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20 May Review: Dancing Grain Farm Brewery, Moreau, great setting, tasty brews – Pint-Sized
Dancing Grain Farm Brewery in the northern Saratoga County town of Moreau is a 25-minute drive from downtown Saratoga Springs, but it’s a different world in terms of relaxed lifestyle and pace. As you drive up the gravel farm road to the brewhouse, you get a sense of peace and an understanding of what they built here.
On Route 9, between exits 16 and 17 on the Northway, sits a fantastic example of how smart legislation improves everyone involved. In 2025, Dancing Grain Farm Brewery was officially recognized by New York State as a 100% female-owned farm and brewery and a participant in the NYS Grown & Certified program.
They produce more than 90% of the ingredients for their lagers, ales, kölsches, and stouts on the farm — far exceeding the state requirement that breweries use at least 60% New York-grown hops and 60% other New York ingredients. The New York Craft Beer’s website sums it up best: “In addition to producing some of the finest beer in the world, New York’s craft breweries are creating jobs, supporting our state’s farmers and hops growers, as well as bringing in tourism dollars to local communities across New York.”
Nestled on 300 acres, the brewery offers a field-to-glass experience rooted in generations of grain farming. The founder and owner, Rachel McDermott, shared a few quotes through their specialty brewmaster, Chris Collier, with whom Pint-Sized sat and had an enlightening conversation. McDermott is a Cornell University graduate who came back to the upstate New York family farm after a successful investment banking career in Manhattan. Her vision was to “merge production agriculture with craft brewing and create something truly rooted in place.” She is proud that, “We are NY Grown and Certified, and in producing our beer, we can actually calculate the amount of pounds of carbon we sequester.”
Rounding out McDermott’s team are Collier, with over 12 years of brewing experience and formal training in both the U.S. and Germany; Farrah Daloia as operations manager; and Chris “Duffy” DuFrain as the head brewer, who makes 95% of their beers. DuFrain’s resume includes roles as head brewer at Schmaltz Brewing and SingleCut Beersmiths.
Collier enthusiastically welcomed Pint-Sized and offered up a selection of representative beers. I asked him the three questions I ask every brewer to kick off the conversation: What’s your best-selling beer? What’s your favorite beer? And which beer are you most proud of?
Tractor Time is the fan favorite. At 5.3% alcohol by volume (ABV), it’s a very approachable American lager. It’s a solid beer with a smooth mouthfeel and a complete taste. You can taste the farm-grown malt with a slight aroma of fruit.
Collier’s favorite is the Total Dankness at 8.0% ABV with a hoppy profile and haze. I’m in complete agreement with the review from Untapped.com:“(t)his big New England-style double IPA is layered with aromatics and flavors of citrus, pine, resin, and stone fruit.” It’s a highly hoppy beer with an aromatic nose. It’s all there with Vista and Rakau hops from New York state farms.
Field Day Kölsch is the beer Collier is most proud of. Building on his training in Germany, it’s a 4.5% ABV brew with a bright floral flavor. Instead of hops, they use yarrow grown on the farm for a bittering agent. Yarrow was also one of the main bittering agents used in old-world beers before the introduction of hops. Kölsch is known for its clean, crisp taste with a delicate balance of malt sweetness and hop bitterness, often with subtle fruitiness and a slightly dry finish.
Walking among the fermenting tanks, Collier happily shared one of his project brews. It’s the Rosalie, a farmhouse mixed-culture saison beer. It’s a proprietary mixed culture that’s all-grain. Its native yeast is created by rinsing farm-grown grains in the wort — the sugary liquid extracted from malted grains during the mashing process — to extract and isolate specific yeasts. The wort is cooled for 24 hours, causing the mixed culture yeast to drop to the bottom, where it is harvested and used to create the Rosalie. Every element of this beer is produced on the property. Pint Sized tasted the wort as it settled in the chilled tank. It was a complex mixture of grainy sweetness. The secret is that this saison beer is brewed with dried rose petals.
Dancing Grain is planning to use their mixed-culture yeast in a number of upcoming project brews, including an oak-barrel-aged beer that’s yet to be identified.
They are planning to expand into catering once they convert some of the farm’s barn space. The day Pint-Sized visited, the brewery was holding a charcuterie-board-assembly class that included beverages for attendees. Other upcoming events include the “Dancing Grain Pride Festival” on June 21. They have invited a number of other local breweries who will pour their brews alongside Dancing Grain’s offerings. It’s billed as a family-friendly celebration in support of Saratoga Pride’s youth programs. They are selling tickets on their website.
The brewpub overlooks their grain fields. Once the grains are harvested, they plant a huge sunflower field. Mid-season the fields are in full bloom and continue to bloom through late September. The sunflowers began as part of a crop rotation for agricultural purposes, but they soon started drawing visitors. For the past four years, the family farm has hosted a Sunflower Fest. Visitors can pick up to five sunflowers and unlimited wildflowers.
Dancing Grain is located at 180 Old West Road, Moreau, New York. They are open Wednesday and Thursday from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m, Friday from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m., Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Check for their new offerings on their website, DancingGrain.com.