SARATOGA SPRINGS – The thing that always impresses is the congeniality.
This was certainly felt among the hundreds of patrons who attended the Saratoga Beer Summit, who got to sample from over 160 craft offerings at the Saratoga Springs City Center during the two sessions held on Saturday, February 23rd. You’re about to see a lot of smiling faces, and none were forced. Further, even though there were jammed aisles throughout the evening session that we attended, there was no jostling or bumping to speak of; much more prevalent was the “excuse me” and “after you” that my colleagues and I heard. And very little spillage, or broken glass, considering…
But the congeniality that most struck me most was among the purveyors and vendors. The craft beer industry has come into full flower in the last decade or so, aided by tax incentives and better distribution – but it is still an industry, which implies a bit of competitiveness. But what you see here each year are brew masters and brewer-owners sampling each others’ wares and discussing things in the way members of a fraternity would behave at a mixer. Congeniality. And it is as refreshing to see as those crispy IPAs you all like (I personally go dark, my friend, but that’s just me.)
And a special note of thanks to my companions Nicole and Andrea on this evening. They ably held down the cider tasting portion of the offerings (with Angry Orchard Rose’ appearing to get their gold medals), posing with people – long-time friends and new – and trying a few beers along the way as well… and tremendous thanks to my colleagues at Townsquare Media, DeCrescente Distributing and gotbeer.com, and America on Tap for putting together a great event again.
A toast, and off we go! Enjoy the gallery.
Beer Summit Gallery: One Big Happy Family!
Arthur Gonick
February 24, 2019
