Touring the Lake George Craft Beverage Trail
Within a half-hour drive from The Sagamore Resort, Lake George boasts six different ways to experience locally crafted beers, wines, and spirits.
Lake George has become a hotbed for craft beverages. In fact, there are now six ways to experience locally crafted beer, wine, and spirits along US Route 9 and US Route 9L – the closest located less than a mile from the resort (Bolton Landing Brewing Company). Here, we highlight them all starting from Bolton Landing and ending in Queensbury, just a half-hour away from The Sagamore Resort.
Bolton Landing Brewing
© Brendan Murnane
The newest stop on the trail is located just .8 miles from the resort, making it your perfect starting point. Opened in 2018, this micro-brewery is known for three things: amazing truffle fries (they’re a local favorite), a wall of windows looking out at the lake, and seven constantly rotating taps that pour only Bolton Landing Brewery beer. Keep an eye out for the Blueberry Sunseeker Sour, a pleasantly sour fruit beer that should be making its way back into the rotation with the warmer weather.
Adirondack Winery
Hundreds of awards can’t be wrong. There is something special about the pinot gris, baco noir, Amethyst Sunset Red, three different reislings, chardonnay, and 13 other labels that round out this Queensbury-based winery’s highly lauded collection. For a taste, head to their Bolton Landing tasting room, less than a mile down US Route 9 from Bolton Landing Brewing. Tastings come with a souvenir glass. Dessert wine tastings are paired with chocolate and cheese, and, in the summer months, their wine slushies are a must.
High Peaks Distilling
You can’t call scotch made outside of Scotland true scotch, but you can borrow the copper-pot system and the attitude of the distilleries across the pond to make a delicious single-malt whiskey stateside. That’s what High Peaks, in Lake George, set out to do. Their single malts and bourbons are all made in small batches from malted barley or locally grown corn that is mashed, fermented, distilled, and bottled entirely in-house. That means a tour of the facility will take your from grain to glass, allowing you the chance to see the whole process, including those whiskeys in the process of aging for two years (the minimum requirement for anything High Peaks produces).
Adirondack Brewery
Of all the craft beverage companies on this list, you’ve most likely heard of Adirondack Brewery as their flagship and rotating seasonal brews have been a hit up and down the East Coast (they recently added hard ciders and seltzers to their lineup, too). A visit to their Lake George-based brewery and log-cabin-style pub allows you the opportunity to try their 12 pub-exclusive drafts, including the “Wave Series” IPAs, which are also available for purchase in cans. As an added bonus, they also brew and bottle The Sagamore Resort’s own special Sagamore Ale, which means you can keep sipping their suds once you venture back to the resort.
Lake George Distilling Co.
Since opening in 2012, Lake George Distilling has focused on creating small-batch spirits out of locally sourced ingredients. In the country-chic tasting room off of Canada Street in Lake George, you can sample their moonshines, bourbons, ryes, gin, vodka, and clear rum. In the summer months, the tasting room offers a unique way of cooling off: Moonshine smoothies, which mix fruit with some of the fruitier-flavored moonshines like the lemonade or apple pie.
Springbrook Hollow Distilling
Roughly 200 acres of farm and forest land spread out from the Queensbury-based barn that houses Springbrook Hollow Distilling, producing award-winning bourbon, vodka, and gin. Wednesday through Sunday, stop by from noon to 5 p.m. for a Fido-friendly tour and tasting of their spirits or liquors like limoncello and orangecello. Just make sure to stop and say hello to Cody, the Australian Shepherd puppy, and Whiskey, the barn cat – both who “guard” the grounds.
Where to Stay The Sagamore Resort
