Empire Brewing Co. has a history of offering free public events at both their Syracuse and Cazenovia brewery locations, and this weekend Empire will participate in the annual Cazenovia Winter Festival with a snow sculpture competition and a medallion hunt at its farm brewery in Caz.
Both events, occurring Sunday, Feb. 11, are open to the public and offer 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 Potter, Empire Brewing Company design director.
The First Annual Empire Winterfest, a free, family-friendly event, starts at 11:30 a.m. this Sunday at the Empire Farm Brewery in Cazenovia.
People may show up any time after 11:30 a.m. to sign up for the snow sculpture competition on a first-come, first-served basis. Empire employees have created large snow mounds around the brewery’s Rippleton Road property — just claim a mound and start sculpting, Potter said. Each participating group gets one pitcher of e-beer to share upon completion of their sculpture. Judging continues all day.
The prize for the best sculpture is one year of free Empire beer.
The medallion hunt also begins at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Follow Empire Brewing Co. at @empirebrew for a new clue each day pointing to the medallion’s location, then search the 22-acre brewery property for the treasure. The first person to find the medallion also wins a free beer for a year growler and a punch card good for a fill up every month for an entire year.
“Cazenovia is a beautiful town any time of the year and wintertime is no exception; we want people to come out of hibernation and hit the town! There’s so much to do,” Potter said.
Empire is also combining business with pleasure on Feb. 11, offering a new Sunday Funday event in the beer cellar. Watch the SU game, play pool or foosball and enjoy $3 Winter Warmer draft.
For more information, visit empirebrew.com/beer/events or check out their Facebook page.
