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🍺 Festival Beer Menu

Eight hand-picked brews to explore at this year's Sausage & Brew Festival — from crisp pilsners and fruit-forward ciders to malty ambers and seasonal classics. Something cold and delicious is waiting for everyone.

Full Menu on Tap
Festival Favorites

Your Guide to the Pour

Whether you're chasing hoppy bitterness, refreshing fruit, or a smooth sip with your bratwurst, this lineup has you covered. We've gathered eight standout beers and ciders from regional craft breweries and beloved classics. Use this guide to navigate the taps like a pro and discover your new favorite pour.

8

Featured Brews

Curated for the festival

6

Craft Producers

Regional & independent

1

Iconic Classic

A crowd-pleaser for all

1

Hard Cider

For the non-beer crowd

⚾ Old Slugger Pale Ale

Pale AlePark Brewing Co.

Step up to the plate with Old Slugger, the flagship pale ale from Park Brewing Company out of Cooperstown, New York — yes, the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. This beer is as All-American as a seventh-inning stretch, brewed with a nod to the legends who made the game great.

Old Slugger pours a clear, golden-amber with a white foamy head. On the nose, you'll catch bright citrus hops and a hint of bready malt sweetness. The flavor delivers a clean, balanced bitterness with a smooth finish — approachable enough for casual fans, satisfying enough for craft beer enthusiasts. It's light-bodied with just enough character to keep you coming back for another round.

Hard Cider

🍐 Awestruck Pear & Apple Hard Cider

Not a beer drinker? No problem. Awestruck Ciders from Sidney, New York, has been handcrafting small-batch ciders since 2013, and their Pear and Apple blend is a festival showstopper. Founded by Steve Selin, Awestruck has earned a devoted following across the Northeast for using real, locally sourced fruit — no shortcuts, no artificial flavors, just honest cider-making tradition.

This golden pour shimmers in the glass with a bright, champagne-like sparkle. The aroma is all orchard freshness — sun-ripened pears layered over crisp apple blossom. On the palate it's off-dry, lightly effervescent, and delightfully refreshing with a clean, fruity finish that doesn't overstay its welcome. It's elegant without being fussy.

Tasting Notes

Appearance

Pale gold, brilliant clarity, fine bubbles

Aroma

Ripe pear, fresh apple, light floral blossom

Flavor

Off-dry, crisp orchard fruit, clean finish

ABV

~6.9% — sessionable and smooth

🔥 Bambino Amber Ale

Amber AleMiddle Ages Brewing Co.

Middle Ages Brewing Company has been a Syracuse, New York institution since 1995, named with a knowing wink at the founders' ages when they started brewing. Their Bambino Amber is a festival staple — named after the one and only Babe Ruth, who reportedly loved a good, malty brew almost as much as he loved a hot dog.

This amber pours a rich, deep copper with ruby highlights and a creamy off-white head. The malt character is front and center: caramel sweetness, toasted bread, and a whisper of toffee on the nose. The taste follows suit with smooth, slightly chewy malt body balanced by gentle earthy hops. The finish is clean, dry, and endlessly drinkable. A baseball legend deserves a legendary beer — and Bambino delivers.

Style

American Amber Ale

Color

Deep copper with ruby hues

Mouthfeel

Medium body, smooth & creamy

Pairing

Smoked sausage, BBQ, sharp cheddar

Crisp & Refreshing

☀️ NW Pilsner — Have a Great Day

Great Day Brewing brings a taste of the Pacific Northwest to your festival cup. Their NW Pilsner is a love letter to the classic German-style lager, reimagined with a distinctly West Coast sensibility. Clean, crisp, and unashamedly refreshing, this is the beer you reach for when you want something that just works — especially alongside a grilled sausage on a warm afternoon.

The Malt Bill

Pilsner malt gives this beer its pale straw color and delicately sweet, bready backbone. Light and elegant without any heavy residual sweetness.

The Hops

Noble-style hops lend a subtle floral and herbal bitterness — bright and spicy in the best way. Classic lager character with a modern Northwest polish.

The Finish

Bone dry, clean, and crisp with excellent carbonation. This pilsner finishes like a cool breeze — which is exactly what a hot festival day calls for.

🫐 Ellicottville Blueberry

Fruit Wheat Beer

Hailing from the ski and craft beer haven of Ellicottville, New York, Ellicottville Brewing Company has built its reputation on adventurous, fruit-forward beers that taste as good as they sound. Their Blueberry Wheat is one of their most beloved offerings — a perennial bestseller that converts skeptics and delights regulars in equal measure.

