Artisanal Brew Works
Artisanal Brew Works in Saratoga Springs has a European approach to hospitality and a distinctly New York take on beer. (In other words, they’ve created a place where it’s not only acceptable but actively encouraged to pair a hoppy New York farmstead ale with your hoppy New York baby.) In Germany, parents bring their kids to beer gardens and beer houses as a matter of course. Growing up in Munich, I hit up the local beer garden multiple times a week during the summer.
I spent countless hours there, running laps around the long wooden table my parents and their friends parked at for the day, eating giant salt-crusted pretzels, playing in the playground with friends (yep, in Germany, beer gardens often feature playgrounds) and, of course, hitting the bar to order heaving 34-ounce steins of Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier for my thirsty parents (in Germany in the 1980s, bartenders allowed kids to order beer).
When we moved back to the States, we missed the convivial, familial, frankly wholesome approach to alcohol consumption. Thankfully, it has finally been imported.
Two Saratoga Springs High School teachers, Colin Quinn and Kurt Borchardt, were ready to scale up their home-brewing hobby and simultaneously create a space where families, singles, retirees—pretty much anyone who happens to enjoy good beer—could come for the beer and stay for the community.
“We are obviously passionate about craft beer, or we wouldn’t be here,” Quinn tells me as he checks out some wort fermenting in tanks in their brewhouse. “But we envisioned more than just a standard tasting room. We wanted to create a community gathering place where anyone could come, spend time, hang out, play games.”
Artisanal’s space is also inside year-round, though its vast front lawn is utilized during warmer months by roving bands of happy kiddos, while their parents relax and hang out on the Adirondack chairs dotting the lawn.
The two-floor space inside is cavernous, with plenty of room for their equipment, offices for the 10 minutes Quinn and Borchardt aren’t on their feet checking in on their fermenting beers, and the tasting area, which is tucked on the upper floor.
In the tasting area, there’s a classic horseshoe bar, with multiple tables that can be separated or put together as needed scattered around. Going in, you never know what you’ll find (unless you check their events calendar, which they regularly update and include tasting flight specials on of course). Will there be a s’mores pop-up? Another unofficial beard and ironic T-shirts convention? A book signing? Better go and check.
In addition to their rotating selection of 14 seasonal beers on draft (recently, included in the mix was a White in the Glasses Wheat, Daily Double IPA, Picture Day Series IPA #6 “Jenn” and a Raspberry Chocolate Lava Cake Pastry Stout), there are classic board games, a popcorn maker serving up addictively buttery popcorn gratis and a BYO food policy. (The latter is ideal for cheap parents of picky eaters who really want to meet their friends for beer on a Sunday afternoon but don’t want to shell out $100 for dinner for a family of four when they know their kids are going to eat maybe half of their orders; they don’t want to make a big production out of it already, so they just pack PB&Js for the kids, or bring takeout pizza, have a quick beer and laugh with their friends in peace while the kids munch happily and play Connect Four. Don’t ask me how I know this.)
They also run popular community events and weekly trivia nights.
But in the end, if the beer wasn’t good, the community would have gone back to doing what they were doing before, which was bringing six-packs over to each other’s backyards and basements while their kids ran amuck.
Since opening its doors in 2016, Artisanal has gone from employing just Borchardt and Quinn as full-time brewers (who also worked as full-time teachers of technology and world languages, respectively), to having nine employees, most of whom work full-time. They used to both brew, plus work on accounting, manage inventory, distribute and sell the beer…plus tend bar and manage the taproom.
“When we opened, we’d brew on weekends and on school holidays, probably about three or four times a month,” Quinn says. “Now we have two full-time brewers in addition to us, and brew three to five times a week. Borchardt is now full-time at the brewery, we have a full-time taproom manager, a sales manager, a part-time marketing manager, four part-time bartenders. Most nights we need two people staffing the bar, instead of the one we needed when we started. We also went from just selling beer on draft to selling beers in cans and kegs with distribution throughout much of the state.”
Part of their success, in addition to the vibe of the space and the quality of their beer, is the distinctness of their brand. Delicious, locally made craft beer is ubiquitous in New York (there were 415 at last count, according to the state’s Brewers Association), and to succeed they have to stand out in the crowded marketplace. Artisanal’s logo—a floated black beard drawn to look like an inverted hop bud with gold-rimmed glasses hovering above—is weird, funny and instantly iconic, and it embodies their zeitgeisty approach to brewing.
Many of their ingredients are sourced regionally (Quinn didn’t want to spill the hops on the local farmers he works with but did say that they use many local producers), but they are unafraid of exploring every corner of the earth for ingredients.
“I love what New York farmers are doing with hops right now,” Quinn says. “Naysayers always claimed that New York would never be able to grow a citrusy hop, but research and breeding programs have proved them wrong. Copper and Mackinac hops are growing incredibly well, and world-class IPAs made with New York hops are emerging, which is so cool. But sometimes we decide we want to explore the crazy world of New Zealand hops, so we go for it.”
And perhaps their background as language and technology (which encompasses everything from engineering to woodshop) teachers makes them take more far-flung, creative approaches. Take the Totes McGotes line.
“We just decided to go for it and try to cram as much unexpected weird and fruity flavor as we could in a can,” Quinn recalls. “We’ve done an Orange Creamsicle Totes, and an Acai Bowl, and I’m always surprised by how funky, fruity and full bodied they are, and how hugely popular they become.”
This winter, Quinn says he’s looking forward to brewing up some wild new stouts.
“Look out for ones with cacao nibs and vanilla, plus some pastry stouts,” he says. “They go great with everything you eat around the holidays.”
As for pizza, something many customers bring in or get delivered if they’re planning to make a day of it, Quinn has some recommendations.
“For classic cheese and pepperoni or sausage, I’d say go with any of our IPAs,” he says. “The spiciness of the pizza pairs and plays off both the Juicy and the West Coast–style IPAs. If you’re going for a veggie-loaded pizza, I’d say grab a Belgian Wit. The sweet orange peel and coriander flavors are super pleasant with many vegetarian foods, or any foods you’d pair with a classic white wine.”
Great beer is made from grains, hops, yeast, water and that indefinable flair that you can’t explain but instantly recognize. Great breweries are made with a space, spirit, open-handed hospitality and that indefinable, instinctual understanding of exactly what the community needs. We’re lucky to have both in Artisanal. Cheers!
