E-Malt.com News article: 3729

USA: The High Falls Brewing Co. of Rochester has introduced two new beers to the craft-brewed market - a hoppy pale ale and an all-malt lager. Genesee Brewing Co., the venerable Rochester brewer, and High Falls are one and the same, The Post-Standard posted on November 24. The old family-owned brewery was bought out by employees about five years ago. It's now putting more emphasis on its craft beer line, which it sells under the name J.W. Dundee's. (Adding to the name confusion, the brewery also makes Michael Shea's Irish Amber and Kipling Light.) Genesee Brewing Co.’s products include mainstream domestic beers such as Genesee Lager, Genny Light and Genesee Cream Ale.

The new beers are J.W. Dundee's American Pale Ale and J.W. Dundee's American Amber Lager. The pale ale is decidedly hoppy - it's got a decent amount of Cascade, Amarillo and Tomahawk hops - but it's not as overpowering or as bitter as some other American pale or India pale ales, such as Victory Hop Devil or Stone's IPA, or even Middle Ages' ImPaled Ale from Syracuse.

The American Lager gets its caramel malt character from four types of crystal malt imported from England. It's what beers marketers would call a flavorful but "easy drinking" beer.

In pushing its craft J.W. Dundee line, High Falls is following the model set by another venerable Upstate brewer, F.X. Matt of Utica. In the 1990s, Matt put almost all of its effort behind its flavorful and diverse Saranac line of beers, all but dropping its old standards, such as Utica Club and Matt's Premium. However, High Falls does not intend to cut off production of the cream ale or other favorites any time soon.

Dave Schlosser, High Falls' head brewmaster, knows those beers still have a core audience, especially in Western New York. "We've got our drinkers who know and love Genesee," he said. "But it's generally an older consumer. So we need to grow with other products."

The High Falls Brewing Co. also brews J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown, a craft lager that has sold well in Central New York for the last decade or so.



28 November, 2004