Brewed on the Hudson since 1643

Albany XX Ale

Four centuries of beer, money and machine politics in America's forgotten beer capital.

~20breweries in a city of 50,000, 1849

365cedar vats in Taylor's brewery, one per day

9–13%strength of 1840s Albany Ale

0breweries left by 1972

Where the beer was made

Ale clustered by the river, where the canal boats docked. Lager moved uphill to the Beaver Kill ravine, which is your neighborhood. Tap a cask to read its story.

Hand-drawn; streets and positions approximate. The 1862 city directory listed 19 breweries; these are the ones with a known address. Five old brewery buildings still stand.

Albany by the barrel

The whole city's output, every year we have a solid number for. The surprise: Albany brewed far more in the 1880s than in the "golden age." Ale kept growing for decades; lager only overtook it near the end. After Prohibition we only know what the plants could make, and when they closed.

AleLagerDisputed 1853 claim1939 capacity, no output known

Single breweries

Solid bars are barrels actually brewed; outlined boxes are what the plant was built to make. Most breweries only left us one of the two.

BrewedBuilt to make (capacity)

Rise and fall, by brewery count

“It's Hedrick's or the door.”What a protected Green Street club told a customer who ordered a Budweiser, early 1950s

The story in four acts

Tap any line to open it. Gold tags mark the gossip.

Built from the Albany Ale Project (Craig Gravina, Alan McLeod), the Albany Institute, NYS Museum, New Amsterdam History Center court records, Tavern Trove, TIME (Nov. 1943), Times Union and Hoxsie!. Red "disputed" tags mark conflicting dates or single-source stories.