MOREAU, N.Y. — A new field-to-glass farm brewery called Dancing Grain is now open in northern Saratoga County.

Located on 300 acres at 180 Old West Rd. in Moreau, Dancing Grain Farm Brewery is a family-owned business offering brews and views.

The brewery and taproom overlook the farm’s grain fields with a striking backdrop of the Palmertown Range.

Inside, the brewery is designed entirely around the crops that are most suitable for the local farm. More than 90% of the ingredients in each beer come straight from the farm’s fields.

“It’s all very much from the field to the glass,” Dancing Grain founder Rachel McDermott said, “and then back again because we compost all of the spent grains.”

McDermott started a small specialty grains program at her family’s farm in 2017, providing products to area craft beverage producers.

Then in 2019, she and her family started taking steps toward creating their own farm brewery.  Though the pandemic caused delays, Dancing Grain finally opened its doors to the public in mid-August, welcoming guests to the farm to try the long-awaited, one-of-a-kind beer lineup.

Dancing Grain currently offers five beers on tap – a cream ale, a blueberry kettle sour, a farmhouse style, a dry stout and an India Pale Ale brewed in collaboration with Common Roots Brewing Company.

McDermott owns Dancing Grain along with partners Bert and Christian Weber, the father-son duo behind Common Roots, in nearby South Glens Falls. Their partnership with Dancing Grain is a natural outreach and continuation of the Webers’ shared idea to help build a community around craft beer and its vital connection to the land and the economy.

While lots of new breweries have been popping up in the region over the past several years, Dancing Grain’s farm brewery set-up is unique, as it allows visitors to immerse themselves in the farm setting as they enjoy products that are brewed on-site, made primarily with ingredients grown right there.

This vertically integrated supply chain reduces the brewery’s carbon footprint and improves the health of the farm’s land base.

The Dancing Grain team members grow, brew, taste and test all of their products on the farm, fine-tuning season after season with a goal to bring patrons the freshest, most sustainable, and environmentally friendly beers they can.

“Through all the trials that we did, we’ve found the varieties that work best for our microclimate and our farm,” McDermott explained.

From grains to hops to herbs, “More and more elements of our ingredients come from this farm every week,” she continued.

In every aspect of the business, McDermott is committed to sustainable farming. These efforts include reducing waste across the farm’s supply chain by repurposing byproducts, incorporating crop rotations and cover cropping methods, decreasing the farm’s reliance on chemical applications, and evaluating renewable energy options.

A former board member of Saratoga PLAN, McDermott is also passionate about farmland conservation for future generations.

Over the past couple of weeks, McDermott and her family have been thrilled to invite the public to Dancing Grain Farm Brewery and its picturesque property. “The whole vision was that we want to share the farm with our community,” she said, noting that the business has seen lots of support in just its first several days open.

Looking ahead, McDermott said the Dancing Grain crew is focused on product development using their own farm-grown ingredients. “We want to continue to learn as much as we can,” she said, “and then use the grain from those efforts to make more products.”

McDermott also envisions making the farm’s fields more immersive and educational in the future. “Because I’m so passionate about what we do and what we grow – and then what we make with what we grow,” she said, “I want it to be very transparent and clear that you know where this beer comes from, and you can trace it back to its origins.”

In addition to beer sold by the glass at the bar, Dancing Grain has limited crowlers available for purchase to take home.

Dancing Grain offers indoor and outdoor seating, both covered and uncovered.

Visitors are welcome to bring their own food to the brewery, as long as they take their trash away.

Dancing Grain Farm Brewery is open from 3 to 9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

A grand opening celebration will take place in October, coinciding with the launch of Dancing Grain’s founders club.

The farm will also host special events and activities each season, like this weekend when guests can explore the farm’s sunflower field for a $5 admission fee, with blooms available for purchase.

More information about Dancing Grain is available online at dancinggrain.com, or on social media at www.facebook.com/dancinggrain and @dancing_grain on Instagram.

The brewery can be contacted by calling (518) 808-3432.