Tap Handle #852: Woodstock Beer Brands (Woodstock Brewing)

March 15, 2025

Tap Handle #852: Woodstock Beer Brands (Woodstock Brewing)

Tap size: 10.75"

Rarity: 10 or less seen, brewery closed

Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

I first saw one of these Woodstock lava lamp taps appear on the secondary market in 2014 and thought it was awesome, so it immediately went on my wish list. A couple years later I was able to get one for an incredible price and I was overjoyed. The tap is essentially a reproduction of a lava lamp "frozen in time"; a real working lava lamp was probably too much to ask for. The top appears to be real glass rather than acrylic or clear resin, and in a clever design move, a bolt was imbedded in the bottom of the glass, making the top easily interchangeable (see photo below). A label on the base shows the name of the brewery and the beer. I think the color of the "lava" was supposed to match the label color and correspond to the beer variety: red for Lager, green for Porter, purple for Pilsener, and though I can't be 100% sure, I believe orange was for IPA. My version has green lava yet the label reads Light Lager, but the label is green too so there's a little mystery there...maybe it was too expensive to make more than 4 lava colors? I grabbed an image from the brewery's old website (see photo inset right) that shows the different colored taps in action. Since I couldn't find any info on their Light Lager, I chose to profile their IPA instead. The tap is not from the early Woodstock Brewing days in New York, but rather the later Woodstock Beer Brands period when the Woodstock brand was owned by Grand Continental Incorporated in Georgia, between 2003-2008. Only a handful of these have appeared on the secondary market: 1 red, 3-4 green, and 1 purple that was missing the label. I have never seen an orange version, which is unusual because IPA (which was more like a DIPA) was their most popular beer. The price was $150 for the only one listed in 2020, but I haven't seen one since, so it's hard to peg the current value.

Woodstock Brewing was founded in 1991 in Kingston, New York by Nat Collins. Drawn to the Woodstock area for its historical "hippie" cultural association, in the mid-1970's Collins worked first as a beekeeper for the Rainbow Farm Collective, then as a "brewer" (using ingredients that could be found on the farm). By the late 1970's he had left the Collective and formed his own construction firm, but continued to dream about running his own brewery as he honed his home brewing skills. By the late 1980's he decided that time had come. Disbanding the construction firm, he visited micro breweries, brewpubs, attended courses at the Siebel Institute, and became an AHA\HWBTA recognized beer judge. On returning to the Woodstock area, he started searching for an appropriate building to house his brewery. Although Collins wanted to locate in Woodstock, he stumbled across an old foundry in nearby Kingston, which had first seen operation in the 1830's, and the large open space and incentives from the city were too good to pass up. His construction experience served him well, and along with the help of some friends, he cleaned and refurbished the building that had most recently served as a garage. The sweat equity paid off in a 6,000 square foot brew house with a new poured slab floor.

Collins sourced grain from Shreier Malting Company and some Munich malt from Belgium. The yeast was a Bavarian strain which imparted specific flavor characteristics to the beer. The early beers, named after features of the local area, included Hudson Lager, Big Indian Porter and Rondout Stout, and later Ichabod Crane Holiday Pumpkin Beer. The beers were distributed solely in kegs. In early 1993, the brewery underwent its first expansion with the delivery of an additional primary fermenter and three more conditioning tanks. Plans were to expand production to about 6,000 - 8,000 barrels a year. Collins gave guided brewery tours, which included a full explanation of the brewing process and ended in the tasting room. Twice he hosted the regional judging of the American Homebrews Association national homebrew competition. Collins added a bottling machine to the brewery in the fall of 1995 that he had planned from day one.

However, the bottling line, which would have made widespread distribution possible, rarely ran smoothly. In fact, equipment would be the brewery's downfall, as Collins struggled to maintain the aging equipment he had sourced to run the brewery. He had chosen the equipment due to its bargain price in order to keep startup costs low. In 1999, Collins took on Bruce Jackson as a partner, and then in 2000, Collins left the company but maintained ownership of the building and equipment. Jackson eventually considered folding the struggling brewery, but opted instead to market the business for sale. In 2001, Woodstock Brewing was sold to Black Bear Brewing out of Atlanta, Georgia. There was a city north of Atlanta named Woodstock, and Black Bear saw the name as both a local marketing win, as well as the massive potential of selling in the New York market.

