Quality, Quality, Quality Will Lure Customers, Brewers Say
5TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON FOOD, FARMING
Quality, Quality, Quality Will
Lure Customers, Brewers Say

By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

COOPERSTOWN – Asked today for “key factors to success,” four panelists from the local brewing industry spoke as one: Quality, quality, quality and quality.

“It all starts with quality,” said Roger Davidson, Council Rock Brewery founder. “It is fun … (but) I try to do the best I can every single day for consistent quality.”
“If quality isn’t the top of mind, you shouldn’t be a brewer,” said Ommegang’s Phil Leinhart, who has been cited in international competition as the “best in the world” of brewmasters at mid-size operations.
Aaron MacLeod, director of Hartwick College’s Center for Craft Food & Beverage, expanded that to include “the value chain” — hops, barley, malt, all the products that go into beer making.