Prison City Pub & Brewery

A recent visit found us here. We sat on the sidewalk seating, during a rainstorm, but the umbrellas over the tables kept us nicely dry. Inside the room looked nice, with old, exposed brick giving a nice feel.

A limited variety of beers (I had an English Mild and a Belgian Pale) that was dominated by Murkbombs. Lots of turbidity. They also had a few different Lagers, but no clear IPAs.

Service was good, not overly great, but pleasant and efficient. We only had the pretzel sticks as a snack, but there were several menu items I would have tried were we eating. The food going to other tables looked good.

Overall, a good choice for a stop if in the area, and perhaps worth going a bit out of the way for.

Located in downtown on a corner. Pretty busy place. Parking is generally available. The vibe of the old building was kept intact, and the tables were packed in pretty tightly. Medium sized bar. Kitchen and food, decent quality. Kind of dark and noisy. Good service. (My hometown BTW)

Nice place. Food not tried, but menu looked appealing.

The pre-Thanksgiving up & outstate runaround with Witz. Ran 81 and then something hugging one of them lakes to one side, US 20 for what felt like forever until Auburn, where it parted ways with us and turned away northernly for a minute. It’s got to be around here somewhere, right? Look! The shiny Wegmans and the waterway below the loop. Guess that this must be the place…

Did the feed for the last 15 minutes on this 9-5 meter town, and entered around the corner up front; large windows to both sides of the vestibule there. Long room with a well worn dark wood plank topped ‘L’ shaped bar, horizontal pieced dark wood block base, & piping foot rail on the inside wall; seating for 15 on squared aluminum stools. A bar row with 20 mostly logo handled taps split 10 & 10 on barback center. Shelved glassware racked to both sides, booze shelved running the length above, bottles, a basket, beer crates, & shit atop, and pitchers & mug club mugs on the far end. More glassware below the bar and a macro mini fridge down under, where it belongs, out of plain sight of decent folks. Flats mounted on the ends, a crowler crimper somewhere in the mix, I just don’t remember where, and a sad handpump unused on the bar.

Brick outer & rear walls, wide slat floors, black drop ceilings with phat ductwork. Alt height drop single filament bulbs tracing the bar, drop caged lamps over the adjacent seating, and a cool lighting wheel in the front corner. Bar counter tables off the bar, and then more to the front, side, & rear, shared, hightop, booth, high & low. Nearly a dozen and a half tables and some standaround barrels riddles about. Trophies, frame beer medals & awards, books, games, old bottles, & random pieces displayed in the back corner in 2 inlayed shelved sections in the brick, and a large ‘BEER’ light box piece on the back wall. Stand up cooler to the rear with growlers. Oh yes, they do growler action. A stray tank over there (me, pointing). There are some brew views to be had, look in that doorway there.

16 house beers (4 Piece Pale Ale - Enigma, APA, 5.9%; 4 Piece Pale Ale - Southern Passion, APA, 5.8%; Against the World, Red IPA, 7.5%; Copper John, Ordinary Bitter, 4.5%; Crispy Boys, Pale Lager, 4%; Elegant Pride, APA, 6%; Grisette Adams did have a beard, Grisette, 5%; Imperial Stout, 9%; Mass Riot, IPA, 6.8%; Packet Boat, Helles, Brooklyn Brewery collab, 6%; Sewards Folly, Blonde Ale, 6%; Straight Outta Locash, Porter, 7%; Tangerine is the New Black, fruit beer, 5.7%; Turfwars 7, NEIPA, 6.3%; Ugly Sweater, sour, 6.5%; Unconscious Chanting, Triple IPA, 10.5%), + 4 guest taps (Grimm Pineapple Rebus, Lawson’s Fayston Maple Imperial Stout, Sloop Hoppy Pils, Angry Orchard Hard Cider).

I played sampler drinking the Packet Boat (Helles), Copper John (Ordinary Bitter), Mass Riot (IPA), & Straight Outta Locash (Porter), and then short on the Unconscious Chanting (Triple IPA) & Imperial Stout. The Bitter was ridiculously quaffable, as was the Helles, the Triple IPA was really good, not showing it’s booze off, the porter was chocolate, roast, & smoke lovely, and Mass Riot was a goddamn joy. I grabbed a couple of crowlers of Mass Riot, as I am the king of bringing beer to the Thanksgiving Table (yes, I am goddamn royalty).

Oh, and you know what may save my life just now? Here’s a clue; I’m looking in on the food, menued. I did wings split between salt & pepper and dry spice rub, and the Manhattan clam chowder. Both were of the good and head fixing variety. Witz (obviously) had the poutine with pork belly, and the pub pretzels, which he first declared were not for the share but then said otherwise 2 of 3 pretzels in. I did oblige.

Outside seating area on the frontside, or side side, or I don’t know what, but umbreall’d up round steel mesh tables penned there be. Unsurprisingly, the place filled in super quick around us at 5pm on a Tuesday. Tunes, they play the tunes, sure.

