Schoharie County producers blaze Beverage Trail

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kyle Adams

Doug Plummer, right, Sharon Springs mayor and owner of the American Hotel, samples local mead at the launch of the Schoharie County Beverage Trail Thursday, June 25, 2015, at the historic hotel.

Four craft beverage producers in Schoharie County have banded together to launch the Schoharie County Beverage Trail, which will link two distilleries, a brewery and a meadery in a driving tour of the county.

“The Schoharie County Beverage Trail is something new. It’s fresh. It’s going to draw people here,” said Scott Ferguson, president of the Schoharie County Chamber of Commerce and chairman of Schoharie County Tourism. “It draws on our county’s historic, agricultural roots in a fresh, new way.”

The trail, announced Thursday afternoon at the American Hotel in Sharon Springs, will officially go live Aug. 1. It will include KyMar Farm Winery and Distillery, Green Wolf Brewing Co., Royal Meadery and Barber’s Farm Distillery, taking visitors through Charlotteville, Middleburgh, Richmondville and Fultonham.

On the way, said Ferguson, they’ll see “all the beautiful things that Schoharie County has to offer, so they can stop and stay or plan another trip to come back again and again.”

The trail has the backing of Schoharie County Tourism as well as Under the Nose gift shop in Middleburgh. It’s designated a Cuisine Trail by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, dedicated to producers of distilled, brewed and fermented beverages from locally grown ingredients.

At KyMar, head winemaker and head distiller Ken Wortz uses ingredients from local growers to create spirits like the sorghum-based StoryHouse Vodka. Justin Behan, head brewer and president of Green Wolf, sources hops for his beers from farms in Middleburgh and Fulton. At Royal Meadery, a START-UP NY company that just celebrated its grand opening, head meadmaker Greg Wilhelm mixes locally produced honey with fruits, berries and other ingredients from local farms. And Barber’s Farm Distillery’s 1857 Potato Vodka is distilled from potatoes grown on the 158-year-old family farm.

Those kinds of stories about the product are increasingly important to consumers, especially when it comes to food and beverages, according to those at the launch Thursday.

“More and more, people want to know where their food comes from,” said state Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball. “This marketplace is hungry. And they’re thirsty. And they’re not just thirsty and hungry for our products, they also want to know who we are, where we are and how we do what we do.”

Vincent Bradley, chairman of the state Liquor Authority, said the trail fits a growing trend of craft beverage producers in the state — and that’s no accident.

“This collaboration mirrors Governor [Andrew] Cuomo’s efforts over the past five years to partner with the craft beverage industry to overhaul laws, implement business-friendly regulations, create new farm-based manufacturing licenses, and launch aggressive promotional campaigns to spur a resurgence in craft beverage manufacturing throughout New York state,” he said Thursday.

The result has been a doubling of the number of farm-based beverage producers in the state since 2011, he said.

In addition to the four beverage producers, the trail will also include a list of “Friends of the Trail,” businesses like shops and restaurants that support the craft brew industry and farm-to-table movement. A full list will be available at www.schohariecountybeveragetrail.com.

The four producers already on board said the trail will only strengthen their already tight-knit community. Wilhelm, who cut the ribbon on his meadery in Richmondville June 19, said he thinks this is just the beginning for the trail and the craft beverage industry in the county.

“We have a ton more producers that are opening up in the next couple of years,” he said. “So while there’s only four today, we think the future is going to be very bright. There’s going to be a lot of new people joining along the way.”