...because I can't get on base!

Who knew that there was Busters Brew Pub and Microbrewery on the US army base at Fort Drum in upstate NY? Not me. But there they were making an impression as they were pouring beer at the first Sackets Harbor 1812 Beer and Wine Festival as reported in the Watertown Daily News:

Busters Brew Pub and Microbrewery at the commons, Fort Drum, which won best brewery at the last Octoberfest, was back with a new lineup of draught beers. One of those brews was Buchanan's Top of the Mountain Ale, brewed by Brig. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, who attended the festival before departing for Iraq on Saturday evening. Buster's brewmeister, James A. Arquiett, said the beer was "charged up with hops."

Gen. Buchanan, a brewer of about 18 years, poured the first few mugs of Buster's beer alongside Barbara B. Oates, the wife of Maj. Gen. Michael Oates, commander of 10th Mountain Division's forces in Iraq, highlighting the community's connection with Fort Drum. "I'm learning to pour. I didn't know how to do that," Mrs. Oates said while mastering the correct pouring angle

Although it's only a hour and a bit to get to Sackets or Fort Drum - we were in Watertown the night before - I wasn't able to get to the fest this year due to the call of my own BBQ and lawn chair. It seems going to the fest may be the only way I could get to try this brewery's beer. The BAers are not particularly supportive but their Wolfpack Red does get a B+ so there may be something going there worth checking out. I'll be in Sackets in a few weeks for vintage baseball and will do some asking around. Or maybe I'll get to go on air show day.

By the way, Kingston and Sackets Harbor as well as Fort Drum to a lesser degree are all joined by history, the first two being on of the frontiers of the arms race of 1775 to 1840 or so between the United States and the British Empire with Drum being the continuation of the base at Sackets. We like each other better now.