Aug. 18—WATERTOWN — War of 1812 Amber Ale produced by Sackets Harbor Brewing Company and beloved by its imbibers, can now add a touch of gold to its character after a panel of world judges awarded it top honor for the U.S.
The award is especially gratifying for Sackets Harbor Brewing Company chairman and CEO Thomas W. Scozzafava because the beer entered in the contest was produced and bottled in Watertown. It also involves the first round of a busy bottling operation eyed for the brewer's new site in the City Center Industrial Park, 981 Waterman Drive.
In the spring of 2021, Mr. Scozzafava moved the beer production equipment at his restaurant in the Sackets Harbor Brewing Co. to the building, the old Alteri's Bakery site, which he also owned. He then purchased the bottling and label/filler equipment out of the now-defunct Empire Farm Brewery Co. site in Cazenovia and moved the gear to the Watertown site. (Mr. Scozzafava noted that one of Empire's lenders in the bankruptcy, Feldmeier Equipment, purchased 100% of the Cazenovia plant and assets and now operates under the name Meier's Creek Brewing in Cazenovia).
Now, nearly 20 brews are produced in Watertown for Sackets Harbor Brewing's Sackets Harbor restaurant, but all, except, War of 1812 Amber Ale, are produced for kegs. The amber ale, also available as keg form/draft, is the company's "bedrock brew," Mr. Scozzafava said.
War of 1812 Amber Ale has won previous awards, but that bottled beer was outsourced to other breweries. The gold medal in the 2022 World Beer Awards is extra special, Mr. Scozzafava said, because of where it was bottled.
"It's validation that when we control the process, cradle to grave, it's better," Mr. Scozzafava said. "We've always had to partner with other breweries to bottle our beer. That's one of the conditions of most contests out there. You have to present the beer in the bottle it's served in."
The annual awards the beer won gold for are sponsored by The Drinks Report, an online magazine for the wine, beer and spirits trade. It's designed to promote the world's best beers and other drinks to consumers and trade partners across the globe. Mr. Scozzafava sent a case of War of 1812 Amber Ale to sponsors in New Jersey. It won the gold medal in the amber category for the U.S. The brew will now represent the U.S. in the world round of the competition. Results are expected by the end of summer.
Judges in the World Beer contest are from across the globe — most from Germany. Beers could not simply be entered. They first had to meet certain quality standards.
"If 50 contestants enter a beer and none of them met the standards, then the judges aren't going to award any medals," Mr. Scozzafava said. "I'm not disparaging anyone or anyone else's product, but we were the only medal winner in our country. If we didn't have a gold medal standard, they wouldn't have awarded us the gold."
About a decade ago, War of 1812 Amber Ale was entered into the Los Angeles International Beer Competition.
"We got the silver medal, and we were the only medal winner," Mr. Scozzafava said. "Just because we were the best doesn't mean we got gold. That's what makes this award extra special."
Beer, for kegs, began to be brewed at the Watertown site in the autumn of 2021. Bottling War of 1812 Amber Ale began in April.
"It produces 3,000 bottles an hour when we run at capacity," Mr. Scozzafava said of the City Center site. "When we started, we were at 50%. The last time we bottled, we ran for four or five hours. We make a lot of cases of beer."
He said the footprint of the company's distributors, Doldo Brothers Inc., and A.L. George/Onondaga Beverage, in addition to locally is into "Oswego, Onondaga counties, and everything in between, including the Finger Lakes."
He added, "Our target area is America. But it would be years, multiple expansions, investments, etcetera."
But if the mail the CEO receives is any indication, there are some people in other states with a deep hankering for War of 1812 Amber Ale.
"I get a couple of e-mails a week saying, 'Are you in Montana yet? Or, are you in Texas yet? Because I miss your beer.' This product, and others we're going to introduce have no reason to stay micro-regionally or super-regionally," Mr. Scozzafava said. "It's got legs beyond here."
Next up for the Watertown site, bottle-wise, is Thousand Islands IPA. "We serve it. It's not bottled yet," Mr. Scozzafava said.
"The focus was our flagship beer," he said. "Getting that bottling line running is very complicated. We're using our 1812 Amber as the beer we've got to get out. It gets absorbed into the marketplace as soon as we make it. We don't have a lot of inventory."
The Sackets Harbor Brewing Company site in Watertown also has potential beyond filling kegs and bottles.
"In Canada, most craft beer is sold in cans," Mr. Scozzafava said.
According to the website of the trade association Beer Canada, cans accounted for 74% of national beer sales, followed by bottles with 21% and kegs at 5%.
In the U.S., the Beer Institute, representing the $331 billion beer industry, reports that aluminum cans now make up 62% of beer volume produced and sold in the U.S.
"We feel our War of 1812 Amber Ale is a beer that not only tastes great, but the marketing works for Canada, as well as the Thousand Islands IPA," Mr. Scozzafava said. "In a shared part of the world, we think those two products will have some marketing appeal, especially in Ontario."
Cans, and bottles, could also now have outsourcing potential at the Watertown site.
"The canning line will allow us to contract and approach other small breweries that can't afford to bottle or can," Mr. Scozzafava said.
The company describes its War of 1812 Amber Ale as having "a nutty malt flavor, which is balanced by a citrus hop flavor and a classic ale fruitiness."
"There's no actual citrus in it," Mr. Scozzafava said. "Depending on the hops you use, you can depart a note that's citrusy on the nose and palate."
He credited Sackets Harbor Brewing Company brewmaster Andy S. Gersten for the company's brewing success, especially when he had to tweak the producing process of War of 1812 Amber Ale, along with the other brews, when they moved the process from Sackets Harbor to Watertown.
"In my opinion, he's one of the best brewers in the Northeast," Mr. Scozzafava said.
The CEO said the brewmaster adjusted nicely to the new location, getting used to new equipment and things like different flow rates of water systems and filtering.
"It's a million different things that have to be dialed in and we're doing that," Mr. Scozzafava said. "That's why this (award) is really special. It's the fruits of our labor."
Mr. Gersten lives in Liverpool and is a self-taught brewer. It began as a hobby at his home in the early 1990s.
"When I started making beer, I had a lot of friends who told me I ought to get a job at a brewery," Mr. Gersten said. "I said, 'I never thought about that.' But I ended up going down to Empire Brewing, talked to the brewer there and he was looking for an assistant at the time."
He was at Empire from 1996 to 2002. From 2003 to 2004 he worked at King Arthur's Steakhouse and Brew Pub in Oswego. He's been at Sackets Harbor Brewing Company since 2004.
"I like to work with beer and to come up with an idea, see it to fruition, sit back and watch people enjoy it," Mr. Gersten said. "And then they give you feedback. It's really nice."
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