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Starting this year, the Genesee Country Village & Museum will be the only Living History Museum in the country with a real working brewery. To create this special brew, we are using the same brewing practices as did the early brewers in western and central New York State.
The 1803 Walter Grieve's Brewery sports copper kettles and leather hoses, just as breweries in the 19th century did. Liquid is heated with a wood fire and all of the equipment was hand-made, right down to the hand-forged copper top to the brew tank and hand-augured wooden pipes. Brewing will take place two days during the week as well as on the weekends.
We recently sponsored a contest to name the beer. The winner, 1803 Fat Ox Ale, will be a cloudy brown ale done in the style that would have been popular during the 19th ce
century in the Genesee region.We partnered with Custom BrewCrafters of Honeoye Falls to perfect the process that will be used in the village. They have also crafted a version of 1803 Fat Ox Ale that will be available on tap in the village as well as in glass or specialty stoneware growlers made by our village artisans.
The waste products from the brewing process will be utilized in the village as compost or animal feed.
All of our hops were generously donated by North American Breweries, the parent company of Genesee Beer, the family business that our founder, John L. Wehle, originally headed.
Check back for more posts about the history of beer in the Genesee region!
Funding for this project was provided, in part, by funding from the Davenport-Hatch foundation.
This is one of the coolest things I've heard about lately! How neat that we have the only place doing this in the country! Way to go GCVM!!!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to visit the brewery and try the Fat Ox Ale!
ReplyDeleteI was able to view the work being done in the brewery up close the week of the 25th of April. The craftsmanship displayed in the making of the pump, hoses, troughs, top of the brew kettle and restoration of the brickwork is superb. This is a first rate exhibit that will be a must for guests to the museum and museum professionals as well.
ReplyDeleteInnovation and daring to be different will put GCV&M in a class above the rest. Drive on!
Thanks so much John, we are very proud and excited about this new exhibit!
ReplyDeleteOne thing nice about the GCV&M is that they are always offering new things to bring us back to the Museum. What an interesting place. Love the blog!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen is the beer going to be able to be purchased at the museum? I want to come out to the museum and see the brewery and also taste and buy some ale! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOur Fat Ox Ale will be available for purchase by the glass and in growler size containers starting in June.
ReplyDeleteWe tried the brew today and think it's great. We live very near GCV -- will Fat Ox Ale be available anywhere without requiring admission to the museum?
ReplyDeleteWho was Walter Grieve?
ReplyDeleteExcellent question. Please see our new post "Who was Walter Grieve?"
ReplyDelete