Alumni Couple’s NY Brewery Focuses on Belgian Ales—and Bulldog Tales Stories You May Like What’s White and Fluffy and Has a Dozen Paws? Alum’s Dog Troupe! O Canada! Former Big Red Player Runs Popular Hockey Bar in NYC Once Upon a Time, Canines Cavorted on the Hill—Even in Class With cans and bottles featuring their two Frenchies, the alums’ libations are a hit with dog-lovers and beer fanciers alike By Joe Wilensky When Derek Edinger ’94, MEng ’95, and Stacey Girard Edinger ’95 adopted two French bulldogs in 2017 and named them Barley and Hops, the couple didn’t realize just how prescient those monikers would be. Today, the adorable doggos are the beloved mascots for Brewery Ardennes Taproom & Kitchen, an establishment in Geneva, NY, that the Edingers opened in 2021. The dogs’ likenesses frolic across the brewery’s cans and bottles—and the real-life pooches often greet visitors to the restored sheep barn that now houses its tasting room and eatery. Derek oversees the brewery, while Stacey focuses on front-of-house operations. Ardennes specializes in classic, Belgian-style ales and lambics, along with a seasonal selection of sour fruit beers made with Finger Lakes-grown produce. “Belgian beer is approachable, because it’s diverse,” Derek says. “There’s a lager and a wheat and a cranberry; it’s not all one kind of thing.” Many breweries focus on the strong, bitter IPAs, Stacey notes. “And that can be intimidating to some people,” she says. “We wanted to appeal to craft beverage consumers who might be looking for something different.” We wanted to appeal to craft beverage consumers who might be looking for something different. Stacey Girard Edinger ’95 The approach has paid off: in just its first few years, the brewery has received numerous accolades. At the 2023 New York International Beer Competition, its Grand Cru Bourbon Barrel-Aged Tripel won a gold medal; its Grand Cru Dubbel garnered silver; and its Speciale Belge won bronze. (The Tripel repeated the gold-medal win the following year.) In 2024, Hop Culture magazine named Ardennes one of the world’s top “breweries to watch.” The property was once Bellwood Farms, a sheep-breeding operation that covered 800 acres. The taproom also boasts a classically trained chef offering traditional Belgian fare—like mussels, fries, and sausages—to pair with the libations. And the dogs, who predate the brewery by several years, have proved to be an ideal match as well. “When we were in the planning stages, I thought, ‘These farmhouse beers are sort of like Barley; he’s the slippers at the end of your day—comfortable, familiar, and nostalgic,'” Stacey recalls. Cuteness reigned at the inaugural FrenchieCon in 2024. “Hops is the one who’s going to dig up all the flowers in your yard. They felt like the two different beer styles we were shooting for.” Each label, therefore, prominently features a lively illustration of one the dogs—with the other somewhere in the background. Naturally, Barley and Hops have their own page on the brewery’s website. And in August 2025, Ardennes will host its second annual FrenchieCon, featuring pet portraits, costume contests, a new beer release, and more. Stories You May Like What’s White and Fluffy and Has a Dozen Paws? Alum’s Dog Troupe! O Canada! Former Big Red Player Runs Popular Hockey Bar in NYC Stacey recalls with a laugh that early on, several marketing consultants and distributors dismissed the sales potential of the canine-centered designs. Her response: “I disagree; it looks different than everything else on the shelf.” A quintessential Cornellian couple, Derek and Stacey not only met on the Hill but got engaged at Commencement: he proposed in front of the A.D. White statue just before the academic procession left the Arts Quad. They lived in Northern California for years; Derek, an aerospace engineer, built communication satellites for various companies, while Stacey, a Hotelie, worked in sales and marketing for several brands, including Hyatt. Derek pops the question. Derek had always been a fan of craft beer, and—in what he and his wife have each called an “out-of-control hobby”—began making his own on the weekends and touring breweries to bolster his knowledge. They returned to Ithaca in 2015—Derek to cofound a satellite imaging startup, Ursa Space, and Stacey to take a communications job at Cornell. At the time, craft breweries were skyrocketing in popularity in New York; as Derek notes, the state went from about 50 in the early 2010s to more than 500 a decade later. The backyard beer garden. “The tourism component makes it different,” he explains. “No one location is going to draw people in. Just like wineries, we need to make the region a destination, with lots of great breweries and cideries and other things to visit.” Just like wineries, we need to make the region a destination, with lots of great breweries and cideries and other things to visit. Derek Edinger ’94, MEng ’95 Today, Ardennes beers are widely available in Western and Central New York, including at Wegmans supermarkets and at many restaurants and cafés, and can be shipped to several states. In NYC, it can be found at a half-dozen Craft + Carry taprooms in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The brewery has collaborated with its Geneva neighbor, Cornell AgriTech, on hop breeding programs and heritage varieties, and its libations have been featured at Reunion. It also worked with a grad student group to develop Big Red Cranberry Sour—a fruity ale, made with a Cornell-bred variety of spring malted barley and hops grown by an alum (Rick Pedersen ’81), that debuted at Hotel Ezra Cornell in 2022. And as if they didn’t have enough to keep them busy at home: once a year, Derek and Stacey lead a group tour of Belgium. Cans of the Big Red libation feature French bulldog Hops—and a familiar campus scene. The annual trip focuses not just on beer, but also on the nation's food, art, architecture, and history. Says Derek: “It’s never too late to make a crazy career change and pursue your passion.” Top: Stacey, Derek, Barley, and Hops at the brewery. (Joe Wilensky / Cornell University) All other images provided. Published July 11, 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. 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