By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
On June 20, Meier’s Creek Brewing Company (MCBC) released its first three beers to the public through its “beer to-go” program.
MCBC is located at the former home of Empire Farm Brewery at 33 Rippleton Road in Cazenovia.
Available for pickup only, the brewery’s new offerings include a blonde ale, a hazy IPA, and a sour.
MCBC is one of more than 400 craft breweries in New York State.
“It’s no secret that Central New York and the Upstate New York region have some incredible craft breweries — many that honor what it means to be from this region through the use of local ingredients and injecting NYS pride into every aspect of their offerings,” said Lela Feldmeier, head of brand and creative for the brewery. “This is something that we hope to continue.”
According to Feldmeier, MCBC is set apart by its desire to continuously innovate and discover “what’s next” in the craft beer industry.
“This comes to life . . . not only in the beer we create, but also our future food offerings, and our overall mission as a business,” she said. “Whether it means experimenting with unique ingredients and flavors, or reimagining beloved classics, our mindset is to continuously seek out what we can create that’s different, future-facing, and most importantly, enjoyable, without sacrificing our high standards of ensuring quality and consistency in every batch. You’ll be seeing a blend of approachable fan favorites with exciting, new, and experimental continuous releases all year-round.”
The brewery’s first three beers were developed with attention to public input and the timing of their release.
Feldmeier describes Golden Boy (5.5% ABV) — Brewmaster Ivan Dedek’s inaugural MCBC beer — as a light and crisp blonde ale that is both perfect for warmer weather and approachable for craft beer fans in the making.
Lucid Fog (6.5% ABV) is a double dry-hopped Hazy IPA made with Citra, Galaxy, and El Dorado hops.
“[Hazy IPA] is the hottest style in the craft beer market and we wanted to make sure that we’re offering folks something that will pack a huge punch of hoppy goodness right out of the gate,” Feldmeier said.
The third release, Operational Challenges (5.5% ABV), is a lemon blackberry sour. The light and tart beer is the first in MCBC’s highly requested sour series.
To-go orders can be placed online or on-site.
According to Feldmeier, the brewery’s rural location figures prominently in its brewing and business decisions.
“Being so close to the heart of Upstate New York has been great not only for access to incredible ingredients, like local hops and malts and seasonal fruits and vegetables to use in our recipes, but also because of the local farms we get to work with,” she said. “We’ve been working local [cow] and pig farms to offload some of our brewing byproduct for them to use as nutritious feed.”
MCBC’s vibrant beer cans were also influenced by the brewery’s surroundings.
“Each can design was, and will continue to be, inspired by aspects of our community, as seen in the realistic topographical map of the area, and aspects of the great outdoors that are ever-present and beloved in our backyard — from organic shapes, patterns, textures and colors,” Feldmeier explained.
To help define the brewery’s initial label system, MCBC collaborated with Thirst, a design team that specializes in beverage packaging. Going forward, the cans will be designed by an in-house creative team.
MCBC is currently in the process of renovating its taproom.
The goal, according to Feldmeier, is to create a welcoming space for the community and visitors to enjoy.
“We’ve raised the ceiling, installed floor to ceiling windows to bring the outdoors in, and revamped the bar, all to create a space for gathering and celebration — a destination where everyone who visits can feel the pride of Cazenovia and the greater Syracuse region throughout,” she said.
Once it is up and running, the brewery plans to host community events and activities like running, biking and meetings, and to collaborate with local businesses in everything from food and merchandise to new beer releases.
“ . . . We’re releasing a new West Coast IPA in collaboration with The Bineyard, a NYS hops supplier,” said Feldmeier. “New York hops meet West Coast flavor.”
In the coming weeks, MCBC will continue to work towards completing improvements to both the interior and exterior of the facility in anticipation of a grand opening towards the end of the summer.
“We’re following COVID-19 precautions closely to ensure that whatever the opening looks like — whether it be just outside, or limited capacity — will be as safe as possible for the community,” Feldmeier said. “Until then, we’ll [continue] selling cans to-go directly from the property . . . Additional weekends and beer availability will be announced on an ongoing basis.”
For more information on Meier’s Creek Brewing Company, visit meierscreekbrewing.com.
