On tap are an array of beers crafted with New York state ingredients: Seeds of Love and Outrage, Backroad Odysseys, and Lazy Lollygagger, an ale that spotlights the flavor of cherries and lemon-thyme.
Owner Jason Sahler knows his way around a brewery – tending to the beer in his tanks, consulting with his tap room manager and analyzing sales numbers.
But when he has a technical question – say, about the oil composition of a particular variety of hops – he turns to a guiding scientific hand 275 miles away at the Cornell Craft Beverage Institute at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva, New York.
“By using the Hops Analysis Lab at the institute to understand the complex fruity, citrusy or piney oils, New York’s brewers can understand the capability of ingredients better,” says Sahler. “That means that we can better use those crops in our own process.”
Belly up to the Cornell Craft Beverage Institute, the new umbrella name that encompasses the Cornell Enology Extension Laboratory, the Craft Beverage Analysis Laboratory (formerly the New York State Wine Analytical Lab), and the Cornell Brewing Extension Laboratory. With the explosion of demand across the state for craft beverages, the lab now goes beyond wine, extending into beer, hard cider and spirits.
The institute is New York’s one-stop reference desk for fermented beverages. Scientists conduct analyses for commercial producers, and answer questions by phone or email. For complex problems, the Cornell extension staff visit farms or processing facilities across New York.