Beer Trail in Ny State

[Thurm15]

About time NY does something to promote all the great Beer Brewed here in Ny State. Somethings fishy about it though and I feel it's just a Money making scheme that the State Police cooked up to get more of that DWI fine money!

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Lawmakers are encouraging residents and visitors alike to enjoy a tall, cold one. A bill making its way through the Legislature aims to create a New York state beer trail, similar to those the wine industry has successfully used to attract millions of oenophiles to the Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley and eastern Long Island.

Sponsors of the legislation say it will highlight the reemergence of breweries in New York and help brewers cash-in on the popularity of their oatmeal stouts, India pale ales and bitters.

Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, who doesn't drink, is sponsoring the bill not only to attract beer drinkers to the state, but also to honor New York's rich brewing heritage, which dates back to the 1630s when the Dutch West India Company established the country's first public brewery in New York City, he said.

A century ago, there were more than 40 breweries in the Brooklyn borough alone. Currently there are more than 60 breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs in all of New York state, according to the Brewers Association, a nonprofit trade association.

"Such a rich history of the brewing industry is here and we ought to be exploiting that if we can," said Lentol, whose district was the home of original Schaeffer brewery and currently hosts the Brooklyn Brewery, a regional outfit. "I can't think of any other state except Wisconsin that has as much brewing tradition as New York. It's part of our heritage."

Under the bill, which has already passed the Senate, the Empire State Brewery Trails Program would create an "I Love NY Beer" promotion that will include a brewery trail, vacation itineraries, and "brewery passports" with information on breweries and surrounding attractions as well as discounts and other incentives.

"We're delighted that the Legislature has recognized the importance of the brewing industry in New York state," said Stephen Hindy, Brooklyn Brewery's founder and president. "We think the promotion of the breweries will be good for tourism and good for sales of New York state beer."

Ed Kane, co-owner of the Great Adirondack Brewing Co., a microbrewery in Lake Placid that makes six or seven different beers, also toasted the idea.

"Anything to enhance `I Love NY' tourism, why not?" he said. "Even if you only got a few extra people a year, you can't sneeze at business. Having a trail would be marvelous."