Myself and the lady friend recently took off from our humble residences in Buffalo, New York with the goal of visiting two of our favorite breweries in the Cooperstown area and obviously a prolonged visit to the baseball Hall of Fame. The day didn't get started until about 11am Tuesday due to the lady working a late night at the job the night before. We arrived in Milford, NY, about ten minutes south of Cooperstown around 3:30 in the afternoon for our first brewery tour and tasting.
Cooperstown Brewing Company is a pretty cool little place that distributes from Boston to Buffalo. They offer six, sometimes seven, brews varying from a golden ale all the way to a stout which covered my palate and did not match well with my dinner. Both the lady and myself strongly suggest the "Pride of Milford" which is a strong English ale. They did not wish for us to take pictures inside the brewery which was a bummer but at least we got a photo of their bathroom which was very nicely decorated.
As I am sure you can imagine given their small distribution center this is a rather small brewery. I was told by the tour guide that what they do is really a large scale home brewing using the Peter Austin brewing system; which I am sure either meat or cheaptoy would be happy to explain to us unenlightened folks. The yeast for all of their beers is the "Ringwood yeast strain" which has been brought over from England and they spoke quite highly of it. I found it quite interesting that they use they same yeast over, and over, and over again. As I learned later this is not an uncommon practice. All and all I paid $6 for two tours, two tastings, and a slight buzz. Well worth it.
Upon my departure I picked up a 64oz of the Pride of Milford in a branded growler that I am starting to enjoy righttttttttt now.
From there we departed to Brewery Ommegang. Their website clearly states that they are open until 6pm after Labor Day. Their website is full of crap. At 5:07 pm we were turned away and told to come back the next day. It was probably for the best as that damned stout was stuck on my tongue and wouldn't go away. We went out for dinner, which stunk, and then to the hotel room to watch a Law and Order: SVU marathon which was totally intense.
Another day we must wait
I slept like a child the night before Christmas with thoughts of Abbey Ale and Kirby Puckett dancing in my head. We left the hotel to get to the Hall of Fame just as it opened at 9am.
The Hall is a wonderful place where baseball's past comes alive. I could have seriously spent 20 hours in there if time (read: girlfriend) would have allowed. The only nuisance we had in our entire time in the Hall was an old tour guide who insisted on telling me the history in the Minnesota Twins. Even after reciting all of the starters for the 1991 World Series team he continued to think I needed guiding throughout the Hall. After 20 minutes of his pestering we decided to watch a short film in an effort to ditch him. Thankfully it worked. I wish we would have taken more photographs but the lady friend's camera miraculously started to run low on batteries after she took about 40 pictures of the lake and rolling hills near our hotel and of me driving. Below are many of the photos that may be of interest to the citizens.
Sure they "are".
A few quick notes on the above plaques:
- Rod Carew's plaque, without question, houses the happiest looking man on a plaque in the whole museum.
- It is nice to see Harmon opted not to wear his Royals cap into the Hall.
- That is one good looking thumb next to the Kirby plaque.
- Okay, I will admit it, I had no idea Joe Medwick went by "Ducky Wucky".
And would you believe it or not but the Hall had a special exhibit on baseball paintings while we were there! These ones are for meat and 6.
Rockwell's classic ruined by a flash.
Some guy pointing to the outfield
Warhol's original print of Seaver
From this point on I will be making an awful lot of appearances in the photos; for this I apologize.
How is my Morneau doubles swing?
The FOTH's glove reads T-Nutts!!!
Thumbs down!
Costanza: The only Yanks fan worth his weight in salt
I have already taken up a ton of space here so I am going to move onto our next stop. If anyone is interested in more photos I will be more than glad to email them. Otherwise, it is time for some more beers!
Ommegang, not unlike the other brewery I visited is not nuts about people taking pictures of the inside of their operation. I did sneak a few in for the brewers in the house though. The main difference, other than volume, from the previous brewery we visited is that Ommegang naturally carbonates its beers. They also pasteurize them which makes for a longer shelf life but reduces flavor. Ommegang beers can be cellared and kept for 10 years where as Cooperstown Brewing Company's beers are good for about 5 to 5.5 months, at best. I am sure cheaptoy would be more than happy to explain to everyone about the pasteurization process and what it does to products if they are interested. Ommegang also announced that they will soon be releasing a new 10% chocolate stout in time for the holiday season. I enjoyed the Abbey Ale while the lady friend preferred the Three Philosophers. I think she liked that one more because I was driving home.
