Please visit the Belgium Comes to Cooperstown Photo Gallery


The date is set: On Saturday, July 15th Belgium is coming back to Cooperstown, and you should come with it. Once again we’ll be celebrating the finest imported Belgian beers and American craft-brewed, Belgian-style beers. All-in-all there will be over 125 different beers available to sample!


Admission is $40 at the gate the day of the event, and will get you entrance to the event, a commemorative tasting glass, unlimited, responsible sampling from 2 until 6 pm, falconry and Belgian draft horse exhibits and amusements, live music into the night, brewery tours, beautiful surroundings and great company! Designated driver tickets are also available for $15, as well as underage (ages 12-21) passes, also for $15. Kids under 12 are free.


There will be food vendors open all day selling fine Belgian and American foods to soak up the suds (not included in admission).


We are also opening up the brewery grounds for camping on Friday and Saturday night (please note: there are no public events on Friday the 14th--we are simply offering weary travelers and early birds an affordable and convenient place to stay) for $15 per site/per night (we consider a campsite to hold 2 tents, a car and a tent, or an RV or camper). These will be ‘rustic’ campsites: meaning there are no electrical or waste hookups. There are fire-rings throughout the grounds and plenty of firewood, so we invite you to bring some grub for munching later on. We also welcome friendly dogs on leashes. If you bring a cat it stays here because we need one to hunt mice.

After the sampling concludes at 6pm we will be turning our sampling table into a cash bar and will be selling our ales, made here in Cooperstown, and Duvel and Rodenbach from Belgium until the party winds down and the campers are off to Belgian-beer bliss under the upstate stars and crisp night air.


In 2006 we will be beefing up our preparations in order to make this the best, most enjoyable BCTC to date. More water, more port-o-lets (now we’re talking luxury!), more tent space, more and better food and a cooling system to beat the heat. There will be a limit to the number of tickets we will sell in advance, so keep your eyes on the website should we have to begin counting down. Or better yet, head for our online store and purchase yours now, or call 1-800-544-1809 to order yours by phone! We’ll send an email confirmation, so there will be no physical tickets (and the shipping fee will be waived if you order online). See you on the 15th!


BCTC 2005 WRAP-UP:


Once again, Belgium came to Cooperstown—this time, in force. It began Friday, July 15th, when eager festival-goers began pitching tents all around the 140 acre grounds of Brewery Ommegang, some as early as 10am. They were vying for prime real estate to the biggest and best Belgian brewfest outside of Brussels. They knew that, the next day, they would see over 100 Belgian and Belgian-style beers tapped under the big tent.


The feeling was electric. In fact, two days previous, the brewery was actually struck by lightning, and a thick plasma of superheated anticipation hung in the air. All the brewery computers and phones were knocked out. Everyone who tried to call for last-second advance tickets were frustrated as our phones rang and rang. Our staff of over 40 volunteers scurried around, taking care of last minute touches. Everyone dug in for the big crowd making their way from various parts of the globe.


By 2 pm on Saturday, the grounds had swelled to a population of over 1300. This included hundreds of representatives and brewers from 29 breweries, 8 importers of Belgian beers, Ommegang brewery staff, two Belgian draft horses with Roman rider, 6 birds of prey with falconer, food and music vendors, legions of festival goers, and the occasional dog on a leash. Every square inch of our farmstead brewery was covered with people, animals, automobiles, and tents. The festivities officially began.


And it was hot. Incredibly hot, especially for upstate New York. Temperatures reached the mid-nineties, and the beer tent was as steamy as a sauna. T-shirts stuck to skin. Forearms wiped away sweat from foreheads. An entire pallet of bottled water was gone in a matter of hours, and volunteers shuttled in coolers of ice water as fast as humanly possible. And the beer. Entire kegs of strong, heady Belgian ale were killed in an instant. Dubbels were depleted, Tripels were tapped out, Saisons were sucked down. This was a thirsty crowd.


The evening came, and the sun finally released the crowd from its glare. The soothing Malian rhythms of Mamadou Diabate brought everyone down to a low simmer, and out came the waxing moon. The pig, which had been roasting since 5 am, was served, and smiles of contentment pervaded the scene. Local bands I Work for No Man and The Hellhounds hit the stage and got the crowd swinging again. Ommegang, Duvel, and Rodenbach beers went on sale, and the buzz re-intensified. Micro-parties began to pop up around the brewery, replete with tiki torches, campfires, and, in one case, an unannounced 4 piece band, courtesy of Keegan Ales. And then, all at once, the bonfire erupted, its gravity drawing in the sun burnt crowd, as djembe drums began to pound. Old, broken pallets fed to the fire sent it higher and higher, and BCTC 05 reached its powerful crescendo with “the burning of the reindeer.” This life-size arctic effigy replete with interwoven Christmas lights was hoisted and paraded around the bonfire by the folks from Troegs brewery in Harrisburg, PA. As the thing was tossed sideways into the fire, where it gloriously burned to hearty cheers, all knew that no cold loving thing could survive this day; only cold-beer loving revelers.


By the way: Belgium will come back to Cooperstown in 2006. Will you?