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Mike Darling is an animated and talented storyteller. Ask him about his first craft beer experience and he can remember the exact beer and location.
It was the summer of 1994 at an arts and crafts fair in Denver. It was Left Hand Brewing’s Good Juju ginger beer. And he remembers thinking to himself, “What is this flavor?”
He tries to deliver that same memorable experience at his little brewery in Ontario County, where patrons soon become friends. Patrons soon become friends at his little brewery in Phelps. Darling’s Crafty Ales and Lagers opened in June 2013. His approach starts with a refusal to pour beer by the flight. Instead, Darling wants to pour you one sample at a time, and he wants to tell you the story of each beer.
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