Those massive beer fermentation tanks that will be transported to the Genesee Brewery via the Erie Canal have started their trek down that historic waterway.
The 60 foot by 20 foot tanks will be traveling about 225 miles down the canal. There will be a dozen tanks in all, and the first three tanks started out in Waterford Friday, near Albany, on the same day the boating season on the canal began.
The canal is mostly used for recreation these days, but Brian Stratton, the director of the NYS Canal Corporation, notes that when the canal was built 200 years ago, it was mainly used for commerce.
“It was built for freight, we’ve got these massive locks that are built for barges and large freight and it’s almost daunting when you get a small boat in there to be lifted up so we’re doing what the canal was actually built for.”
The state has organized a number of activities this summer to mark the canal’s bicenntenial. You can get more information at: nycanals200.com
Meanwhile, those fermentation tanks headed for Rochester will probably take a week or so to get here. Their trip was delayed due to high water levels
The tanks are part of a $49 million expansion project at the Genesee Brewery
