From 0 to Number 50 in 6 years

Established in 2005, Butternuts Beer and Ale is located in an old dairy barn on a farm in the Butternut Valley in Upstate New York.

It was founded on the basis of being an unpretentious, session-style brand of craft beer. To do this, owner and brewmaster, Chuck Williamson put the beer in a can, named it Porkslap (and other creative names), and ran advertising slogans such as “Nice Cans.” The alcohol content of Porkslap, their most popular beer, is less than 5 percent – the beers are meant to be drunk six at a time.

Williamson bought the old dairy barn and a Cask automated canning system and the rest is history.

We weren’t expecting the kind of volumes we’re doing now,” Williamson said of the beer that is distributed in 14 states.

To deal with that demand, Williamson is planning to open a high-volume production facility in Cobleskill within the year. He also bought the Cooperstown Brewing Company (CBC) in September, 2011 to expand beer offerings. Williamson kept all of the company’s beers and has also been using the Milford brewery for contract work.

In addition to the expansion and acquisition of CBC, Williamson purchased the golf course around the corner from Butternuts brewery, reformatting it to include a brew pub that serves American cuisine and local beer. The brew pub is called the Clubhouse and Brewery at Butternut Valley Golf and Recreation

Butternuts is now the 50th-largest microbrewery in the nation (out of over 2000),” states Williamson (based on the May 2012 New Brewer production survey).

We are pleased to be a part of his success and the continued expansion of his business.