Cooperstown is probably best known as the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame and bed & breakfasts, but the small central New York town also has a vibrant craft beer scene. There’s actually the Cooperstown Beverage Trail, which features a meadery, cidery, and wineries in addition to breweries.
I visited Cooperstown for the first time with my wife in May, as we took a road trip from Pennsylvania to New York to Maine. We only stopped for one day in Cooperstown, and we were the specifically to see The Avett Brothers perform live at Brewery Ommegang.
But of course we had to do more than just visit the one brewery, because that’s what Brewery Adventures are all about.
Cooperstown Brewing Company
After I visited the Baseball Hall of Fame and Angie visited a farmer’s market, our first stop on our tour was Cooperstown Brewing Company, which is actually just south of Cooperstown in Milford. Since opening in 1995, they’ve been pairing beer and baseball in their industrial taproom. They also sit right next door to Cooperstown Rail Explorers, where you can go on a 12-mile round trip around the town on custom built electric motors.
The building was originally home to the Haight Cheese Company and was built in 1903. They have a brewing system from England and focus on authentic, traditional styles. The interior is all baseball themed, complete with a scoreboard. They also have a fairly large outdoor beer garden, which is where we sat to enjoy our flight.
I really enjoyed their Perfect Day Pilsner and Old Slugger Pale Ale, but the standout of our flight was Living the Maggie Life, a peanut butter brown ale.
Council Rock Brewery
Our next stop was Council Rock Brewery, which is a brewpub just south of the main downtown area. They’re more of a restaurant than a brewery, and their menu features American eats like sandwiches, burgers, and fries.
We each got a full pour here: I had the Full Nelson pale and and my wife Angie had the Leatherstocking brown ale.
Red Shed Brewery
Before hitting the concert and Ommegang, we had to of course check out Red Shed, which is basically across the street from Ommegang. Red Shed’s main brewery is in Cherry Valley and this is a taproom, but the venue is awesome with some great views and outdoor space. It was absolutely packed with people pregaming before the concert, and it was kind of a joy to sit back and enjoy a few beers while people waited in traffic to get into the Ommegang lot.
The space feels like a barn and they have a huge outdoor beer garden with multiple tents. There are some awesome views of the mountains and it’s about as picturesque of a place as they come.
Their beer was also very solid. I had the Barn Swallow Vienna lager while Angie had the Pumpkin Saison, which was good despite it being May. After that we decided to split the Ferryman Coconut Curry Export Stout, which was 8% ABV and the best of the three beers we tried.
Ommegang
After Red Shed was the main event at Ommegang. They usually have a few summer concerts per year, and while their main taproom is closed during these concerts, you still get a great experience of the brewery with the awesome and humungous outdoor space. You can see the sheer size of their production with huge grain silos and tanks outside, which makes for a cool backdrop for the stage.
Lake Street Dive opened for The Avett Brothers and put on a great high energy performance, and we grabbed a spot in the grass.
Ommegang focuses on Belgian and farmhouse styles, as they’re the U.S. wing of the Duvel Moortgagt along with Boulevard Brewing and Firestone Walker. We tried a few of the beers they had available during the concert, including Idyll Days Pilsner, Solera (tart golden ale), and Witte (wheat beer).
All in all, Cooperstown was a great experience and Ommegang definitely lived up to the hype.
Check out more Brewery Adventures here.