ALL FILLED WITH BEER!
Pretending to take one of the lady with her goofy glasses; actually getting the mashtun.
All and all it was an awesome trip. I bought two bottles of this and presents for a few citizens. I recommend anyone with the means or the time who can take this trip to do so in their lifetime. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't add one last photo:
Of course a future Hall of Famer from Buffalo!
*sorry if the formatting sucks. I worked on this for a while only to grow tired. I hope no one minds the post. If anyone has any additional questions about the trip I am sure I forgot some details that I could share in the LTE's. Enjoy.
I noticed a bottle of Old Thumper in that bathroom. I love that stuff! If you've never had it, find it, its a great anytime beer.
I do have to admit that I had no idea what a Peter Austin System is. A quick wikipedia search tells me he's the founder of the Ringwood Brewery.
And as for pastuerization, the only thing not boring I can say is don't get tea at Tim Horton's. They pasteruized some in my pilot plant, running it through heat exchangers that have had god knows what run through them over about 20 years, and sold it in stores. (of course, that batch has probably been sold out by now).
I've had the Old Thumper and concur. Excellent.
From Shipyard (maker of Old Thumper):
and from another site:
excellent photo journalism. two of your thumbs up
I suppose I did over do the thumbs up and thumbs down, huh?
Nicely done, Buffalo. FWIW, Warhol's Seaver portrait looks like it should be the jacket for a forgotten new wave LP.
Andy Warhol Presents the Tom Seaverground
I've never made a baseball painting, I suppose that I could Levine one up tomorrow.
Shades of R. Mutt. Or Jeter's Yankee Stadium bidet.
You're killin' me
smallsbeefalo, I keep telling Dr. Chop that Buffalo is missing us. Excellent work on the mash tun shot, you should start an undercover investigation unit focusing on small breweries.ps. As a former museum employee, I want to scold you on behalf of all museums (excluding the British Museum) for using your flash when taking photos of paintings /senseless rant
There was glass over it.... Plus the lady did it. I cannot be blamed for this.
I kid, I kid.
I DID IT FOR YOU AND 6!
Bravissimo!
It's worth noting that naturally carbonated beer is not pasteurized, and pasteurizing beer shortens shelf life. Yup.
Whoops. I stand corrected, thanks.
Man, I just reread that and I sounded like an ass, what I didn't add is that I'm really jealous and enjoyed your article. Cheers!
Please, it was a mistake. Don't spill your beer over it.
Man, I just reread that and I sounded like an ass...
Eh, I do that all the time. ;)
New here, huh?
First time commenter....long time reader :)
Welcome aboard, Tweety. You'll fit right in. The joint's lousy with beer snobs... :P
Hey, let's not forget what my favorite session beer is...
well played.
But please Tweety, get yourself a new picture, will ya?
like, say,
I hope to have my thumbs down of Burly used in a game log one day. That would please me to no end.
That would please me to no end.
+ me too.
I'm counting down the days until this happens.
Let's take note that we might have to use it after he strikes out a member of the Twins. Sure, it will be funny but it will not be used other than in a sad situation. Let's just hope it happens to elm'n with no one on base.
Gotta Cheer Up the Nation Some How.
Strange caps usage popped up there, but I'm too lazy to change it. Arrow keys are such a time waster.
how does one strike out on an UNO!?
Bugs Bunny was pitching?
I sat in the Ducky Medwick suite in Busch Stadium for the Twins-Cards game.
But where was the Wucky?
There was nothing in that suite that said "Wucky." I had no idea that there was a "Wucky" involved!
Yeah, Ducky I knew. Ducky Wucky?
I had this page open, and left the computer last night. At first, when my wife saw it, she thought the Killer plaque wsa John Paul II.