Frog Alley Brewing

Frog Alley Brewing is a brewery in Schenectady, NY. Established in 2018, it is the first brewery of its scale in the Schenectady area, combining a taproom and event spaces with beer produced by its brewing team. The brewery holds a rating of 4.20.

The brewery takes its name from the Frog Alley's, Schenectady's local baseball team of 1903, which was named for the swampy, frog-infested lands where the team played on Lower State Street. In May of that year the team was arrested for playing on a Sunday, cleared the case the following day, beat Albany in the ninth inning, and went on to win the New York State league pennant. More than a century later the name took on a second meaning when Frog Alley Brewing was established as the cornerstone of the Mill Artisan District, with a spacious taproom and brewery built around the restoration of Schenectady's Lower State Street.

Master Brewer Drew Schmidt began his brewing career in 1992 as an assistant brewer at Zip City Brewing Company, New York's second brewpub, and graduated from the Siebel Institute with a diploma in Brewing Technology in 1993. He went on to serve as Head Brewer at Oxford Brewing Company in the Baltimore area, worked at Big House Brewing Company in Albany, and later served as Production Manager at Shmaltz Brewing Company in Clifton Park before leaving in 2017 to plan and build Frog Alley Brewing. JT Pollard, an architect and the brewery's President and Founder, serves as CEO and COO. The brewery books private parties and its beers are available in grocery stores.

The brewery sits on State Street, a short walk from the Boy Scouts of America 40th Anniversary Crusade to Strengthen the Arms of Liberty Statue of Liberty, the Schenectady Civic Playhouse, and Gateway Plaza, and roughly a tenth of a mile from Washington Avenue and the Thomas Edison and Charles Steinmetz monument.

Frog Alley Brewing carries a positive rating from the customers who have reviewed it, and its award-winning brews continue the story of the team that settled for no less than the best for Schenectady.