Big Ditch Brewing Company

 

Very short walking distance from downtown and other breweries . Vibrant atmosphere, bustling. Open space, industrial decor. Service on point. No knocks against.

 

Woke up and found ourselves in Rochester. Got ourselves all donutted up and did head west. Beer here, did what we had to do to get our weck on, and then beer there. And then we drove (like) a long way to the down of town. Yes, in Buffalo, yo. Parked around the corner and well, yeah…

Entered in and were immediately ushered to the rear room as we are not the type of folks you want to showcase in no case whatsoever. Logo mural 2 toned inner wall, and 3 panel roll up doors open over the street to a small seating pen on the exterior concrete wall. Pebbled concrete floors, corrugated ceiling with ducts, track lighting & strung spots. A few b/w beer prints and a single flat in the corner. 13 tables, low round tables run down the center of the room and square & rectable hightops along the perimeter.

‘L’ shaped black laminate topped bar, blue wood panel & horizontal plank ends base, & foot bar on the far end of the room seating a dozen. A pair of 6 shovel handle piping tap towers extending from the pieced wood plank barback wall, and the tap list (beer, style, serving size, ABV, & pricing) on a 4x6 horizontal board above.

Got my beer on and went on walkabout. Front room is a high ceiling space with panel roll up doors on 2 walls off the corner leading to small sidewalk seating pens, and windows otherwise. Staircase at the end of the bar goes to the second floor space fronting a large ‘Strength, Pride, & Ambition’ logo mural piece. Glass chandeliers here & there, and small glass drop lamps tracing the bar. Swag zone off the entrance. Nearly a dozen tables riddled about high & low, you know? A few framed b/w Buffalo prints (the city, not the animal), and a flat in the corner. 2016 FX Matt Memorial Cup (Best Craft Brewery in New York State) winner banner hanging from the mez.

A black laminate topped bar with a wood panel & horizontal plank base on the back wall. Seating for 15 on wood chairs in plexi Covid groups of 2 or 3 there. A pair of 12 logo shovel handle panels at different points along the barback, and glassware & a crowler crimper countered below. Draft board on the end tells the what what.

13 taps; 5 signature beers (Low Bridge, Golden Ale, 4.8%; Excavator, Rye Brown Ale, 6.2%; Berry Vision, Sour Fruit Beer, 5.4%; Hayburner, IPA, 7.2%; 100% NY, Pale Ale, 6%), 3 seasonals (Cinnamon Apple, Amber Ale, 6.5%; FC - Fantastically Crushable, Session Wheat IPA, 4.1%; Make Me Wanna Stout, Coffee & Cream Stout, 5.2%), 4 limited release (Cannon Call - Lock IPA Series #6, DIPA, 8.4%; Lime Rider, Blonde Ale w/Lime, 4.3%; Classic Wit, 5.1%; Irish Ambition, Dry Stout, 4.5%), + a single guest tap cider (Leonard Oakes Steampunk, NYS Sparkling Cider, 7%), bottle (Bidwell Wild, WNY Wild Ale, 5.8%), and can (Tropical Vision, Stone Fruit Beer, 5.4%).

The Excavator, Rye Brown Ale was tasty & smooth; The Irish Ambition, Dry Stout was licoricey nice; FC - Fantastically Crushable, Session Wheat IPA was really just that; the Cannon Call, DIPA was solid, too; and the Make Me Wanna Stout, Coffee & Cream Stout was tasty, albeit a bit thin, but coffee it has going on. Really no clunkers in the lot. Irish Ambition & FC – Fantastically Crushable for the WINS.

Melanie serving, she’s goods & deals sass accordingly. The place filled in decently around us as it tends to do. Talked with the dude about beer and life and Covid; they’re now doing limited capacity thing, up the stairs is not open. Some real nice beers here. Solid house.

 

 

 

I was driving from Toronto to Syracuse (by way of Niagara Falls) and had seen Big Ditch featured on Brewed in NY (if you haven't watched it, you don't need to be a New Yorker to enjoy it). Located in Downtown Buffalo, BD is really a great place. The service area is large and airy, the ambiance a blend of modern repurposed space with gorgeous sepia tone pictures dating from the building of the Erie Canal and Buffalo's past.

Structured as two big spaces with sidewalk service and a second tier evident, 16 taps served BD specialties with a number of guest taps, as well. Beers fell into a broad range including two Milkshape IPAs (not usually my favorite, but the Piña Colada was amazing). Actually my impression of the beers is that they are generally excellent: I tried one of the top sellers, Deep Cut, and sampled a range of others. The food was also delicious and, if I understand correctly, served by the Chef (it was a quiet day). Definitely worth a visit.

