Genesee Brewery will celebrate 140th birthday with return of old favorites

When the Genesee Brewery was founded in 1878, New York state had roughly 390 breweries.

Now, as we enter 2018, New York has 375 breweries. But the only surviving brewery from 140 years ago? That's the St. Paul Street stalwart. It announced plans this week to celebrate and commemorate the anniversary. This will include resurrecting some long-gone favorites.

"The whole concept is to bring back stuff that was old but with a new twist," said Dean Jones, brewmaster at the Genesee Brew House. "All of the beers will be coming out of the Brew House. They will all be super-small-batch beers."

For a long while, it didn't look like Genny would make it to this milestone. Over the last 10 years, the brewery has been within weeks of closing. (Employees were even notified of the imminent closure with a letter.)

But new ownership, the launch of the Genesee Brew House in 2012, an emphasis on craft options, a $49.1 million modernization plan, and increased pride locally have put Genny on stable ground.

More: Genesee Brewery to light keg tree on Friday

People are now proud to support and represent Rochester's local beer.

Jones said the Brew House will release a different beer every month in 2018, to pay homage to Genny's roots and to introduce people to classics. So here is the tentative release schedule.

January: Liebotschaner-style ale. According to Jones, it's a style that originated in Germany and was then brought to America. It is one of the first beers the brewery started producing after Prohibition ended. He likens it to a pre-Prohibition Pilsner. Genesee called it "both nourishing and refreshing" in a 1933 advertisement.

Two years ago, the Brew House produced a U-219 Pilsner. "That was the beer we released after Prohibition," Jones said. "This beer will be based on that. But it's all-malt Pilsner." He added that it will be very traditional. (All-malt means no adjuncts.)

February: Prohibition Pilsner. "What did they have in Prohibition?" Jones asked. "Think about when they had extract (tonics, medicines, soft drinks) in the stores from brands like Pabst. All of these companies had this extract that you could buy to make beer. The instructions read, 'Do not mix with water at 150 degrees.' It told you how to make beer, but really it was telling you not to do it." It was a low-alcohol beer, usually below 4 percent, Jones said.

The brewery has one of those recipes from Prohibition. "We're using malt extract and syrup," Jones added with a huge chuckle. "We're gonna do a half-ass mash and it will probably taste terrible. But that's what you would've drank at that time. We're gonna make it fun."

March: For post-Prohibition, the Brew House will remake the famous Michael Shea's Black and Tan. It'll be another all-malt stab at the blended beer, meant to be a marriage of a dark ale and something lighter.

April: "We're going to bring back 12 Horse, but the all-malt version," Jones said. "Instead of the lighter adjunct-based 12 Horse, we're going to do the all-malt version." Genesee released the original 12 Horse right after Prohibition in 1933.

May: Genesee's birthday is May 22. Jones said the Brew House will produce a cream ale "with a twist." They've had some recent plays on the style by dry-hopping it with different hop varietals, including the ultra-fruity Mosaic. Again, it'll be an all-malt cream ale.

June: The return of Genny's Fyfe & Drum Beer, an American pale lager. The brewery re-released the classic as part of a spring heritage pack in 2012. The original Fyfe & Drum was released in 1963.

More: How Genesee Brewery orchestrated journey of new beer tanks on the Erie Canal

July: This month will mark the return of Genny's Summer Brew. It also marks the 21th anniversary of the light lager "with a hint of sweetness." Summer Brew, like Fyfe & Drum, returned as part of the brewery's heritage pack in 2012. "I've gotten probably 150 requests per year to bring back Summer Brew," Jones said.

August: The brewery will release a barrel-aged offering this month. "We have a coffee stout aging in fresh Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels," Jones said. "And we also have a Scotch ale aging in the barrels that previously held the imperial black IPA and Reisky & Spies old ale." One of the two will potentially be released in August. The other might follow in September.

September: Bourbon barrel-aged stout, probably in conjunction with the brewery's third annual Tap It Forward Festival. "It's the same stout recipe without the coffee," Jones said.

More: First beer canned inside Genesee Brew House

October: All-malt Genesee Red, an award-winning Vienna-style lager, will return. "That's gonna be a blast," Jones said.

November and December: TBD.

But with that in mind, here are the Genny classics I'd like to see resurrected (some are a bit more tongue-in-cheek than others):

1. Dundee Pale Bock

2. All-malt Dog Bite

3. All-malt Genesee N.A.

4. Kipling Light

5. Koch’s Golden Anniversary Beer

What would you like to see brought back?

Jones said seeing longtime employees such as Genesee brewmaster Mike Mueller, who has been with the brewery for 43 years, excited is just elevating his anticipation.

"He's really geeked about it and when you see him geeked, it's like, 'Wow, the excitement is catching on,' " Jones said. "He is our leader. He's a great guy. He's the steward of the brand. He's forgotten more about beer than I'll ever know."

WCLEVELAND@Gannett.com

READ MORE