By Jason Emerson
Editor
Empire Brewing Co. has a history of offering free public events at both their Syracuse and Cazenovia brewery locations, and this weekend Empire participated in the annual Cazenovia Winter Festival with a snow sculpture competition and a medallion hunt at the farm brewery in Caz.
Both events occurred Sunday, Feb. 11, were open to the public and offered free Empire beer for a year as prizes.
“A lot of us at Empire live in the Cazenovia community and are thrilled at how Winterfest has flourished over the years. We’re excited to be a part of the fun this year and we hope that families of all ages join us, because you’re never really too old to play in the snow,” said Monica Palmer, Empire Brewing Company design director.
The First Annual Empire Winterfest, a free, family-friendly event, was held at the Empire Farm Brewery in Cazenovia. “For our first Winterfest, I would say it’s been going pretty well,” said Palmer. And the participants would agree, as the brewery remained packed throughout the event. Liverpool couple Martin and Maryellen Johnson said that though they had only been there twice before, commented on the delicious food and atmosphere as they watched the Syracuse basketball game in the pub room. Other spectators chose to sit downstairs in the newly-opened cellar, complete with rows of tables, a couch, and pool tables, to watch the game. “It’s never been public before,” said Palmer. “So that was a new thing we wanted to share with people.”
The brewery showcased their variety of beers for both new and returning customers, ranging from core brands White Aphro and Two Dragons to seasonal brands like Brewfest-favorite Deep Purple, which is brewed with state-grown concord grapes. Manufactured by Feldmeier Equipment, Inc. of Syracuse, this is the first complete brew house set-up they have ever completed. “That was definitely a cool local feature for us to get them involved,” said Palmer.
People started showing up at the brewery at 11:30 a.m. to sign up for the snow sculpture competition, which occurred on a first-come, first-served basis. Empire employees created large snow mounds around the brewery’s Rippleton Road property for sculpture competitors to claim and start sculpting. Each participating group received one pitcher of e-beer to share upon completion of their sculpture.
The winners for the best sculpture — Allison, Jason, Gus and Marilyn — received one year of free Empire beer.
The medallion hunt also began at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, and ended shortly thereafter. Empire tweeted out five clues during the week, each pointing to the medallion’s location on the 22-acre property. “It was found pretty quickly,” said Palmer. The Reilley family, locally-known for their Life of Reilley Distilling and Wine Co. in Cazenovia, won the search, with mother Shibon discovering the medallion taped behind the giant gold medallion located in the pub room. “This piece has been in the pub room since we’ve opened,” said Palmer. “It’s this big, stone carving that was actually a part of the Haberle Brewing Co. in Syracuse, which is Syracuse’s oldest-known brewery. So that old sculpture was salvaged from that brewery in downtown Syracuse and we just have it as a cool piece of décor.”
“I worked hard for this!” joked Reilley as she held up her medallion for a picture. They too, also won a free beer for a year growler and a punch card good for a fill up every month for an entire year.
For more information, visit empirebrew.com/beer/events or check out their Facebook page.
Lauren Young contributed to this report.