Visited Buffalo for my daughter-in-law's PHD graduation at U.B. My son and his wife brought us downtown where we parked in a garage (paid $0.00) a block away. It was Friday night and the joint was jumping but no problem to get a table for four. We had an excellent server and we enjoyed meals from a above average menu. Excellent choice of beer styles available. Stop in and enjoy.

 

 

Always a great time, great beer!

 

The mood is a bit downtown upity....not a bad thing but not awesome! Food is on point but it's not somewhere that the food gets raced about. The beer selection is incredible and only going up from here....cheers!

Upon arriving, I reviewed the brochure "Buffalo: Your Brewcation Destination" with some 30+ brewers in the area. Big Ditch was one of the few downtown; the others scattered thru the region (a pattern that makes downtowns hard to survive.)

Having just had a can of Big Ditch's American Brown with a good addition of rye, I had to stop by the taproom. (I was in Buffalo on a 24 hour urban renewal tour, so I didn't have the free time to stop for a flight and a meal. But two blocks away from Big Ditch on the still checkered revival of Main Street, I ditched the group.) Very impressed by the life that Big Ditch was bringing back to its block, I really wanted to get comfortable there.

I walked around inside and observed closely their attention to detail. At 3PM, the crowd was thin; but I could see the potential energy other reviews describe. While it is a common business practice for a taproom not to offer other brewers' wares (I saw none on Big Ditch's beer menu), I think it is a good idea as it creates a comparison that can lead to world-class brews. From their website, I am a big admirer of how they tie the Big Ditch (Erie Canal) to Buffalo's rich past and revived future (still in process.)

Time in Buffalo was too short and I hope to return there and to the Big Ditch and see how much more it helped bring people downtown again... also to live.

 

 

Great place to stop for brew and food. Industrial decor and plenty of seating here. It was pleasantly quiet (late afternoon)
They have a knowledgeable and pleasant wait staff, Delicious food - including some unique menu choices and house-made dipping sauces that were excellent. The beer selection was very good (we had no trouble ordering two flights of 5) We definitely plan to return.

This place has a lot of space including two floors of seating , two bars, and a separate room with more tables. They had about 12-15 beers on tap that were all very tasty. The service was excellent with a very classy upscale staff. The food was awesome and big servings! They have a small gift shop off to the side featuring T-shirts, sweat shirts, hats, stickers, growlers, and beer glasses. I had an excellent time with my friends at this brewery and I definitely will be returning next time that I'm in Buffalo. Highly recommend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Large, open dining area and tap room, lots of energy but not overly loud. Good service, and very good beer. Fits in beautifully with the surrounding neighborhood. Beer is extremely good and getting better, and the food options are solid. One of the best breweries to visit in western new york.

A cool spot in the downtown area near the hotels and arena/stadium. Vibe is cool with an interesting 2 story open concept set up. The beer is very average though. Had a tasting flight and they all ranged from slightly above average on the top end to well below average on the low end. The selection itself was good with about 10-12 options and a nice variety of styles.

2 Bars, one lower and one on the upper level is a nice bonus. Decent beers with a good turn over on the newer beers that they have on tap. Servers and Bartenders are quick and knowledgeable. Nice place to grab a beer or two after work or before a Sports game or concert, but it can also be a little busy. There are also a few bar style games, darts and shuffleboard near the upper bar area.

Stop #482 on my world brewery tour. Pre dinner interview with my potential new boss so had to stay focused on conversation. Revived historic space in downtown Buffalo. Very well done. My potential future boss said the food wasn't that great so we went elsewhere for dinner. Did have the variety of dips appetizer which was fine. I got a flight of most beers. Had a nice aggressively hop'd red which stood out. I recall a black lager also being well done. The imperial stout was a bit hot for my liking...needed a couple of months to mellow out. Of the two brewwpubs I hit on my visit, this is the one I would return to.

 

Downtown Buffalo NY Another stop that was so crazy busy that it was difficult to try to enjoy it. It seems like such an awesome place, but with customers elbow to elbow, it's hard to tell. We need to return on another, less busy day. That being said, the beers were good, the food looked delicious and the crowd was pleasant.

Really enjoy this place. Still seems to be growing. Great place to hang out with friends and enjoy a fresh pint with a good bite to eat in downtown Buffalo...