Lake Drum Brewing: Our Craft Beverage Experience

You may recall one of the more recent events we’ve attended, The NY Kitchen Craft Brew & BBQ Festival. At this event we sampled from many vendors their best beers and ciders. You may also remember this brewer in the photo below from Lake Drum Brewing, one of the vendors we had mentioned in our post! Labor Day Weekend we were stoked to be able to take a trip out to Geneva, NY and visit the actual brewery, Lake Drum Brewing.

Lake Drum Brewing is a small brew house that resides just off the main strip in Geneva in the middle of town right by Seneca Lake. The decor features an industrial feel with a lot of the handiwork made by Victor, one of the owners.

A chalkboard wall lines the right side as you walk in showing the latest features. On the left behind the bar, is the full menu on a chalkboard above a large collection of beautiful steins.

Plenty of seating is along the bar as well as a large table and various seating in front of a large window showcasing their craft brews in the making.

 

Across from the “brew room”  is a free library (bring a book, take a book) and a large collection of vinyls to request to play. Not only is there a shuffleboard table as shown in the photo above, but dart boards and board games as well.

An eye-catching vinyl record player display sits on the far left side of the bar playing some old folk music. Fresh cut flowers from the weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture program) pick-up are placed in vases on top of the bar. The atmosphere felt very care-free and comfortable.

 

 

 

Victor not only designed a lot of the indoor features, but outside he also designed the parklet. A parklet is an extension of the sidewalk that provides a seating area in one or more of the parking spaces on the street. It shows a collaboration between the city and the businesses. The metal cutouts reflect the industrial look that you experience inside the brewery. These cutouts are leftover stencils from Vance Metal that would otherwise be scraped.

Before Lake Drum Brewing, Victor and Jenna both graduated from college in Geneva. Victor graduated with a degree in Arts & Education and Jenna with a degree in Political Science. They both had a love for wine and brewing, and found themselves working jobs as winemakers. Soon, they started their own small scale cider production. Then later, they acquired wine barrels which led them to experiment with beer, fermentation, and aging.

In 2015, Victor and Jenna opened Lake Drum Brewing after they were chosen for The Race for the Space, a program organized by The Local Development Corporation. This program gave financial incentives, a years free rent, as well as assistance through the city’s Revolving Loan Fund. Originally, the brewery was meant to just be a growler filling station. After much thought, and influence from their business consultant, they decided it was in their best interest to go all out and open a brewery.

When Lake Drum Brewing first started, they were only making ciders and sour beers. They knew they wanted a more expansive menu and to dive in to the more popular beers such as IPA’s and Lagers. So, they decided to hire a head brewer, Rick. Now they have about 7 ciders and 10 beers on tap to give their customers a wide variety of choices. Currently, they have a cream ale in carbonation – we can’t wait to go back and try that.

We made it to the brewery just as they were opening, so we were able to meet with Jenna and have a long chat with Victor. Victor poured us some of his favorite ciders and beers for us to try. The flights came out as shown in the photo below. Each tasting glass had a number written on the flight with a dry-erase marker to correspond with the numbers on the menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s talk about Cider:

The first cider they ever sold was Mattio’s Free Run (#4 on menu). They haven’t made this cider since they first opened the brewery – until now. Our favorite ciders besides Mattio’s was their Tulsi Basil (#2) and Berry Fields Forever (#6). They love showcasing local and in-season fruits with their ciders such as the cherries and blueberries in their Berry Fields Forever. They also like to experiment with herbs that are typically used in teas like the basil used in Tulsi Basil (#2) and sumac used in Wasting Away (#7).  We loved the basil cider so much, we had to buy a pint to take home!

Many of their ciders are produced in wine barrels shipped over from California. Although, the one cider on their menu named Gin-Ger (#5), was actually made in a gin barrel! Beware, the name isn’t because it has ginger in it.

The beer:

Besides their cider, their main focus and passion was creating sour beers. Many of these sour beers are made in chardonnay barrels and is the reason for many of their return customers. Currently, a sour beer they have on tap is Kriek Lambic (#2). Their most popular Pale Ale is The Juice (#7) – one of the beers we tasted when visiting their stand at The NY Kitchen Craft Brew & BBQ Festival.

 

You might be wondering where the name, Lake Drum Brewing, came from. Before visiting Geneva, we looked on the map for a Lake Drum and came up short. So, we were clueless as to where this name could have originated from. Apparently, it’s a popular question by many of their visitors.

When visiting Seneca Lake or Cayuga Lake, there is a loud booming noise heard every so often. No, not the canons to scare away the birds from the grapes at the vineyards. This other loud booming noise is believed to be from gas bubbles because the lake is so deep. Once upon a time, Seneca Lake was used for submarine testing because of it’s depth – which blew our minds! Therefore, due to the loud booming noise, Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake are nicknamed The Lake Drums or The Lake Guns. Hence the name, Lake Drum Brewing.

Of course, there are plenty of folklore and legends to explain the loud noise…

“Long ago, a lonesome fisherman decided to go fishing at night – past curfew. He knew this was against the rules, but he really wanted to fish and couldn’t wait until morning. The Lake gods frowned upon this and banished him to the bottom of the lake. The loud booming noise is the Lake gods warning.”

Lake Drum Brewing was a great place for a date in Geneva. With their wide variety of ciders and beers and the story behind the brewery, it’s a site worth visiting. Whether your following the “Craft Beer Trail” or just visiting the area, Lake Drum Brewing should make it onto your list.

We’d like to say thank you to both Victor & Jenna for inviting us to their brewery. It was such a pleasure to hang out while sipping some delicious craft beverages. We now have a few new favorite ciders and beers that we will be recommending and drinking for years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

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