With the guiding hand of Josh’s Aunt Lori we made the Ommegang Brewery stop number two on the Northeast brewery tour. Compared to Dogfish Head this one is very traditional, actually it’s traditional compared to anything. They specialize in Belgium style beers, using mostly imported Hops to capture the correct flavor. I’m a big fan of Belgium hops and wheat beers. Just a few months back we tried one of Ommegang’s well-known brews called Three Philosophers, even Josh liked the fruit finish.
After setting up the exhibit last Monday we meet up with the wonderful Storey family in Cooperstown and good times rolled out. Although part of the actual facility was not open for us our Docent was wonderful. You could tell he had a real love for the company and their mission. It was fun but this is no family operation, they are what’s referred to as a Regional Brewery now. They put out a lot of product to a lot of places. There is nothing wrong with that, but I’m not sure you’d still put them in with some of the other craft brewers. It didn’t feel like they still had the ability to brew and test small batches. I did really enjoy seeing how a smaller brewery works and all the staff members were very friendly. If you’re going to open everything up for tours that’s going to be part of the job. The only other facility I want to tour like this is the New Glarus.
The best part of the tour was ending in the tasting room. It was nice to try a few new ones and refresh memory with older ones.
The Roving Van Gelders 
It’s lovely to see so many small breweries…..so much stuff is mass produced. SHE watches a cheese show every week that shows the small cheese artisans around the world make cheese the way it once was.
XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella
Hope Irene doesn’t affect you.