Saranac - Beer is our Craft
We're very excited to share details about our latest creation: a brand new Saranac commercial. After much planning, filming, editing, and Saranac Pale Ale (our creative juice!) it’s ready to make its debut.
Early this summer, we started thinking about all the ingredients that go into making Saranac so special. In addition to the beer itself, we love the unique place we work every day: our Brewery. Unlike any in the brewing world, it’s a sacred place to us, with a long history and a character as distinctive as Saranac itself. We thought about how amazing it would be if the walls of this historic brewhouse could talk…and our theme was born. Our new commercials (this one and more to follow) tell you what we believe these walls would say—what they’ve seen and continue to witness today—about the people, the beer and everything that goes into our delicious hand crafted brews.
We think this commercial really captures the Brewery, the beer and our brewing philosophy—to make high quality beers that are distinctive but drinkable. We produced the spot using a phenomenal new cinema-style format, referred to as HDSLR. For all you non-techies, it starts with the video output from a Canon 5D Mark II camera—this is essentially an advanced professional version in the DSLR family of cameras that many of us use to take great still shots. Now professionals are using them as an alternative to actual film. With high-end prime lenses and a few extra add ons we can capture fine details and reveal some of the true beauty of the beer and Brewery. We also exclusively used resources and talent from our home state, New York. From the filming to the music, we're supporting local and regional businesses like ours!
Without further ado, enjoy our new commercial, titled "Beer is our Craft." We hope you love it (and get a little thirsty while you’re watching, like we did). As always we’d appreciate hearing your feedback. Cheers!
A Better Vibe!
Looking for a better vibe this summer? We found it for our latest sponsorship: this year’s Gathering of the Vibes Music Festival in Bridgeport, Connecticut. We got the perfect feeling from this one, and partnered with the Vibes to create an exclusive brew to be served at this year’s event. We asked Saranac fans and members of the “Vibe Tribe” and to help us name the beer, and the suggestions and votes came flowing in. The overwhelming winner was Saranac Liquid Vibes. The new official beer of Gathering of the Vibes will be a refreshing lager, perfect for this laid back summer event. Saranac Liquid Vibes will be sharing space in the beer tent with Saranac IPA and Saranac Summer Ale. We hope you can join us!
Gathering of the Vibes began in 1996 as a celebration of the life of Jerry Garcia, who had passed away the previous summer. Now in its 16th year, Vibes has grown into a four-day festival that has featured such world-class talent as Crosby, Stills and Nash; all living members of the Grateful Dead; the Allman Brothers Band; James Brown; the Black Crowes; Buddy Guy; Jimmy Cliff; Primus; George Clinton and P-Funk; Bruce Hornsby; Les Claypool; and many, many more, while continuing to showcase extraordinarily talented young up-and-coming bands. With its great line-up of headline bands, new bands and local favorites, the Vibes attracts 25,000-30,000 people per day.
We’re looking forward to this popular fest and serving up lots of Saranac Liquid Vibes. We hope you can join us!
Saranac Thursdays 2011 Band Schedule Announced!
The wait is finally over and the countdown to May 26th is on...only 22 days to go! We're excited to announce this year's line-up with 8 new bands, plus we've extended the season by two weeks to lead right into Utica Music Fest. Thank you to everyone who submitted your music. It was a tough decision with lots of awesome bands to choose from.
| May 26th-Crazy Fools June 2nd-Dashboard Nixon June 9th-Time Trooper June 16th-Matt Chase & Thunder Canyon June 23rd-Showtime June 30th-Jimkata July 7th-Syndicate July 14th-Sassafrass Jenkins July 21st-Gridley Paige |
July 28th-Enter the Haggis August 4th-Three Inch Fury August 11th-Dusty Puppies August 18th-Strung Sideways/Rusty Doves August 25th-Sirsy September 1st-Lynch September 8th-Fulton Chain Gang September 15th-Utica Music Fest Kickoff |
Two beers perfect for summer: A highlight of our refreshing seasonals
Every year at the Brewery, we take great pride in selecting beers we think complement each season perfectly. Summer is one of the most relaxing seasons of the year, so we need some thirst-quenching and refreshing libations. Here is a look into two of our beers made especially for summer. Though they both have the word "Summer" in their titles, they’re two very different and delicious beers.
