Exhibit Index at Page 3


                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549





                                    FORM 8-K


                                 CURRENT REPORT
                     PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
                         SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934





Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):     December 18, 2000


                               GENESEE CORPORATION
               (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)


   NEW YORK                                 0-1653                16-0445920
(State or other Jurisdiction                (Commission         (IRS Employer
of Incorporation)                           File Number)     Identification No.)


 445 St. Paul Street, Rochester, New York                          14605
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)                        (Zip Code)


Registrant's telephone number, including area code:       (716) 546-1030


Item 5.    Other Events.

           Genesee Corporation issued a news release on December 18, 2000, which
           is filed with this report as Exhibit 99.


Item 7.    Exhibits.

           An exhibit  filed with this report is identified in the Exhibit Inde
           at Page 3.


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                                   SIGNATURES
Pursuant  to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934,  the
registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

                                                     Genesee Corporation


Date:         December 18, 2000             By      /s/ Mark W. Leunig
                                            Mark W. Leunig, Sr. Vice President
                                              and Chief Administrative Officer



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                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

                                                                     Page
Exhibit 99               News Release Dated December 18, 2000          4




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                                                               Exhibit 99


For  Immediate  Release                     Contact:  Mark  W.  Leunig
                                            Director  of  Investor Relations
                                                     (716) 263-9440

Genesee Corporation Announces
Completion of Management Buyout of Brewing Business


Rochester,  New York,  December  18,  2000 -- Genesee  Corporation  (Nasdaq/NMS:
GENBB) today announced that its Genesee Brewing Company subsidiary has completed
the sale of its  brands  and all  other  brewing  assets to High  Falls  Brewing
Company,  LLC. High Falls Brewing Company was formed by Samuel T. Hubbard,  Jr.,
the Corporation's  President and Chief Executive  Officer,  and other members of
the Corporation's management, to acquire the Corporation's brewing business.

The purchase price was $25.8 million.  Genesee  Brewing  Company  received $14.8
million in cash at the closing.  The balance of the  purchase  price was paid by
High Falls giving  promissory  notes totaling $11 million.  $6.5 million of this
amount is seller  bridge  financing  represented  by three and a half year notes
which  are  expected  to be paid off  within  nine  months of  closing  from the
proceeds of a $6.5 million  HUD-sponsored  economic  development  loan and grant
package which High Falls has applied for. The  remaining  $4.5 million of seller
financing is represented by a three year note bearing interest at 12% per year.

The $6.5 million  bridge loan bears interest at prime plus one and is secured by
a $3 million first mortgage on the brewery  facility and a security  interest in
the brewery  machinery and  equipment  that is  subordinate  only to High Falls'
senior bank debt. The remaining $4.5 million of seller financing is secured by a
security interest in all tangible and intangible  property of High Falls that is
subordinate to the senior bank and mezzanine debt financing.

The Corporation  currently  estimates that the sale will result in a net gain of
approximately  $5  million.  The gain will be  deferred  until the $6.5  million
bridge loan is paid off from the proceeds of the HUD financing.

In order to obtain the consent of Boston Beer  Company to assign the  production
agreement between Genesee Brewing Company and Boston Beer Company to High Falls,
Genesee Brewing Company was required to guarantee High Falls' performance of the
production  agreement  and  maintain a minimum  liquid net worth for three years
after the closing,  starting at $7.25 million in the first year and declining to
$5.15 million in the third year.

The deferred  payment of purchase price under the $6.5 million bridge  financing
and  $4.5  million  three  year  note,  together  with  the  minimum  net  worth
requirement for Genesee  Brewing  Company under the Boston Beer guarantee,  will
delay  distribution  of a large portion of the proceeds from the brewery sale to
the Corporation's shareholders.


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The sale of Genesee  Brewing  Company  brings an end to almost  seventy years of
regional brewing by the Corporation and the Wehle Family,  which founded Genesee
Brewing Company in 1932. Charles S. ("Chipp") Wehle, Chairman of the Corporation
and grandson of Brewery founder,  Louis A. Wehle, said, "The sale of the Brewery
triggers  a  variety  of  emotions.  We are  relieved  that  the  sale  has been
completed, ending more than two years of uncertainty about the Brewery's future.
We are pleased that the Brewery will continue as a locally  owned  business with
strong  ties to the  Rochester  community,  and that  our  loyal  employees  can
continue to work in a business  they truly love. We also feel a sense of sadness
and regret  that the Wehle  Family is ending its long  association  with a great
Rochester  institution  and the Genesee  Family of employees,  distributors  and
consumers who made the beer business such a fun place to work", said Mr. Wehle.

     Under the terms of the sale agreement,  Mr. Hubbard and the other executive
officers of the Corporation who invested in High Falls Brewing Company  resigned
as officers of the Corporation to join High Falls.  Mr. Hubbard will continue to
serve as a director of the Corporation. The other officers who resigned are John
B.  Henderson,  Senior Vice President and Chief  Financial  Officer,  William A.
Neilson,  Vice  President-Human  Resources and Michael C. Atseff, Vice President
and  Controller.  The  Corporation  has entered into a short term agreement with
High  Falls  to  obtain  certain  services  from  some of the  former  officers,
including Messrs. Hubbard, Henderson and Neilson.

