Kate Koenig, Arts Editor
From their exciting lineup of summer shows to their new brews and recent expansions, 2012 has been a happening year for Brewery Ommegang, located in Cooperstown, NY.
The State Times had the opportunity to speak with the Ommegang Special Events Coordinator Steve Hamilton to learn more about the brewery’s success in booking popular artists. With the help of the established production company Dan Smalls Presents, the brewery has booked a concert series for the summer that includes acts such as Cake, Death Cab for Cutie and Wilco. Dan Smalls has worked in partnership with Ommegang in the past, and has had experience working with acts including folk artists such as Levon Helm and Joan Baez to contemporary acts such as State Radio, The Goo Goo Dolls and Mac Miller.
In addition to its events as a concert venue, Ommegang has maintained excitement on the brewery end of things by introducing several new beers this year including Ommegang Seduction, a cherry porter at 6.8% ABV, Ommegang Art of Darkness, a strong Belgian dark ale at 8.9% ABV, Ommegang Biere de Garde, a Belgian golden ale aged over staves of oak and maple, and Black Duvel, a sweeter Abbey Ale made with Belgian candi sugar, a collaboration between Ommegang and Duvel’s best brewers. There will also be two limited edition brews, including the Belgian Independence Day Triple and the Ommegang Harvest Cream Ale. The brewery introduces four new brews each year as part of what they call their innovation series, which are brewed alongside the six core beers offered all year long. According to Hamilton, the goal is to keep the interest of the beer enthusiasts, and to “keep the beer world exciting.”
The brewery has also grown physically: just last year their visitor’s center was added, which houses a store, tasting room and café. Recently, they added on to the bottling hall for their kegging line, and have added several new fermentation and lagering tanks outside the brew hall. Ommegang hopes to continue to grow in this fashion to meet the needs of higher demand and production.
For more information on the brewery and upcoming events, visit www.ommegang.com.
Leave a Reply