I’ve always been the kind of person who was infatuated by catching a glimpse of “behind the scenes”. There’s something fascinating about the way things work and all the small components that help create a giant production. Visiting the Ithaca Beer Company has been on my bucket list for Ithaca, so I was excited to hear that I would be able to go with the Rose House.

When we arrived, I didn’t expect the facility to be so small. I knew that this brand of beer was a popular one in the area but never considered that the mass production all happened in such a small space. Although it was a small space, the facility contained everything it needed to produce a quality beer– multiple metal tanks, a packaging area, and an extremely large fridge. It also fascinated me that almost everything in the facility was hand done, from the assembling and gluing of the cardboard boxes to placing each bottle in those boxes. After learning all the steps from the tour guide, it was nice to hear from her that they were going to expand their production center soon.

One cool thing that I learned was that the glass bottles were specifically a dark brown color rather than clear because it blocks out sunlight, which is harmful to the finished product. The sun’s rays decreases the shelf life much faster than the air temperature the beer is in. Therefore, beer doesn’t always need to be refrigerated.

Although I was not of age to sample the beers, I still learned a great amount of beer production from ingredients such as wheat and barley. Additionally, I was able to sample their ginger beer, which I pleasantly enjoyed, and now know which flavors of beer to look out for when I turn 21.