Ithaca Beer to launch 1st beer with New York-grown ingredients
Staff Writer |
Ithaca Beer will launch the state's first commercially produced beer made with predominantly New York-grown ingredients to be available year-round and statewide.
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Brew York is a pale ale that uses nearly 70 percent New York-grown barley and 100 percent New York hops. Produced with ingredients from local farms, Brew York will be available in both bottles and draft starting May 15.
Ithaca Beer's investment in this new product line supports Southern Tier Soaring, the region's strategic plan to revitalize communities and grow regional economies.
Ithaca Beer created Brew York to showcase the state's high-quality agricultural ingredients, and highlight New York's advancement in supply and pricing that makes it feasible for commercial brewers to commit to buying and using local ingredients.
Ithaca Beer is not licensed as a farm brewery, and therefore not required to use local ingredients; however, the company is dedicated to sourcing 66 percent of its malting barley from New York Empire Malt in Champlain, Clinton County and 1886 Malt House in Fulton, Oswego County.
The brewery is also exceeding New York's 2019 farm brewery license requirements by using 100 percent hops produced by Chimney Bluffs Hoppery in Wolcott, Wayne County and Ledyard Farms in King Ferry, Cayuga County.
The Farm Brewery License legislation was passed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in 2012 and went into effect January 1, 2013. It was designed to increase demand for locally grown products, and expand industry-related economic development and tourism.
Under the law, beer must be made primarily from locally grown farm products, and starting January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023, no less than 60 percent of hops and 60 percent of all other ingredients must be grown in New York State.
In addition to providing new business opportunities for producers, the farm brewery law has also led to a resurgence in New York's hop and barley production.
According to Cornell University, in response to a rising demand for locally sourced ingredients, the acreage of hops grown in New York nearly doubled from 2014 to 2016, while the acreage of malting barley increased by 374 percent over the same two-year period.
In 2017, New York was growing 400 acres of hops and 2,000 acres of malting barley, more than enough to meet the state's 60 percent threshold.
New York is also now home to 13 malt houses, all of which have opened following the demand generated by the new farm brewery license.
These have also generated employment and economic development for supporting industries, including bottling, construction, freight, printing and advertising, as well as growing agri-tourism in the state, augmenting New York's $100 billion tourism industry.
In February, Governor Cuomo announced that New York State is now home to 400 breweries, surpassing the previous record of 393 breweries set in 1876. ■