About two months ago, I received an email from The Inn at Cooperstown advising of a "Bed and Brew Package" that they would be co-hosting with the Ommegang Brewery, also in Cooperstown, on the weekend go March 28-30.
The weekend package would include a "Meet-n-Greet" for those who signed on on Friday night, and a tasting and dinner at the Brewery on Saturday night, wherein we would be able to sample different sorts of craft beers that would be paired with what was being served throughout the four course dinner. The package also included free time throughout the day on Friday and Saturday to "explore Cooperstown", which to me, meant a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Over the years, I had visited the Hall of Fame on six different occasions, including a stay on one of those visits at The Inn at Cooperstown, so I know that it was a nice place. This presented a perfect opportunity for what would be Linda's first visit to Cooperstown
So, we signed on for the Bed & Brew Package and last Friday, here we were:
There were twenty-six people signed up for the Package and Linda and I were the oldest ones of the lot. In fact, as we were in the moment, We had to laugh at the fact that we were a part of a hipster group doing tastings of craft beers since I am more of the "Gimme an I.C.Light" crowd. Still it was a fun experience, and we found that when a random group of 26 people are put in one place at one time, you can come across some very interesting folks. Our favorites were an older couple from Long Island, Steve and Judy. He was retired and in his mid-sixties, she was in her mid-fifties. He was what you would call a "typical New Yorker" - loud and had a story for everything, and boy, could he talk.
The "tasting" part of the evening took place in the bar area of the Brewery. As you could see, you had the opportunity to try A LOT f different beers.
Everybody has a story, including the gent you see above. His name was Shiloh (like the Civil War battle), and he has probably forgotten more about beer than most people will ever know. He gave us interesting info about al of the different beers that we were tasting. We talked to him one-on-one later in the evening and found out that in an earlier life, he was an aeronautical engineer, but when the COVID pandemic struck, he and his family decided to chuck it all, move to Cooperstown, and devote his life to his passion - making beer. There's more to the story, of course, but that's the Reader's Digest version.
All in all, it was a pleasant and fun weekend, and we were probably the least serious beer drinkers among the crowd. We did bring back some of the different beers that we tried, but in the end, we'll no doubt stick to the Bud and Miller Lights, and Blue Moons when we want to get fancy.
Oh, and as the headline suggests, there was baseball involved, too, but I have gone on too long on this part of our weekend, so that part will come in another post, probably sometime tomorrow. That post will also include the story of how we watched the Pirates Opening Day game in Miami.
Stay tuned.
Oh, the name Ommegang. It's a Belgian word (most stories about beer originate in Belgium) that dates back to the 16th century. Something about when the King of England invaded Europe to claim it for Jolly Old England. To celebrate the occasion, an "ommegang", or a celebration, took place. The world is still used in Belgium and parts of Europe to indicate any sort of celebration or festival. As in, "There'll be a real ommegang in Pittsburgh when the Pirates win the World Series this year."
Having our own private little ommegang.
