A once-iconic Syracuse beer will be hitting local shelves again this summer.

Willow Rock Brewing Company has partnered with the Onondaga Historical Association to revive Congress Beer. The beverage was originally brewed by the Haberle Brewery from 1857 to 1962, said OHA executive director Gregg Tripoli. The idea of reviving Congress Beer was born five years ago and will be brought to fruition this summer.

Haberle was one of the many breweries to take advantage of central New York’s ideal environment for growing hops. This helped the region become the nation’s top supplier of hops in the late 19th century, Tripoli said.

No amount of hops could offset the Volstead Act, better known as Prohibition, which served as a dagger to a number of unsuspecting local breweries in 1919. Haberle, though, saw the writing on the wall and took steps in advance to ensure they outlived Prohibition. Bob Searing, curator of history at the OHA, said that since Haberle merged with local brewery Crystal Springs, in 1892, they were more established when the Volstead Act came into play.

“They had a large productive capacity, they had smart investors and they had diversified their product in advance — they were more prepared than other breweries,” he said.

Various sodas and Congo Beer — a “near beer” containing a minimal amount of alcohol — helped Haberle endure. This paved the way for their popular beer, Congress, to keep locals coming back into the years of the Kennedy administration.

Courtesy of the Onondaga Historical Association

Eventually, pests swarmed the region’s hops crops and put the remaining breweries out of business. Though Congress Beer has been gone for nearly 60 years, its legacy has thrived in the OHA gift shop through popular merchandise. As the paraphernalia flew off the shelves, Tripoli had the idea to look for a recipe in the OHA’s archives on the off-chance they had something.

“It turns out, they came up with a recipe for Congress,” Tripoli said. “Here was a universe conspiring.”

Fast forward a few years, and, after an arduous legal process with a wealth of paperwork, the OHA secured rights to license and sublicense Congress Beer, Tripoli said. They only needed to find a brewery to take on the task.

Enter Willow Rock Brewing Company.

The brewery’s co-owner Kevin Williams said he and his business partner, Rockney Roberts, were familiar with the iconic Congress Beer brand. They had actually planned to look into bringing back the label once their own business expanded.

“For us, the partnership with Willow Rock was perfect on all levels,” Tripoli said. “All the stars aligned — they had done their homework, they had paid their dues, they have a great following, they have an amazing reputation for consecutively good beer and they’re poised to grow. They’re ready.”

Though Syracusans will soon be afforded the opportunity to down Congress Beer like their grandparents and great-grandparents before them, the beer itself will likely taste a little different. Williams said the recipe they were given was more like an outline, focusing instead on the process behind brewing the beer than the actual ingredients used.

He and Roberts are working from what was popular at the time, aiming to still modernize the beer for today’s taste buds. Willow Rock is still running test batches to try and lock down their final recipe, which will likely show some local love.

“We want to make it as close to a 100 percent New York state beer as possible,” Williams said. “We want to try and source all of our ingredients locally and make this something that not only the city, but the state can be proud of.”

Interest in Congress Beer has already piqued elsewhere too, leading the OHA to secure licensing for distribution in Washington, D.C.; Maryland and Virginia. But Willow Rock is keeping their focus local at first. Williams said it’ll expand the beer outside the area once it’s hit every Syracuse taste bud it can.

“There’s a connection, and people here love that, love that nostalgia,” Tripoli said. “We happen to think, of course, that history adds value to anything — it adds depth, substance and meaning.”

Congress Beer is expected to be released this August in kegs and on tap at Willow Rock, before eventually rolling out cans throughout the local region. Also in the works is the OHA’s “Brewseum,” a museum dedicated to Syracuse’s rich beer history that will also offer food and beer.

Asked if the OHA has plans to eventually revive any of Congress’ other brews, like their Bock or IPA, Tripoli smiled.

“If it means that we get to taste more beer,” Searing said.

Published on April 15, 2018 at 10:09 pm

Contact Adam: aglehner@syr.edu