The Corporation  announced that Stephen B. Ashley,  who has served as a director
of the Corporation  since 1987, has been elected  President of the  Corporation.
Mark  W.  Leunig,   Vice  President,   Secretary  and  General  Counsel  of  the
Corporation, has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative
Officer. Steven M. Morse, Corporate  Consolidations Manager, was promoted to the
office of Vice President and Treasurer.

Messrs.  Ashley,  Leunig and Morse will manage the Corporation's  affairs during
the  liquidation and wind-up phase under the plan of dissolution and liquidation
that was  approved  by  shareholders  in  October.  The  Corporation  expects to
complete the sale on terms previously  announced of a substantial portion of its
equipment  leasing  portfolio  in  December,  with the  remainder  of the  lease
portfolio  sale expected to close in January.  The letter of intent with Ralcorp
Holdings,  Inc.  to sell the  Corporation's  foods  business  has  expired.  The
Corporation is continuing its discussions with Ralcorp.

The  Corporation   expects  to  make  the  first  of  a  series  of  liquidating
distributions  to shareholders in the first quarter of calendar 2001. The amount
and timing of  liquidating  distributions  will  depend on a number of  factors,
including  the amount  that will  ultimately  be  realized  from the sale of the
Corporation's  assets and the  timing of the  receipt  of the  proceeds  of such
sales,  which will depend on the terms of the  transactions  in which the assets
are sold,  including  provisions  for  indemnification  and  other  post-closing
obligations  under the agreements  pursuant to which the assets are sold.  Other
factors  that will  affect the amount  and timing of  liquidating  distributions
include payment or provision for the payment of debts, expenses, taxes and other
liabilities  of the  Corporation,  as well as the timing and cost of liquidating
and winding up of the Corporation's business and affairs.

"We will work to liquidate  assets in an orderly  manner so as to maximize their
value to shareholders in the shortest possible time," said Mr. Leunig. "Based on
the terms of the seller  financing of the brewery  sale and the  indemnification
and other  post-closing  obligations  that are  customary  in asset  divestiture
transactions,   we  currently   expect  that  dissolution  and  wind-up  of  the
Corporation will take at least three years to complete," said Mr. Leunig.


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NOTE:  Statements made in this news release which are not historical,  including
statements regarding the sale of the Corporation's  brewing, foods and equipment
leasing  businesses,  the liquidation and dissolution of the Corporation and the
payment of  liquidating  distributions,  are  forward-looking  statements.  Such
forward-looking  statements are subject to a number of risks and  uncertainties,
and there can be no  assurance  that the  expectations  or results  reflected in
those statements will be realized or achieved.  Risks and uncertainties relating
to the sale of the Corporation's  brewing business include,  without limitation,
non-payment  or other  default  by High  Falls  Brewing  Company  on the  seller
financing of the brewery sale, failure of High Falls to obtain the HUD financing
it has  applied  for,  a claim by  Boston  Beer  Company  under  the  production
agreement   performance   guarantee  and  the  minimum  net  worth   requirement
thereunder,   and   post-closing   indemnification   obligations.    Risks   and
uncertainties  relating  to the  proposed  sale of the  Corporation's  equipment
leasing business include, without limitation,  the failure of the transaction to
close  for  whatever  reasons,  further  negotiation  of terms  and  conditions,
purchase  price  adjustments,   post-closing  indemnification  obligations,  the
failure to satisfy other conditions necessary to consummate the transaction such
as failure to obtain  necessary  regulatory  approvals and third party consents,
and the possibility  that a delay in resolving such conditions  could jeopardize
the  transaction.  Risks and  uncertainties  relating to the  disposition of the
Corporation's  food  business  include,  without  limitation,  failure  to reach
agreement  with  Ralcorp on the sale of the  business,  failure to find  another
suitable buyer if a sale to Ralcorp is not completed,  and risks associated with
continuing  to operate  the  business  while  seeking  other  buyers.  Risks and
uncertainties  relating to the  dissolution  and  liquidation of the Corporation
include, without limitation,  the actual amount of proceeds from the sale of the
Corporation's  assets,  the  ultimate  settlement  amounts of the  Corporation's
liabilities and  obligations,  actual costs incurred in connection with carrying
out the plan of dissolution  and  liquidation,  including  administrative  costs
during the liquidation  period, the amount of income earned on the Corporation's
cash and cash  equivalents  and short-term  investments  during the  liquidation
period, and the actual timing of distributions.


Copies of Genesee  Corporation  press  releases are available  free of charge by
calling PRNewswire's Company News On Call at 800-758-5804,  Extension 352775, or
on the Internet at http://www.prnewswire.com/cnoc.

                                     - END -


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