“It really changed the trajectory of how quickly you could open up,” said Chris Spinelli, owner of ROC Brewing Company in Rochester and a NYSBA treasurer. A decade later, the region has more competition between brewers, more quality beer and more nationwide recognition, multiple New York brewers said. In an attempt to level the playing field between the beer and wine industries, the law also allowed brewers to develop satellite locations and lessened the cost of starting a craft brewery, fueling a movement that allowed New York craft beer to surge, many familiar with the industry said. Isaac Rubenstein, owner of Middle Ages Brewing Company, has watched the growth of the craft brewery scene in Upstate New York as the region has become a beer destination.
One of the first pieces of legislation of its kind in the U.S., the bill allowed breweries to sell directly to consumers without a restaurant to accompany their taproom. Over half a dozen people familiar with the industry attribute craft beer’s boom in the region to the Farm Brewery Bill, which the state passed in 2012. “It is a beer destination,” said Ian Conboy, a NYSBA board member and owner of Lucky Hare Brewing Company. Within the past few months, the state’s total number of craft breweries surpassed the total number of wineries for the first time in over five decades, the New York Liquor Authority told. Though New York was once known largely for wine, beer is now “emerging in high levels,” said Andrew Coplon, founder of a national coalition of brewers called Craft Beer Professionals. And a large portion of that growth has taken place in central and western New York, multiple board members from the NYSBA said.
Craft breweries more than quadrupled statewide between 20, according to the NYSBA, making New York the third-largest beer-producer in the country as of 2021. New York state is at the top of those upward craft beer trends too.
Unlike big name brands such as Budweiser, craft brewers are independent, their production is smaller and they use more traditional ingredients. The number of craft breweries across the country nearly doubled between 20, according to the Brewers Association, and craft beer volume sales increased by about 8% from 2020 to 2021. ANYA WIJEWEERA | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERĬraft beer has boomed nationally as well. The Middle Ages Brewing Company has grown in size and popularity, having both cases of beer and kegs in storage for customers.
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