'It’s definitely big.' Four breweries to light keg trees this weekend

CANANDAIGUA, NY — At 18 feet tall, a Christmas tree made of some 150 empty beer kegs — 8 rows high — sits on the deck at Twisted Rail Brewing Co. 

How big is it? The keg tree is so big, you can see it from Routes 5 and 20, said co-owner Ian Boni, who helped erect the keg tree at the Lakeshore Drive hotspot over the course of two days. 

Just think what it'll look like when lit. 

“It’s definitely big,” Boni said. 

And on Saturday, the switches will be hit on the lights adorning this tree, which also sports a skeleton brewery mascot drinking a beer at its top, as well as keg trees at the Young Lion, Frequentem and Peacemaker Brewing Companies. 

Twisted Rail is the first, at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, for the inaugural Get Lit in Canandaigua holiday event.  

Modeled after the Genesee Brewery keg tree lighting event, which this year was to be held Friday night at its Rochester brewery, the festive event is meant to call attention to what the breweries in Canandaigua have to offer and help people slip — or should that be sip? — into the holiday spirit. 

Cody Griffith, general manager at Young Lion who got the keg rolling on the idea, said this is something he’d like to see get bigger and better every year. 

“Genesee does a great job but locally we can do something to draw people to the area, whether it be big or small,” Griffith said. 

Involving the breweries also serves as a connection between Canandaigua Lake and downtown Main Street so that will hopefully mean small businesses and restaurants get some extra attention too, Griffith said. 

Canandaigua in the wintertime is one of the best-kept secrets around, said Jennifer Newman, owner of Young Lion, which is scheduled to light its trees at 7 p.m. 

Yes, trees. Instead of doing a giant tree, Young Lion is doing two smaller ones, including one with 500 to 600 red, white and blue lights for Buffalo Bills fans (or the U.S. World Cup soccer team for fans of the “other” football). 

“People are known to come here in the summertime but there’s excitement and energy around wintertime as well,” Newman said. 

The secret actually may be out — as of Thursday morning, some 1,400 people had already “liked” the keg tree lighting idea after word got out on social media. 

Visitors, of course, get something out of the event — besides beer and tree decorating ideas. They get a card at Twisted Rail, which is stamped at each of the next three breweries that also will be lighting trees in succession (just enough time to finish a beer or two before heading to the next). The finished card is good for a discounted beer on a visit anytime from Dec. 4-31 to one of the participating breweries. 

Frequentem Brewing's tree may not be as tall as the one at Twisted Rail, but owners David and Meagan D’Allesandro are trying to make it a little bit taller each year. Theirs is scheduled to get lit at 7:45 p.m. 

An event like this is great fun, especially when it brings together an already close-knit community of beer makers and those who love what they do, Meagan D’Allesandro said. 

“Anything that we can do as a community is special,” D’Allesandro said. 

Peacemaker’s keg tree, which will be lit at 8:30 p.m., will be displayed prominently on a stage in the Coach Street brewery’s beer garden. The four half-keg-high tree pays homage to Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, whose number 17 matches the number of kegs used, said owner Todd Reardon. 

The tree will be accented by icicle lights hanging from the stage roof. 

“It’s always great when the Canandaigua beer community gets together to put on events that support each other,” Reardon said. 

Each of the breweries will offer specials as well as some special beer. 

Reardon is hopeful his Winter In Your Heart winter warmer beer will be ready to go on tap that evening for a bit of the holiday touch. Twisted Rail also plans to offer its Barrel Aged Spike Driver, as well as its version of a winter warmer to celebrate the season, Boni said. 

As for Young Lion, it’s a top-secret, small-batch release for the occasion.  

“We’re keeping it a mystery,” Griffith said. 

Who will have the best tree? Boni may put it in the hands of the people and do a Facebook poll to see what they think as part of a light-hearted competition. 

“It’s all fun and games,” Boni said.

Young Lion Brewing got the keg rolling two years ago with its keg tree.