In 2002, Woodstock Brewing was evicted from their building by the property manager for non-payment on their lease. Black Bear found that the equipment was so antiquated, the beers couldn’t be produced with a consistent quality, and they tried to repair the equipment but were unsuccessful. Operations had actually ceased for months prior to the eviction. Instead, Black Bear pivoted, purchasing Yakima Brewing & Malting Co. in Washington State, producer of Bert Grant’s Ales, which had been distributed in New York in the mid 1990's. The intention was to brew Woodstock beers at Yakima Brewing and use that prior Bert Grant distribution network to bring the beers back to New York. Black Bear maintained sales offices in the Woodstock and Kingston area in anticipation of this.

It not really clear at that point what happened to the Woodstock beers - whether they were actually brewed as intended and didn't sell well, or if Black Bear had their hands full with Yakima's beers and never produced Woodstock beer there. In 2003, Black Bear sold the rights to the Woodstock name to Grand Continental Incorporated (GCI), which was founded by David Brandenburg and Ronnie Mixon in 2003. One source listed the address for GCI as based in Smyrna, Georgia, while another listed them in Marietta, Georgia (both cities are between Atlanta and Woodstock in Georgia). GCI developed their own recipes, so they did not use the old Woodstock beer recipes from New York; they mainly saw value in the brand name, leaning into the "hippie" marketing. They converted the name from Woodstock Brewing Company to Woodstock Beer Brands. Brandenburg and Mixon oversaw the creation of seven distinct beer recipes, designed product packaging, and secured trademarks for the brand. Once licensing was completed, Woodstock Beer Brands launched in the Atlanta market. According to BeerAdvocate, Woodstock beers were contract brewed by Thomas Creek.

In 2004, GCI successfully sued Portland Brewing in Oregon to cease and desist their use of "Woodstock Ale", which Portland was forced to discontinue by 2005. Portland Brewing had chosen the name Woodstock to affiliate it with a neighborhood of the same name in East Portland. GCI's Woodstock brand eventually gained distribution throughout Georgia and they had also secured distribution in the Tampa Bay area, having reached an agreement with the Miller Brewing distributor. However, the hops shortage of 2007 and capital issues became to much for GCI to handle, and by 2008 GCI shut down Woodstock Beer Brands for good (GCI dissolved soon after). There have been newer breweries utilizing the name "Woodstock", including one in New Zealand, but they have no association with the previous New York or Georgia brands. The Woodstock Inn and Station Brewery in New Hampshire (who has a couple of taps currently profiled in the museum) is also a separate entity from all other Woodstock-named brands.

Nat Collins sold his former Woodstock Brewery building and equipment to Tommy Keegan, who would found Keegan Ales there (mentioned briefly in this profile). Collins also founded Tap New York Craft Beer & Food Festival at Hunter Mountain, as well as co-founding Brewmates, a limited-edition mail-order service that delivered different homebrewing recipe kit, complete with all needed ingredients plus brewing instructions, to the subscriber's door on periodic basis. The first kit offered was Keegan's limited edition California Common beer. It appears that Brewmates is no longer in business, as their website is gone.

Black Bear Brewing was sued by the State of Washington for breaking securities laws and folded after closing the storied Yakima Brewing and Malting Co., but that is a tale for another time...

Woodstock Beer Brand's India Pale Ale was a bold flavored, well balanced India Pale Ale, defined by premium hops (Nugget, Willamette & Cascade) and 2 Row Pale & Caramel malts. At 8.5% by volume, Woodstock IPA was considered a double IPA style ale with plenty of bite to match its bark! Recommended food pairings were starter foods and appetizers, spicy dishes like hot wings, or rich foods such as steaks and kabobs.

BeerAdvocate: 85 out of 100 (very good)

Since Woodstock Brewing and Woodstock Beer Brands are no longer in business, no address is provided. However, although the Woodstock Beer Brands website hasn't been updated since 2006, it is still intact and can be found here:

Woodstock Beer Brands Official Website