To learn more about the Great Adirondack Brewery and its offerings, visit the restaurant's Web site at the following address: www.greatadirondacksteakandseafood.com
LAKE PLACID — The Great Adirondack Brewing Company is one of the best kept secrets in Lake Placid.
"We fly a little under the radar," said Hutch Kugeman, the brewmaster at the The Great Adirondack Brewing Company — an extension of The Great Adirondack Steak & Seafood Company, located on Main Street and owned and operated by the Kane family since 1987.
But after receiving accolades at the nation's premiere brewing contest, the business is garnering deserved attention.
At The Great American Beer Festival recently held in Denver, the brewery won the silver medal in the French- and Belgian-style saison category for its Belgian Summer Ale and a bronze in the foreign-style stout category for its Whiteface Black Diamond Stout — both recipes developed by Kugeman.
"We are definitely very excited," said Kugeman, who made a serious hobby of brewing beer on the side as a middle school teacher in North Carolina to relieve stresses brought on by dealing with teenagers all day long.
"I decided (brewing) was a good mix of fun and science," he said. "There is also a cool factor to brewing."
In the late 1990s, Kugeman got serious about brewing and decided to move out west, settling in Portland, Ore., where he described the microbrewery scene as "a thriving and progressive beer Mecca."
To get his foot in the door, Kugeman took an entry-level job at the Pelican Pub and Brewery, where he would learn the craft from renown brewmaster Darron Welch.
"I was really lucky to learn from someone who is a very accomplished brewer," Kugeman said.
After seven months under Welch's tutelage, Kugeman began blindly sending resumes to breweries across the country.
Although he had never even visited Lake Placid, he received an offer from the Kanes and joined the business in Dec. 2002 as an assistant to then-brewmaster Rob Davis.
Two months after Kugeman's arrival, the business was badly damaged by a fire. Davis had contemplated a more prominent role in the restaurant and decided to make the move. So, after just six months, Kugeman took over the brewery.
"I was very lucky to walk into a situation that played out with me moving up the ladder very quickly," he said.
Kugeman credits the brewery's success since that time to the Kane family.
"They are very hands-off," he said. "They let me control everything."
Part of the autonomy granted to Kugeman is to brew beers that fit his tastes.
"I brew beer that I would want to drink and that I think others would want to drink," he said. "I absolutely design the beers based on what I want."
Kugeman said the business operates as a restaurant first and as a brewery second, with a stronger focus on food than at most breweries. And the emphasis on cuisine allows Kugeman to experiment with various beer recipes and flavors more than some other breweries might allow.
"The total freedom to be creative sets us apart," he said. "Not every business has that freedom. Some are stuck brewing a flagship product."
Kugeman explained that breweries start out small and with the option to innovate. But as one or more beers become popular, a brewery will have to devote additional resources to make more of the same beer, which leaves less space and time for trying new recipes and, depending on demand, may even require expansion.
"That may be a great problem to have, but it may lock you into making (a flagship beer) the exact same taste or you could be stuck making only that beer because you need to make so much of it," Kugeman said. "Those breweries have to make flavor compromises."
Additionally, Kugeman's brewery, which currently produces about 450 barrels — or about 14,000 gallons — of beer each year, has the flexibility to let seasonal beer flavors vary slightly each season.
"We don't have a house flavor to our beers," he said. "As a brew pub, you can do that. There is a certain amount of wildness that plays into the fermenting of beer."
Ed Kane, owner of the business, said Kugeman is an extremely gifted brewer and the beers he crafts are perfect for pairing with the cuisine of the Great Adirondack Steak & Seafood Company.
"(The beer) is wonderfully complimentary (to the menu)," he said. "We suggest different beers with different entrees."
The Kanes know that the brewery has a low-key profile, and they like it that way.
"We are actually more of a family kind of place — that is our design," Kane said.
In positioning the business as predominantly a restaurant, as opposed to a brewery with a pub-style menu, he said it is more feasible to be viewed as an establishment with class.
And because the extraordinary beers Kugeman concocts boosts that image, Kane acknowledges how lucky he is to have Kugeman around.
"He puts an awful lot of thought and care into what he does, which is wonderful," Kane said. "We are very proud of Hutch.
"We have been up against some of the biggest breweries in the world and Hutch has beat them out."
Kane predicts Kugeman will become wildly successful in the brewing industry, much like his mentor, Welch.
"We can only take an individual as talented as (Kugeman) so far," Kane said. "He will certainly make a big name for himself."
For now, Kane is pleased to boast such an adept brewer.
And Kugeman is more than happy to pave the way for many more years of premium hand-crafted beers.
"I love turning people on to beer," he said. "It is something that I am excited and obviously passionate about. Being able to share that with people is my favorite part of being a brewer."
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