Drink This Beer

Today is International Beer Day, so I thought I’d tell you a little story about a great beer and a nice guy.

The beer is Dacker. It’s a full-bodied, goes-down-easy ale, first brewed in the Adirondacks in 1885. We happened upon it in 2007, when it was recommended to us by a server at the Friends Lake Inn. She didn’t know what she started. For the rest of our trip to upstate New York, we asked for Dacker at every restaurant and beer-selling establishment we encountered. No one else had heard of it.

Fast forward three years and it’s summer in the Adirondacks again. This year, we discovered that Dacker is brewed by the Davidson Brothers Brewing Company in Glens Falls, New York. At their pub, Dacker has become their second-best-selling beer of all time, just behind their flagship IPA.

Lucky us. We had to pass through Glens Falls on our way to catch a plane. But we had no idea how late we’d be running that day — or that we’d have a frantic phone call with Rick Davidson (I was frantic, he was not) about how to find the brewery and whether or not we’d make it on time. He soothed me, “Just look for the ugly building in the center of town. That’s us.”

The Davidson Brothers restaurant and brewery is anything but ugly. When you see it, you want to hang there for a good long time. We’ll do that on our next trip. This time, Rick filled a growler and pressed it into our hands, refusing to accept any payment. We stowed our precious cargo in a duffel bag for the long flight home, making it to the airport with five minutes to spare. When we were back on the ground, we really needed a beer.

So if you’re ever in Glens Falls — and Hudson Valley canning friends, I’m talkin’ to you — you know what to do. Go see the big-hearted Davidson brothers. Knock back a Dacker and tell them we said hi.

Oh! Today is also national waffle day. Beer and waffles. Mmmm.