750 attend Ale in Autumn in downtown Medina

Photos by Sue Cook – Joey Robinson wore lederhosen to hand out glasses.

By Sue Cook, staff reporter

MEDINA – The Medina Business Association welcomed the fall season with the annual Ale in Autumn event held downtown. This is the sixth year the group has put on the beer-tasting event.

This year, 24 businesses gave tastings of 28 beers. The 750 people that bought tickets to the event received complimentary glasses to use to sample the drinks.

“From the sale of the glasses to the Chinese auction baskets that we do, we make a good amount of money to where we can do something else major for downtown,” said MBA President Cindy Robinson. “We’re thinking about getting more bike racks made. We’re looking at possibly getting new trash receptacles out there as something that matches more of the historic look.”

Ashlee’s Place, a clothing store, has been a participant all six years of Ale in Autumn. They have seen a lot of new faces at the event, especially people visiting from outside of Medina.

“It’s a beautiful day,” said owner Angela Waldriff. “We are a location that sold tickets for it so we’ve been very busy the last few weeks with people picking up tickets and coming in and asking if they were still available.”

Ashlee’s Place owner Angela Waldriff served apricot Sea Dog.

Kim Keil, owner of Wide Angle Art Gallery, served Dutch and Indian lagers for the event. Her success during the event has her already anticipating Wine About Winter. This was her first downtown Medina event as a business owner.

“It’s really exciting and little bit different because typically we partake in it from the other side of the table. This is the first time being behind the table hosting,” Keil said.

“It’s really interesting that a lot of people are coming in and actually looking at the artwork and taking the time to talk about it,” she continued. “They are interested in classes or possibly putting shows together. It’s a great opportunity for PR and getting to meet the community.”

Andy, Robyn and Tony Ottaviano of Lyndonville raise their glasses. “We’re tasting all these great beers on this perfect day,” said Robyn. Tony added, “There’s been a lot of interesting ones, but we’ve enjoyed them all so far.”

ellen j. goods owner Lynn Brundage was excited that the event started off very strong and didn’t show any sign of slowing down. The business was serving a chili beer which had a chili pepper floating in it. Tasters were commenting that it was a very unique flavor and that it was nice to try something they normally might not.

Julie Tette, an instructor at the new All Yoga Medina studio, was there with the other instructors serving beer for their first Medina event as a new business.

“This is a lot of fun. It’s nice to see a lot of people that we know and some we don’t know. It’s nice to meet new people and give them a chance to see our new place and check it out. The response has been amazing and awesome,” she said.

Tette said that people have already bought class passes and signed up for classes after being able to see the studio for the first time. The event has given them a great opportunity to expand their business while having a fun time.

810 Meadworks had a waiting line for their two special flavors.

The new business, 810 Meadworks, also participated in Ale in Autumn to drum up excitement for their expected opening in late November. Within the first two hours, the meadery had seen almost 200 people with a line stretching out the door.

Bryan DeGraw, co-owner of 810 Meadworks, explained what they were serving. They normally make mead that is more like wine, but offered something a little different for the day.

“We have two meads. One is called Scarlet A, that’s an apple cranberry fermented with blueberry honey. They other is Bee Vomit. That is wildflower honey fermented with cascade hops,” he said. “Both of those are 7 percent and carbonated so they’re more like a beer.”

Stephanie Prawel was serving Presidente in Rosenkrans Pharmacy.

Kimberly Drew comes from Greece, NY, to visit her friends from the area, Danielle and Aaron Montague. They like to go to the downtown Medina events together. They all grew up together in Lyndonville.

“We’re all about the social aspect of the beer tasting,” said Drew. “We are so excited to be here and love to see all the little businesses. I think I’m going to taste a great variety, things I’ve never tried before.”

She added that it was a great way to spend some time in Medina.

“Medina is my playground,” she said. “It was my childhood playground. I love coming here to have fun, like for this and I was here for the wine tasting. I come here for all my fun. Orleans County is awesome.”