Picture this: a hazy, pale wheat ale kissed with real blueberry, bursting with jammy purple-blue fruit on the nose. The first sip is bright and juicy, with natural blueberry sweetness playing off the light wheat base. It finishes clean and slightly tart — refreshingly sessionable at around 4.4% ABV. It's summer in a glass, whether it's summer or not.

🌑 Nightshade

Dark Ale / PorterBold & Mysterious

Every great beer menu needs a dark horse, and Nightshade is exactly that. This brooding, full-flavored dark lager brewed to be a light drinker is for those who like their beer with a little drama. Dark as a moonless sky in the glass, Nightshade pours with a mocha-hued head and aromas that pull you in immediately: roasted coffee, bittersweet chocolate, a touch of vanilla, and something almost smoky lurking in the background.

What to Expect

Nightshade delivers a rich, layered flavor experience. Roasted malt leads the charge, followed by dark chocolate and espresso notes, with just enough residual sweetness to keep things balanced. Medium-full bodied with a velvety texture — this is a beer that rewards slow sipping.

The Perfect Match

Nightshade pairs beautifully with smoked meats, aged gouda, or anything with bold, savory character. The roasty bitterness cuts through fat and richness in a way that makes every bite of sausage even better. Don't sleep on this one — it's the dark knight of the lineup.

Seasonal Specialty

🍂 Oktoberfest

No beer festival is complete without an Oktoberfest on the menu, and this one is the real deal. Brewed in the traditional Märzen style that's been perfected in Munich for centuries, this seasonal lager is everything you want when the air starts to carry that first crisp hint of fall — rich, malty, and deeply satisfying.

🇩🇪 Märzen Heritage

Originally brewed in March (März in German) and lagered through summer for autumn consumption. This time-honored tradition produces a uniquely smooth, clean beer with incredible depth of malt character.

🍞 Flavor Profile

Rich toasted bread, biscuit, and caramel malt dominate. Subtle noble hop bitterness provides balance without overshadowing the malt. Medium-full body with a clean, dry lager finish.

🥨 Festival Pairing

The ultimate sausage beer. The toasty malt character complements grilled bratwurst, kielbasa, and pretzels with mustard in a way that feels almost preordained. This is the pairing that makes the whole festival sing.

The Classic

🍺 Miller Lite

Look, not everyone wants to dive deep into hop profiles and malt complexity — and that's perfectly okay. Miller Lite has been America's go-to light lager since 1975, and there's a reason it's still one of the best-selling beers in the country. Sometimes you just want a cold, no-fuss beer in your hand while you're laughing with friends and loading up on sausage.

Crisp, light-bodied, and easy-drinking with a faint malt sweetness and gentle hop bite, Miller Lite clocks in at just 96 calories and 3.2g carbs. It's the social beer — the universal language of a good time. At a festival, it's the one your uncle, your college roommate, and your new best friend can all agree on. Respect the classic.

"It's Miller Time." — and honestly, at a sausage festival, every hour qualifies.

ABV

4.2%

Calories

96 per 12oz

Style

American Light Lager

Find Your Perfect Pairing 🍻

Still deciding what to pour first? Let this quick cheat sheet guide your first — and second — trip to the taps.

Light & Fruity

→ Awestruck Pear & Apple Cider or Ellicottville Blueberry — perfect for those who love something bright, refreshing, and easy to sip.

Smooth & Malty

→ Bambino Amber or Oktoberfest — rich, toasty, and deeply satisfying alongside any grilled sausage on the menu.

Bold & Dark

→ Night Shade — for the adventurous palate who wants depth, drama, and roasted complexity in every sip.

Crisp & Clean

→ NW Pilsner, Old Slugger, or Miller Lite — the crowd-pleasers that never let you down, no matter what's on your plate.

Full Craft Beer Menu on Tap

🌾 Apricot Wheat

Ithaca Beer Co.

🍎 Awestruck Apple & Pear Cider

Sidney, NY

⚾ Bambino Amber

Cooperstown Brewing Co.

🫐 Blackberry Kolsch

Ellicottville Brewing Co.

💜 Blueberry Wheat

Ellicottville Brewing Co.

🎃 Country Pumpkin

Ithaca Beer Co.

🍺 Goose Island IPA

Goose Island Beer Co.

🥤 Miller Lite

Miller Brewery

🌑 Nightshade

Bittersweet Farms Brewery

🍂 Oktoberfest

Great Lakes Brewing Co.

☀️ Perfect Day Pilsner

Northway Brewing Co.

🎃 Pumpkinville Ale

Ellicottville Brewing Co.