Good crowd overall, but hey! Yes, I’m talking to you, couple with 2 small children at the bar. How about not fighting the bartender when he suggests you instead take a table and free up some bar space? Seriously, what’s the matter you? Is there a stupid effect coming off the Owasco, I Owonder? I also could have done without the guy drumming the bar to all the Rush being played (Quiet down there, not Neil Peart!) Food was good and the beers were excellent. All chill at State & Dill.

Great place with excellent IPA. Lots of woodwork, cozy yet open. Lively place surrounded by other lively places in downtown Auburn New York. Much likey beer.

Fun day out with the Syracuse fam! 6/20/20

 

 

stopped in here while driving through town just to pick up a couple of crowlers. but it was a nice spot, with some outdoor seating in addition to the bar and seating inside. Traditional pub feel with dark wood decor. good lineup of beers, fairly diverse in style. bartender was friendly and the beers I've had from them have all been good.

 

Stopped for lunch and to finally try out some of PC's highly regarded IPAs. Great old building setting in heart of Auburn. Throw back to another time. Plenty of seating and long old style fully stocked bar. People ther all seemed to be having a good time and enjoying meals and beers. All ages present at lunch time. Service was very good and helpful. My wife had a burger and fries . We shared the slightly curried chick pea fries, and I had the Abundance salad that was loaded with healthy goodies as well as delicious. All in all we'd recommend the place just to grab a nice lunch.

Beers were awesome. All the drafts were available in full pint or half pints (which made it easy to really try a few beers at one meal. I loved the fact that they had not only growlers, but crowlers for most of their beers; grabbed 3 oil cans for the suitcase. I'm bumping up Service from 4.25 (good people) to 4.5 because of the many ways they serve their beers. SO easy to try, take home, etc etc.

Beer menu included a nice selection of about 8 house beers (all great), and a decent selection of guest beers on draft and in cans. Very nicely curated. This place gets both Head Topper and Focal Banger in cans for on site consumption.
Hop heads will love this place.
Top notch brewery and top notch place to go.

 

 

 

 

Large selection of Prison City brews. Slightly pricey at $10 for a 4-beer sampler (5 oz pours) but more than made up for by the quality of the beer. The first flight I ordered was probably the best flight I've ever had: I rated all 4 beers at a 4.4 or higher (two IPAs, one fruited sour, one BBA barleywine). It's a bit out of the way for me but I definitely hope to go back in the future. Also, the "everything pretzels" are delicious especially with the beer cheese dip.

 

 

 

 

This brewery is a great one to go to! A very friendly and knowledgeable staff with a great beer selection. They usually have 7-10 house beer on tap along with 15 non house beers. The vibe is super chill and great. They have a decent food menu and although their food is very tasty it is however, on the pricey side. Other than the food being on the pricey side, Prison City's beer is top notch and one of Auburn, NY's local hotspots to hit up. I would definitely recommend going there to check it out.

 

 

guest tap selection rocks
house beers drinkable. milk stout their best today. crowlers a plus. Prison City today is multiple locations and each a worthy stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

very impressive little spot here in auburn i have been hearing about for some time now. finally got the chance. awesome little building, looks like it belongs in a much hipper city. classy but small place, with some homages to central new york brewing history on the wall, a window through to the very small brew house, and some cozy booth seating and dim lighting. modern meets rustic gastropub feel. a nice place to curl up on a chilly winter weeknight. the beer menu is impressive, as many as ten of their own beers on, and then a collection of heady guest beers from all over the map. they are becoming well known for their sours, and their berliner was quite tasty, but for me their hippy beers and darker stuff were the memorable ones. all were very good though. upscale type of food menu too, far beyond pub food. we enjoyed the calamari, the meat and cheese board, and a big salad with some kind of avocado vinaigrette that was just amazing. service was friendly and attentive, and the overall vibe of the place is great. welcoming and warm, unique and urban, classy but comfortable. i expect big things from these guys down the road.

 

Very nice brewery with solid selection of beers from other breweries to compliment those made in house, which a great way to maintain a good crowd of patrons. Good food menu with creative and quality. The styling, layout, and decor of the brew pub itself was top notch.

 

House made sours, pork belly tacos, and 20 taps. Lucky to have such a fantastic place in small town Auburn. The brewer consistently makes better beer than you can find in stores, while producing numerous styles. Owner and brewer truly have a passion for beer that shines through in this welcoming establishment. Steadily becoming more consistent with house beer availability and food quality since open. Worth a drive.

Their sour offerings are excellent. Nuff said...

Having grown up near this small town, and having been a home brewer for the past 25 years, I could not wait to try the local brew. So, I dropped in with my family on a Sunday and asked for samples and a growler. I was offered samples of a solidly good belgian pale ale, but was told that they would not sell anything but the porter in a growler. In spite of my better judgement, I agreed, and took a sight-unseen porter. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a heavily flawed medicinal brew, and I felt taken. The brewpub is tavern-like and in a good location. However, if the service and quality that I received is normal, they are certain to fail. Very disappointing.