Beer and history: Madison County Hop Fest on tap this weekend

Madison County Hop Fest

The crowd samples beer during the 2018 Madison County Hop Fest in Oneida, N.Y. This year's hop fest, which will have some Covid protocols in place, is this weekend. Photo Courtesy of Amanda Ciarlei.

Oneida, N.Y. — The annual celebration of beer and Madison County’s central role in the early New York state hops industry returns for two days of festivities this weekend.

It’s the 25th Madison County Hop Festival, with events scheduled Friday and Saturday.

The big public event, as always, is the craft beer tasting, featuring samples from dozens of local and national brewers. That’s 2 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and also features food trucks and access to hops exhibits and merchandise tables. It tales place on the grounds of the Madison County Historical Society, 435 Main Street in Oneida.

But the festival weekend starts with the annual Hop Fest Paired Beer Dinner Friday, and includes hop lectures and more on Saturday.

The hop fest is a tribute to the hops industry that once flourished in Central New York, notably in Madison, Oneida and Otsego and nearby counties. The area was the biggest hop-growing region in the nation before Prohibition.

Hop growing has returned to the area along with the rise of craft brewing. That’s highlighted by this year’s choice for Madison County Hop monarch.

Chad Meigs, owner of The Bineyard hop business in Cazenovia, will be crowned the 2021 Hop King. The fest has crowned a hop king or queen (someone noted for their contributions to local hop and beer culture) since 1996. The Bineyard not only grows hops for the states’ beer industry, it also processes and packages varieties for brewers.

Here’s a look at the full Madison County Hop Fest schedule:

Paired Beer Dinner: 7 p.m. Friday at at Foothill Hops Farm Brewery, 5024 BearPath Road in Munnsville. The dinner will be catered by Dinner catered by Jennifer Di Giorgio, executive chef of HipStir Café. Tickets are $75. For more information and tickets: Call 315-363-4136 or go to www.madisoncountyhopfest.org

Hop Fest Programs: All are free and located at the Oneida Public Library, 459 Main Street, Oneida. They take place Saturday.

10:30 a.m. Film: When Hop Was King in Central New York

11 a.m. Hop House Survey presented by Al Bullard

11:30 a.m. Historic Barn Tax Credit by NYS Senator Rachel May, NYS Barn Coalition, Preservation Association of CNY

12:30 p.m. Madison County Hop Houses by Carl Stearns

1 p.m. Hop Houses in Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Otsego, and Schoharie by Al Bullard

2 p.m. Hop Collections: From Dinnerware to Tools by Al Bullard and Dot Willsey

Craft Beer Sampling: 2 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the historical society, 435 Main St. Oneida. See list of participating brewers. Also includes exhibits, hop shop, and food trucks. For more information and tickets: Call 315-363-4136 or go to www.madisoncountyhopfest.org

All proceeds from the fest support the Madison County Historical Society.

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.

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