NY brew pub debuts 400-year beer

TROY, NY -- It's not a 400-year-old beer, thank heavens, but it does celebrate a 400th anniversary.

Brown’s Brewing Co. of Troy had the first keg of its Hudson River Quadricentennial Gold Rye Ale tapped by Mayor Harry Tutunjian on Saturday. It was created to mark the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's exploration of the area.

This year the Capital Region is holding a variety of events to mark the anniversary of the explorer's arrival on the river that now bears his name, an era that led to colonization by the Dutch who later gave way to the English from New York City to hundreds of miles to the north. Troy is located across the Hudson from Albany, the capital city, about 125 miles north of Manhattan.

Brown's was the region's first modern-day brewery/restaurant, founded on River Street in 1993 as Brown & Moran by current president/CEO Garrett Brown, with the assistance of his father, Sid Brown. (Father and son are shown standing in front of the enterprise.)

The brewery now offers more than a dozen brews on tap, and more than 25 styles in its portfolio. It has earned the Matthew Vassar Cup as "Best Brewery in the Hudson Valley," a gold medal for its Pale Ale from the Culinary Institute of America, and a gold medal for its Oatmeal Stout at the World Beer Cup.

The kitchen is headed by chef Tina Marie Clements, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. She won the championship award at last year's 2nd annual Troy Chowder Fest and incorporates many of Brown’s ales and lagers into her recipes.

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