Lake Placid Craft Brewing Company - Barkeater Amber

Amber ales are a bit of a catch-all category in some ways, as examples of the style vary widely in their approach. We like what the folks at Lake Placid have done with theirs. Barkeater enticed us from the pour, presenting a rich, brownish-amber color topped with plenty of dense beige foam. There’s some complexity on the nose; we picked up nice touches of caramel/crystal malt, light brown sugar, and fairly prominent toasty notes, along with a pleasant merging of fruity esters with a bit of citric hops. On the palate, expect a robust core of toasty malt, with those fruity esters making their appearance known here too. Hops add some spicy, woody, and mildy citric notes, and lend a pleasant balancing bitterness. In fact, this brew is fairly dry overall with the toasty notes and hops countering the mild residual sweetness, and it dries a bit further in the finish where the hops cling for a while with a hint of husky grain. Cheers!

Founder Chris Ericson’s love of brewing had begun, like that of so many other microbrewery owners, with a homebrewing kit. After stints working for Federal Jack’s in Kennebunk, ME (birthplace of the famous Shipyard brewery) and The Shed Restaurant & Brewery in Stowe, VT, he was ready to strike out on his own. In 1996, Chris, along with a college buddy, bought a pub in Lake Placid known as P.J. O’Neill’s, installed a 7 barrel brewing system, and renamed it the Lake Placid Pub & Brewery (LPP&B).

It wasn’t long before LPP&B’s fresh microbrews had grown so popular that other local restaurant and pub owners began ordering kegs for their own establishments. Chris and his team ramped up production to full tilt, and they were selling every drop they brewed (often before it was actually brewed). To keep up with the ever-increasing demand, in November 2001 Chris purchased the 13,000 square foot brewhouse of the defunct AAA Brewery in Plattsburgh, NY, and named the new brewery the Lake Placid Craft Brewing Company. This much larger facility quadrupled their brewing capacity and gave them a bottling line, allowing the company to expand beyond draft-only sales and increase their exposure and distribution. In recent years, a partnership with Utica, NY’s Matt Brewing Company has allowed supply and distribution to increase even further.

Awarded the title “Best Brewery in New York State” by the TAP New York Beer Festival in 2005 & 2007, they’ve also been recognized as the “Best Brewery in the HudsonValley” three times, in 2003, 2005, and 2007. For more info on their excellent brewpub and beer, call (518) 523-3813 or visit www.ubuale.com.