In 1999, when John Carr opened Adirondack Brewery on Canada Street in Lake George, he says there were only 38 breweries in New York State. Today there are 550. “I always say we were about 10 years before our time, but eventually, people decided they like IPAs, and here we are.” Adirondack Brewery celebrated its 25th anniversary on Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a 3,000-square-foot addition.
Village of Lake George Mayor Ray Perry, Town of Lake George Supervisor Vincent Crocitto, State Senator Dan Stec, State Assemblyman Matt Simpson’s Chief of Staff Matt MacDonald and Regional Director of Capital District Empire State Development Mike Yevoli spoke at the ceremony, heralding Parr as a visionary who early on saw potential in the craft beverage industry.
“John came here in 1999, 25 years ago, and opened Adirondack Brew Pub in that first building up front,” said Crocitto. “Before that, that building struggled for years to find success. John came with his vision and creativity, his passion, and is still in business and made that building one of the most successful businesses in the area. He also created one of the first craft breweries we have and also created the most recognizable local brand that we also have… and along the way created a whole bunch of new jobs.”
The expansion was supported by a grant through the Empire State Development Craft Beverage Micro Grant program. ESD Regional Director Yevoli says the investments Adirondack Brewery has made over the past 25 years have made an enjoyable site “exponentially better,” and the new addition will allow the brewery to innovate and contribute to the region with increased production.
Mayor Perry noted that the business is at the Village entrance, creating a “brilliant gateway to welcoming people to our village. We’re incredibly fortunate to have such a thriving business in this prime spot,” he adds. “John and his team are true visionaries who recognized the potential of craft beverages before anyone else. He established the Adirondack Brewery in 1999. He put Lake George on the map for craft beer enthusiasts. Now, 25 years later, we celebrate John, Cindy, and their team as they expand once again.”
MacDonald told the story of how he first came to know John Carr. He once worked in sales, selling natural stone, and Carr came to the quarry, seeking to buy stone. MacDonald showed Carr their catalog.
“He’d say, ‘No, I want something else, I want something different.’ So, we’d hop in the quarry jeep and drive all around the quarry all afternoon.” Carr would see a rock he liked and say” I want that, I want that piece.’ Now, says MacDonald, “These are beautiful pieces of stone but, you know, they were in a big pile of rock.” Those stones now form the Adirondack Pub and Brewery patio beer garden.
“Why that matters now to me more than ever,” says MacDonald, “is I didn’t realize at that time, John was a visionary. He saw things in a raw state, a natural state, that we didn’t really understand what it could be, and 25 years ago, that’s what he saw with the brewery. He saw something before anybody else, before the Village, before New York State and now, in the 114th District … craft brewery is an amazing thing and in many ways, because of John.”
Carr credits his crew and his local distributor, also a family-run business, with making it possible for Adirondack Brewery to carefully and cautiously grow. Ten years ago, Carr opened High Peaks Distillery, which now produces one of the top three single malts in the country.
“This expansion,” says Carr, “is helping us do that kind of stuff because, when we just made beer, we could be smaller, now that we’re doing whiskey and the washes, we’re doing seltzers, we’re doing cider with 100 percent New York State apple juice, we’re doing canned cocktails. We’re doing other things. As we’ve grown our business, having this space helps a lot.”
Carr says that while he is excited to be celebrating 25 years, “I’m really excited for our 50th one. That’s the kind of measure that matters. I’m just trying to figure out what everybody’s going to drink 25 years from now. I don’t know what that will be, but hopefully, we can make it.”
