Written by David Diehl
Lake Drum Brewing is a collective of artists crafting beers and ciders indicative of the creative experimental style of the Geneva revolution.
-Lake Drum Brewing Mission Statement
Located in historic and revitalized downtown Geneva, Lake Drum Brewing Company encompasses just the groovy-ness that the beer revolution needs. The tap room looking like a cross of a speakeasy, a basement laboratory, and a Hitsville studio, also provides a great view of the majestic, and apparently loud, Seneca lake from its humble patio. (A patio that is temporarily closed as the city continues to repolish Castle Street.)
“The name Lake Drum comes from the loud bangs that you hear on the lake. The stories go back hundreds of years – but you can still hear them from time-to-time,” explains brewer Rick Morse. “You’ll be out fishing on the dock and you’ll hear it; it sounds like someone dropped a dumpster off a three-story building. Boom! And it rolls all the way up the lake.”
It’s important to Lake Drum and their philosophy that everyone join in to the intoxicating creativity, as members of the staff and ownership have a vast plane of experiences and crafts to throw into the kettle including winemaker, homebrewer, and artist. The Lake Drum catalogue is highlighted and originally driven by a bevy of sours and ciders, yet it hasn’t turned the lights off on your classic styles as well – including ales, lagers, porters, stouts, and showcasing the highly demanded Mega Dog Double IPA.
“The Mega Dog has a lot less of a malty body to it. Some DIPAs, you drink and it fills you up, I’m more into balance,” says Morse. “I like a dryer beer, where a lot of DIPAs are on the sweet side. I back away from that. This beer definitely has a devoted following; people dig it.”
Also recommended by Morse is Lake Drum’s Eadesie Lager named after a former bartender. “We wanted to name it Easy Lager because it’s super-easy drinking, but then we adapted the name after him – his last name was Eades,” he explains. “It’s a Bavarian-German style Lager. It ages well, we lager it for a minimum of nine months. It has floral characteristics and just the right amount of bitter.”
“And I’m proud of it too,” Morse continues. “It’s hard to make a light beer. You can’t have any flaws in the process – because you’ll taste them.
16 E Castle St. Geneva, 315-789-1200 www.lakedrumbrewing.com
It was always a goal for David Diehl to return to the Finger Lakes and make an imprint on the beer culture of the region. A Hobart & William Smith Colleges graduate, Diehl spent over a decade in Brooklyn and is excited to be back and taking on Finger Lakes craft beer reviews and commentaries for EdibleFingerLakes.com. He has also been published in Inked Magazine, YRB Magazine, Nerve.com, and The Finger Lakes Times. You can follow his work at FLXWORDS.com.
