect of having a winery open shop in the mall is an exciting idea.

Empire Brewing Company to debut new beer

The Syracuse-based brewery announced on its website that it will be debuting their brand-new Berliner Weisse – Summer Sour on Saturday, September 12 at an event in Elmsford, New York. I have to assume that this new sour ale will be on tap at Empire shortly, although the decision to release it now is a little confusing. With temperatures starting to cool down most breweries are in full pumpkin ale mode (presumably including Empire), so a summer sour ale doesn’t really make sense at this point in time. Sour ales are not really my cup of tea either, but anything from Empire is worth a try in my opinion.

Pumpkin ales are back

If you have not noticed yet, the shelves at Tops, Wegmans and any other store that sells beer are once again totally and completely stocked with pumpkin ales. It seems as though more and more breweries are getting in on the pumpkin ale game, including some that probably should have stayed away (I’m looking at you, Sam Adams). You won’t find a bigger fan of pumpkin ales than myself, but I’ve made it a rule of mine not to crack open a bottle until the calendar flips to October. I’ll be putting all the best pumpkin ales out there head to head once that day rolls around, though.

Juice Jam

Ah, Juice Jam, the hardest you’ll be drinking on a Sunday all semester (presumably). Cheap beers and Juice Jam go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly, and while the difference between the “best” and “worst” cheap beers out there is miniscule, my recommendation would be Bud Light. The brew is a lighter version of Budweiser but still has most of the flavor as its Anheuser-Busch cousin. Cheap, smooth and not too filling. What more could you be looking for? If you’re looking for something with a little more flavor while still staying on the cheap side then look no farther than Stella Artois. It’s crisp and refreshing and a case of 24 cans will only run you about $25.

Heineken buys 50% stake in Lagunitas

The Amsterdam-based brewery announced on Tuesday that it had acquired a 50% stake in Lagunitas Brewing Company. The new partnership represents the latest move by an international brewery looking to get into the growing craft beer market in the United States. Craft beer attained a double-digit volume share of the U.S. beer market for the first time last year, according to CNBC, and the big players are taking notice. Anheuser-Busch, of Budweiser and Bud Light fame, spent an estimated $200 million acquiring four craft beer breweries this year, and is looking to get into the hard root beer market as well. What does the Heineken-Lagunitas partnership mean for you, the casual beer drinker? Pretty much nothing. But the craft beer market is on the rise, which can mean only good things.

The Yankees have a wine, and it’s probably better than they are

As if the New York Yankees could get any bigger, the Major League Baseball team partnered with Seneca Lake-based Anthony Road Wine Company to create a dry Riesling. Syracuse.com recently reviewed the wine, lauding its fruitiness and calling it a “grand-slam” (their words, not mine). No word yet on whether or not Anthony Road Wine Company’s head vintner tested positive for PED’s.

Published on September 10, 2015 at 7:45 pm

Contact Clayton: ckdyer@syr.edu