Capital Region’s Craft Beverage Producers Near 1,000 Jobs

Adirondack Winery’s new Queensbury tasting room.

The Capital Region’s craft beverage manufacturing industry is nearing 1,000 jobs. At the same time, Saratoga County has tied Columbia County for the most active craft producer licenses in the region, according to a biennial survey of the industry by the Center for Economic Growth.

Survey Results

CEG’s biennial survey of the Capital Region’s craft beverage manufacturing industry found there were 201 active licenses issued by the State Liquor Authority for the production of beer, spirits, wine, cider and mead, not including temporary manufacturing and combined licenses. With some producers holding several types of licenses, there were 140 unique locations in the eight-county region, as of late July.

CEG’s last survey of the region’s craft beverage industry in summer 2023 similarly found 201 active licenses, but they were spread across 152 unique locations. Over the two-year period, the only counties to experience a net gain in active craft beverage licenses were Saratoga (+6) and Warren (+2) counties.

With those gains, Saratoga County had a total 40 active craft beverage production licenses – tying Columbia County for the most in the region. However, Columbia County continued to have the most unique craft beverage locations in the region: 31 to Saratoga County’s 25. Both counties are now tied to have the most distillery active licenses, with 10 each. Saratoga County also emerged as having the most active brewery licenses (21) in the region, surpassing Albany County (18).

Craft Jobs

In 2024, 84 brewery, distillery and winery establishments averaged 951 jobs in the Capital Region, according to data from the New York State Department of Labor. That means the region’s craft beverage producer employment was up 27.8 percent from CEG’s previous survey in 2023. Breweries accounted for three-quarters of the craft beverage manufacturing industry’s total employment. Local craft beverage producers also paid $32.9 million in wages — $8.3 million more than 2023.  

Coming Soon

As of last July, the SLA had 13 pending craft beverage producer licenses, with six in Saratoga County, two in both Albany and Columbia Counties, and one in each Greene, Warren and Washington Counties. They included:

Breweries

Vex LLC (dba Upper Depot Brewing Co), Hudson

Deep Fried Beers LLC (dba Night School), Athens

Tree House Brewing Company, Inc., Saratoga Springs

Broken Loop Brewing Co. Inc. (dba Broken Loop Brewing Co.), Albany

Bolton Landing Brewing Company LLC, Bolton Landing

Slickfin Brewing Company LLC, Fort Edward

Wineries

RR Wine Cellar LLC, Cohoes

Bowman Orchards LLC, Rexford

30 FishAndGame LLC (dba Clear Creek Farm), Hudson

Distilleries

Tree House Brewing Company, Inc., Saratoga Springs

Makesomeroom, LLC, Greenfield Center

Speckled Pig Distilling Co., Inc., Ballston Spa

CEG Initiatives

Leveraging its status as a Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP center), CEG Manufacturing  Solutions has also assisted local craft beverage producers. For example, for CEG Manufacturing Solutions help Albany Distilling with improving their ability to make sales (Sandler Leadership Training and Sandler Customized Reinforcement Selling), reaching foreign markets (ExporTech), utilizing Lean Accounting, and obtaining National Grid and Workforce Development Institute grants for training and equipment. CEG has also partnered with SUNY Schenectady to develop an apprenticeship program for brewers and distillers.

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