Order Beer What’s on Tap? Awards Location Meet the Brewer
CIA Brewery
The Culinary Institute of America’s brewery is primarily a classroom where bachelor’s-level students learn about the ingredients, equipment, and techniques required to produce ales and lagers. It was created in 2015 in partnership with Brooklyn Brewery, whose brewers and business executives often serve as guest lecturers. The class helps future food professionals think differently about beer, elevating its status as a fine beverage on a level with wine.
Everyday Favorites
Our most popular beers, available year round.
Cleaver IPA (6.5% abv)
Cleaver IPA is our classic west coast-style American India pale ale brewed with a blend of Mosaic, Citra, Amarillo, and Simcoe hops. Cleaver IPA is bursting with robust hop aromas of mango, citrus, and tropical fruit balanced by hoppy bitterness and a touch of malty sweetness. Try Cleaver IPA with tacos, curry, buffalo wings, or any variety of spicy foods or enjoy it on its own.
Mise en Place Wit (4.6% abv)
Mise en Place Wit is our traditional Belgian-style Witbier brewed with coriander and dried orange peel. Light-bodied, crisp, and delightfully spicy this easy-drinking wheat beer is refreshing and pairs well with a wide variety of fish, salads, cheese, and lighter dishes or can be enjoyed on its own.
Seasonal Selections
We’re always brewing something new. Check back periodically to see what’s available. (Current as of April 4, 2025.)
Red Wine Barrel-Aged Wit (5.0% abv)—New Beer!
A project over a year in the making! Our Mise en Place Wit spent 16 months aging in red wine barrels from Millbrook Winery. The result combines crisp, spicy, and refreshing Wit beer with rich aromas of red wine, dark berries, and noticeable French oak notes.
Beefsteak Blonde (5.2% abv)—New Beer!
This German-style Kölsch ale is golden in color, medium-bodied, and highly drinkable. Lightly kilned malts add a soft malt flavor and a gentle fruity aroma, balanced by crisp German hops.
Bye Bye Brewfessor Pale Ale (5.8% abv)
Brewed to honor the retirement of the “Brewfessor” John Fischer, professor of hospitality and service management. Just like the man himself, this beer is an American classic—a 100% New York ingredient American pale ale showcasing a balance of bready malt flavors and bright fruity hops. Look for subtle notes of citrus, stone fruit, melon, and red berries.
Class Project: Ale la Carte Red Ale (6.0% abv)—New Beer!
Our newest class project beer was created by students in the Art and Science of Brewing course. Ale la Carte is a medium-bodied Irish red ale with pleasant, malted barley flavors of fresh bread, figs, and caramel with fresh fruity aromas of apple and pear. Ale la Carte is low in bitterness and easy drinking with a smooth finish.
Awards
2023
- New York State Craft Beer Competition—Bronze Medal in the Barrel-Aged (Non-sour) Category: Class Project Barrel-Aged Cast Iron Lager
2022
- Great American Beer Festival—Bronze Medal in the Classic Saison Catergory: Soigne Saison
- New York State Craft Beer Competition—Silver Medal in the Belgian Ale Category: Class Project Father Murphy’s Tripel
2021
- New York State Craft Beer Competition—Silver Medal in the Wheat Beer Category: Mise en Place Wit
- New York State Craft Beer Competition—Bronze Medal in the Amber or Dark Lager Category: Equinox Amber Lager
2019
- New York State Craft Beer Competition—Brewery of the Year
- New York State Craft Beer Competition—Gold Medal in the Wheat Beer Category: Mise en Place Wit
- New York State Craft Beer Competition—Gold Medal in the Brown Ale Category: Class Project Br-Br-Br-Brown Ale
- U.S. Open College Beer Championships—Bronze Medal in the American IPA Category: Cleaver IPA
2017
- New York State Craft Beer Competition—Bronze Medal in the Belgian Farmhouse Category: Class Project Stay Sharp Saison
Our Location
CIA’s brewery is located in The Egg, on our Hyde Park, NY campus. CIA beers are sold on tap when the college is in session, Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday–Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
They are also available at all of the restaurants on CIA’s New York campus, and Mise en Place Wit will soon be available at select restaurants in New York City and the Hudson Valley.
The Culinary Institute of America
1946 Campus Drive
Hyde Park, NY 12538-1499
Head Brewer Hutch Kugeman
Hutch Kugeman is head brewer for CIA’s brewery. Hutch is responsible for producing four kinds of beer in the microbrewery for CIA’s public restaurants and student dining facility. He also assists in teaching, as CIA’s brewery is a classroom where students learn about the ingredients, equipment, and techniques required to produce ales and lagers in a course titled The Art and Science of Brewing.
Hutch is the first head brewer at CIA’s brewery, which opened in late 2015. He came to his current position after serving as founding brewer at Crossroads Brewing Company in Athens, NY since 2010. Kugeman was previously lead brewer at Ithaca Beer Company in Ithaca, NY and head brewer at Great Adirondack Brewing in Lake Placid, NY. He began his career by learning from Darron Welch at the Pelican Brewing Company in Pacific City, OR in 2002.
Hutch’s beers have won numerous awards, including at the Great American Beer Festival, World Beer Cup, North American Beer Awards, and TAP New York Festival. While at Crossroads in 2011, he won the Matthew Vassar Brewers’ Cup as the Best Craft Beer Brewery in the Hudson Valley and the inaugural John Calen Memorial Award for Best Pale Ale in New York State.
A native of Redding, CT, Hutch Kugeman is a graduate of the University of Virginia. He also holds a diploma in Brewing Science and Engineering from the American Brewers Guild. From 1997 to 1999, he was a middle school teacher in North Carolina as part of the Teach for America program.