Summer Ale
With more than 2,800 bodies of water in the Adirondacks, it's not hard to find a sunny place to relax, rest your feet and look out over the water. To celebrate those moments, we’ve brewed this filtered wheat-style beer with a special kind of wheat, resulting in a nice tanginess that perfectly with it's citrus background. Made with a special blend of spices including citrus peel, lemon, ginger, hibiscus flower, lemongrass and rose hips, Saranac Summer Ale is very refreshing!
Summer Brew
What are two of the best ways to quench your thirst on a hot summer day? Lemonade and beer, of course. For nearly 100 years, Europeans have mixed lemonade and beer as a refreshing beverage during the summer months. We continue this tradition with Saranac Summer Brew—a perfectly balanced blend of lemonade and lager. Very different from any of the other beers we make at Saranac, Summer Brew has just the right sweet and tart lemonade taste to complement our smooth lager. Kick back, relax and cool down with a Saranac Summer Brew!
Drink your luck in!
We're excited to celebrate everything Irish this month with two of our most beloved seasonals, Saranac Irish Red Ale and Saranac Irish Stout. Originally created for the Great American Irish Festival held in Frankfort, NY every summer, Saranac Irish Red Ale is a unique and drinkable red ale with a deep garnet color. After we heard cries for more Irish beers, we added a second dose of luck to our seasonals with Saranac Irish Stout. Around the Brewery we like to call it our "coffee" because of its lavish roasted flavor. Read more facts on these beers by visiting our Current Seasonals page.
Also, check out this awesome review from Brewologist, aka Steve Goble. Cheers to you, Steve!
Serving up something warmer: our thanks
At this special time of year, we take a moment from our brewing (we’re kind of obsessive about it) to thank all of you who are the heart and soul of Saranac. We brew it because we want to share it with you, our dedicated and discerning drinkers, who appreciate great beer. There’s nothing like having a fellow aficionado feel the same pleasure, excitement and discovery when tasting a new or traditional brew. So thanks very much, Saranac fans, suppliers and distributors, employees, family and friends, for all your support year round.
And don’t forget to appreciate a relaxing and unique breakfast with friends and family: meet us for Kegs & Eggs at the Brewery on Black Friday morning, November 27th from 8 AM - 12 Noon. For only $5, enjoy breakfast, live music, door prizes and Saranac beer!
We couldn't have said it better.
We think our beers are great—we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t. So it’s especially rewarding when others appreciate the same qualities in our beer that we do. We’ve seen a lot of positive Saranac talk online (thanks!), including this new video review by Chad of Chad’z Beer Reviews on the Brew and Cork website. Chad reviewed our phenomenally popular seasonal brew, Saranac Pumpkin Ale, on the craft brewers’ site.
Chad has reviewed dozens of brews in videos posted on YouTube and elsewhere, and has become something of an expert among online beer aficionados, so we appreciate his praise. It should be noted that he and the Brew and Cork site are completely independent of Saranac, and receive nothing in return for reviews. He does these tastings on his own, and reviews them with no outside influence, so you know it’s from the heart.
We say take his advice and open a Saranac Pumpkin Ale now. This full-bodied amber-colored ale carries the fantastic mood of an Adirondack Fall day to you. You can almost see the colors and smell the rich scents of autumn. Yeah, we feel it, too. Just don’t keep it to yourself—share it with friends this season before Pumpkin Ale leaves us for another year.
Sneak Peak: We’re currently shooting the latest Fred and Nick Matt Virtual Tasting video, to be posted next Thursday right here on Beer Bloggles, featuring our 12 Beers of Winter. So get your 12-pack and palate ready, stop back next week, and taste along with Nick and Fred.