Council Rock Brewery

 

Small brewpub a bit south of town on the main drag. Geometrically jagged bar top of pieced together woods was very impressive, and opposite the entrance seating about 10 with a few tables and a back room with additional seating. 10 beers on tap. Friendly bartender. I did not try the food.

 

Small place. Sat in a back room with lots of clocks. Great selection of beer. Tried a Saison and California Common Lager. Both were really good. Worth a stop.

 

Probably the smallest brewery I’ve ever been to with a maximum occupancy of only 27 people. I believe they had 8 or 9 taps all house beer. They had a nice variety of different styles of beer. The vibe of this place was more of a diner/bar than a brewery. Although they were very busy the staff was friendly. Their beer was OK. They had a really good brown ale and an alright Ipa the rest of their beer was nothing special. Their food was awesome, my friend got the brotworst and I got a burger and both dishes were fantastic. I wouldn’t stop at this place again but if you’re looking for a quick bite to eat and an OK beer this place fits in well. With a small town like Cooperstown I wasn’t expecting much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice long beer list. Sadly, I couldn't try very much.
Food was good. The garlic pesto fries are excellent.
The service was friendly if a little slow.

 

great food, fresh beer, great service

Council Rock is a pretty cool little brewpub. Great atmosphere, friendly service, and good food. They offer flights of 5 or 10, as well as growler fills to go. A recommended stop if you are ever in Cooperstown. I just wish they'd start canning their Full Nelson APA and All American IPA!

Love this place. The pesto fries are awesome

 

 

had a great experience here this weekend. these guys were more than accommodating of a large party on short notice. maybe they were a bit under staffed, in fact, they definitely were, but they worked hard and came though with an awesome fresh meal and good ale. i loved the scotch ale, and the pumpkin and mango wheat beers were really solid. they may have had eight beers on, an octoberfest, a brown ale, and a couple of others, but the place was super homey and everyone was so friendly. B level beer felt like A level stuff because of the hospitality, and the pest fries were memorable. one of those places you go into with neutral expectations that blows your mind. we need more like this, its an institution down there in a very short period of time, a beautiful and convenient alternative to ommegang when its brutally busy over there like it often is. i was super impressed, as was our whole crew. cant wait to be back. good service (if overworked), great food (they earned it), and better than average beer. a definite place to stop. ask for the back room if you have numbers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stopped here on our way our of town after some great stops in Cooperstown. This was not one of them.

Not much in terms of atmosphere with a few tables in the front room and a six seat bar straight ahead. There is outdoor seating as well but we did not see it.

Eight of the beers were on tap. We chose a flight of 5. The Vienna lager was decent as was the Belgian pale. The Full Nelson pale was ok too, though far inferior to the Blue Mountain beer of the same name. The IPA and Scotch Ale were undrinkably bad, two of the worst commercial beers I have had in quite some time.

The foot long hot dog (on an eight inch bun) was pretty tasty and the highlight of the visit.

Service was politely indifferent.

HV

I saw Council Rock Brewery while driving down NY 28, a road which doesn't end, on my way to Ommegang after camping with a friend. Since I like the taste of beer, I figured I'd pop in and check it out. When we walked in, there was no one else there, so we sat at the bar and ordered a flight of whatever the bartender liked best. We wound up getting a blonde ale guest brew, along with their own lager, hopped red ale, brown ale, and wee heavy. The girls working the bar were friendly and happy to talk to us while they prepared for the flood of people that showed up after we were there for awhile. Even after the place started filling up, they were still available in case we needed anything.

The beer itself was pretty decent, nothing that blew me away, but it was all very drinkable and well-brewed. The brown ale was the only one that stood out as something that I might take home, but had we stayed for lunch I'm sure that any one of them would have been great to have a full pint of. I would definitely like to come back again and try the food, and see what other beers they might have on tap.

Went there before concert t brewery ommegang, directly following the HOF baseball classic. The people down at Cooperstown Brewing recommended the place, but even with an eye open for it, the place remained well-hidden tucked down a gravel lot next to a Sunoco. The place's yellow signage on the roadside is more suggestive of a lawn mower repair place, which probably accounts for me having to ask directions when in town.
I got to the site fresh off of a heavy downpour. The lighting is murky and the tables, chairs, flooring, and ceiling reminiscent of a country cafe in the mold of perkins. Maybe 6 tables to comfortably sit 20 with room 10 more at bar. It was busy before the concert, and took awhile to get service initially; you could see they were under a lot of pressure. They were unpretentious and had local charm.
Menu is basic.The garlic-pesto fries smelled outstanding. I opted for the chicken sandwich. Good roll, simple lettuce tomato garnish. Chicken could've been marinated longer. It wasn't melt in your mouth, but the flavors were good. It ran $9 with a side.
Beer flight was $8.50 and got me 5-5 oz. samples. Initial thoughts was average at best. Tried he stout, which had a very strong alcohol burn at 9.2%. The Sleeping Lion red was mouth-puckeringly sour. I thought the glass was off, and asked for another. Staff was friendly about it and just said it has a "kick people aren't expecting". Well, at least it seems they are expecting this reaction. The honey hefe, vienna lager, and IPA were basic, hedging on a watery one-dimensionality. Nothing outstanding, but it does the job as a fresh thirst-quenching beverage nicely.

 

 

 

First off, this place is easy to miss. We put it in the Garmin, and correctly found it, and we drove right past it without seeing where to turn. We turned back around, questioning the accuracy of the Garmin, found it on Google maps, and headed back. Google maps WASN'T accurate, and we once again drove by and had to turn back for a 3rd pass.

Once in, we found ourselves a very small little bar/dining room. Probably 6 tables, and maybe 10 bar stools? The seated patrons are right at the door; we stepped in, with our 11-month-old, and it felt like everything stopped and everyone looked at us. Awkward.

I'm glad we didn't turn and run. The staff was friendly and accommodating, and while the beer selection was limited to only 5 offerings (an IPA, a Red, and golden, scotch/wee heavy, and a mango wheat), I felt like all the ones we had were anywhere from "average" to "above average" in quality. The IPA was my favorite.

The food menu is equally small; a nice little selection of appetizers, a list of 7-8 sandwiches, and a couple BBQ-ish entrees. But everyone in my group enjoyed their meal. My bratwurst was particularly good.

Ommegang's summer hours were reduced to closing at 5:00 PM. Cooperstown Brewing Company, doesn't serve food. Council Rock is open late, with food, the staff is friendly, and the beer is solid.

If you can find it, I recommend it as part of a long-weekend visit to ommegang/hall of fame.

Good beer and good food. I had the sampler which was a great representation of their beers. I tried a pint of the Sunken Island and the Full Nelson and was pleased with both. The staff was friendly and made great company as I tried the beers and food. A must stop on your trip to Cooperstown!