USA, NY: Junco Brewing Co. becomes Central New York’s newest craft brewery

Junco Brewing Co. is Central New York’s newest craft brewery. It’s located at 37 Cemetery Road just southwest of the city of Oswego, Syracuse.com reported on April 29.

Owner Rick Fernandes opened the taproom with eight beers last week. He brews on a small 1-barrel (31 gallon) system and is making styles such as pale ale, stout, wheat, Belgian blonde ale, IPA and pilsner.

He is making a “hazy” New England-style IPA, but, he says, “nothing too floral or herbal. None of our beers are far out there.”

Fernandes and his wife, Dawn, have been working on the idea of a brewery for several years. He recently retired from a career in construction, and has spent several years refurbishing an old dairy barn on the property he’s owned for 20 years on Cemetery Road.

Like many in the craft industry, Fernandes started out as a homebrewer. He’s done that for 12 years.

“I’ve been planning for a while to do this,” Fernandes said. “I get to work for myself instead of somebody else — and I get to make and share beer.”

Junco has a farm brewing license, which means its sources many of its ingredients from local suppliers. In his case, that includes hops from Chimney Bluffs Hoppery in Wolcott and malt from New York Craft Malt in Batavia.

“For a lot of the beers, I’m just trying to dial in what I can do with local ingredients,” he said.

For now, Junco will be open seasonally, typically from late April or early May through the end of October. Its current hours are 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. Its doesn’t serve food, but will have food trucks for “big events,” Fernandes said.

Some of Junco’s beers have been available on tap at Southern Fare in Oswego, and Fernandes hopes to add a few other accounts as time goes on.

The name, by the way, was inspired by the idea that Fernandes and his wife are now “snowbirds” who spend time further south in the winter months.

“We are Snowbirds now,” he said. “But that name was trademarked already. The Junco is the north American Snowbird!”

Junco has started without a lot of marketing or publicity, but has already won some loyal followers.

Oswego area carft beer enthusiast posted about her visit to Junco on Facebook:

“I’ve yet to ever go to a brewery and taste every beer they have on tap that they make to find they are ALL very good,” she posted. “West Coast IPA, Belgian, Pilsner, Wheat, Blonde, Pale, Stout, Porter...all true to their styles with a clean finish. That’s without mentioning the rustic ambience, the committed ownership, and the readiness to turn this into a go to place for the area. Go. That’s my final word. Go.”

29 April, 2022