By Brett DeNeve:
Cheers to Buffalo Beer Week!
This year’s fourth annual Buffalo Beer Week will be the largest celebration of craft beer in the region’s history and the preview press conference is taking place tomorrow at the Buffalo Beer Hall of Fame.
The Buffalo Beer Hall of Fame, hosted by Cole’s Restaurant, is set to kick off Beer Week tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., honoring those who have made an impact on the craft beer community either here in Buffalo or beyond. It will be held on the 3rd floor of the restaurant, located at 1104 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo, NY, and seats are limited but are only occupied by invitation only (update: the event is sold out). To see a list of all of the public events throughout the week, click here.
The agenda is as follows: an induction ceremony, lunch, and a traditional wooden Gordon Biersch keg tapping.
Willard Brooks is the Chairman of Buffalo Beer Week; Tim Herzog of Flying Bison Brewing Company (lead image) will be the Master of Ceremonies.
The Buffalo Beer Hall of Fame will become a permanent feature of Cole’s Restaurant that will eventually include information about each inductee as well as displays relating to Buffalo’s beery past and present.
One of Shatzel’s long-term goals is to have a display honoring the entire timeline of Buffalo and its beer related history. He also plans to have a web page that would allow a user to learn about each inductee as well as the mission and purpose of the Buffalo Beer Hall of Fame.
If you trace the origins of Beer Week back, you will end up in Philadelphia. Trace the roots of Buffalo’s Beer Week and you will end up hearing about Dan Syracuse, of Pizza Plant, and his joining forces with Shatzel and Bill Metzger of the Great Lakes Brewing News.
Buffalo Beer Week does not simply provide an outlet for more drinking than usual: it provides ten days of economic stimulation in bringing beer-driven tourists, it allows opportunity for the less educated to learn about the hops and agricultural techniques that, if not done properly, could change the entire taste and even look of a drink.
At the very least it gives local Buffalo breweries a stage to showcase their product to a diverse crowd of people, giving way for networking opportunities and further expansion of the Buffalo Beer culture and history.
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