Finger Lakes 2025

Super familiar with this section of the state so I got you.

- Not a ton near Hammondsport, but Brewery of Broken Dreams is a unique spot that feels like the cellar of an old castle and, appropriately, specializes in old British styles and they do them well.

- Steuben is great for lagers and lower-ABV shit and it’s a beautiful outdoor setup there.

- Once you get up to Penn Yan, Laurentide is a must. Upstate Brewing is terrific, though I haven’t been to that particular taproom. Lake Life is new and I haven’t been but word has been good.

- On the west shore of Seneca Climbing Bines is a cool spot. Beers are pretty average but it’s nice to drink outside there. Tin Barn FLX is also close and a gorgeous taproom with a focus on hazies and fruited sours — they do both very well.

- Go up Seneca a bit further and go to Ardennes. Stunning, pastoral spot where you feel like you’re in the woods somewhere in Germany. Beers skew traditional Belgian styles but they do a LOT of different shit and nail most of it. Big Alice has great beers and a great location but is kind of absurdly expensive.

- Top of Seneca is WeBe (fine, but can avoid), Lake Drum (solid, but postage stamp-size taproom with very little outdoor seating) and Twisted Rail (beer is fine, spot is very cool, old movie theatre).

- Bottom of Canandaigua is Naples Brewing (small but beautiful taproom, great beer) and Engine 14 Brewing (haven’t been).

 

Maybe it wouldn't be so fun for my guy if I made him watch me drink with randos I met online. I'll be a teacher on vacation for two months... let's try to find a time we're all free anyway.

 

Somewhere I missed that Liquid State North Shore had closed. Didn’t even think about it as we’ve been there the last few years. 40 minute drive wasn’t totally wasted as we stopped at Two Goats for a beer and some live music on a steamy Sunday afternoon.

 

"Interesting note - Beers and wines are cheaper to buy at retail stores than to-go at the local breweries or wineries for the same beers/wines. Just an interesting tip to give to future travelers looking to mule home beer and wine."

I've said the exact same thing many times but suppose its ok to support the little guys

 

That area used to be more predominantly wineries, breweries certainly have established a strong presence though.
Seneca Lake brewing is a good one on the west side of the lake.
And it’s been a few years, but I recall Keuka Brewing was pretty good for a small brewery.
I haven’t been to Naples Brewing, but I’ve had their beer somewhere before. Based on their following on Google Maps, it looks like a good one as well.

 

I feel personally responsible. Beer's on me at the Ithaca Liquid State.

 

I'm headed towards Syracuse later this month, coming up from PA, and was going to leave early to stop a few places in the Finger Lakes during the day. Trying to balance a route that makes sense with hitting the best beer spots, but probably only have time for 2 stops (although depending on how it routes, might be able to stop into a 3rd for to-go cans). That being said, how would you rank the following spots if you were prioritizing Hazies/Sours and Food?

Tin Barn
Prison City
Frequentem
Aurora
Big Alice
Other Half (had plenty of their stuff before but never visited one of their taprooms)

 

Can't give detailed reviews of all these places, but have been to all of them, and some of them many times. Other Half of course, heavy on the hazies which are great, but light on the sours, so it;s hit or miss whether they will have one on tap when you go. The food at their lakefront location (Canandaigua) is outstanding. Maybe the best I've ever had at a brewery. Frequentum, good hazies and top notch sours. They make pizza on sight, and sometimes have a food truck on the weekends. I'm a big fan of them overall. Tin Barn, great hazies and sours, not sure how good the food is.Big Alice is ok, but wouldn't go out of my way for it. If you were going that way, Brewery Ardennes is right around the corner from Big Alice, with better beers and a great food menu. Prison City, excellent beers, have never eaten there. Likewise, Aurora, excellent beers, never eaten there. I'm not a big sour guy, so have never had Prison City or Aurora sours. If you're coming north through Watkins Glen Tin Barn is an easy stop for you. However if you're traveling on the Thruway it is quite a haul to get down there as it's on the southern end of Seneca Lake. The others are all up north. I'm sure others will chime in with better info on some of these places, but you can't go wrong with whatever way you go. Cheers!

 

If they had sours available, I’d put Prison City (State Street) at the top of the list. The food is great, the hazies to me only beaten by Other Half. When they have sours, they’re also excellent.

I don’t love the Frequentem NEIPA game, but you’ll get fruited sours for sure—and @Rocktire just vouched for the food.

Other Half—as you know—is juicy AF. I love to visit the Bloomfield location for the vibes (though that’s even further from Syracuse). Last time I was there there was maybe one lager, two west coasts and the rest hazy. Not a diverse lineup. Food truck serves up some good burgers.

The rest of those breweries I don’t tend to go to. Beer is okay to pretty good, but not on the same par as far as my palate is concerned.

 

• Prison City, State St, downtown Auburn
  • Very nice old place with great burgers
  • Nice range of good quality styles
  • Main focus is a variety of IPA’s
  • I have never been to the North St. location
• Frequentem, Canandaigua
  • Nice open space, good food
  • Nice range of quality styles
  • I prefer their lagger line-up
• Other Half, Canandaigua
  • Never visited but it is a short mile from Frequentem.
  • On the lake, is a great touch.
  • I think their Stouts, sours, and IPA’s are all top notch
  • The FLX (aka Bloomfield) location has good food and a neat building in a field.
• Mortalis, Avon
  • Location and food, meh
  • Beer, outstanding!
• Rising Storm, Avon/Livonia
  • Nice place, food is meh
  • Good quality range of beers

If you’re coming from Western PA, all of the above are convenient via i390 to Rt. 5/20 east to Canandaigua, then up to i90, and onward to Syracuse. If you can only manage two, then Mortalis and Other Half, or Other half and Prison City are your best bets.

• Aurora, has a Syracuse location, so I would save that for when you’re in Syracuse.
  • Never been to the Syracuse place
  • Good quality beer
• Lots of other good breweries in Syracuse.

Throughout the lakes there are certainly a bunch of good breweries, many with great locations and good food. Without knowing your likely route of travel it is difficult to recommend anything specific.

 

I'm not a local, but I did visit the Finger Lakes a few years back and went to a bunch of breweries. My favorite brewery of the entire trip was Frequentum. Their NEIPAs weren't anything that will blow you away, but they do the fruited sour thing well if you're into that. I also really enjoyed their lagers as @SLeffler27 mentioned. I distinctly remember really enjoying a black lager and wished they offered it in cans when I was there.

When I visited the area, the OH Canandaigua location was still Young Lion but I did go to OH Bloomfield. The beers were the same so no surprises there. I've been going to the Centre St location since the mid 2010s, so it did feel like bizarro world since the vibe there was vastly different than what I associate with Other Half.

Tin Barn FL has a really nice view of Lake Seneca. I've been to the original Tin Barn Location in the HV numerous times and they make above average hazies and sours. Nothing to go out of your way for though IMO. They lose points in my book for not having pizza and rather had these chicken sandwiches called spedies that I guess are some kind of regional thing. (Sorry FL bros)

 

Blown away by all of the detailed responses in such a short time since I asked, thank you all so much!

Sounds like most everyone agrees Prison City is worth is stop, and probably makes sense as the last stop before the last bit East towards Syracuse, so that's kind of my anchor point. I can pretty much take any route up north and then just drive East along i90 or 20.

With that in mind, thinking I may not go all the way West to Mortalis. Probably going to go Other Half, just not sure if Bloomfield or Canandaigua. Canandaigua might make more sense because I wouldn't mind looking around that town, unless the Bloomfield location blows it away in some way? Could also potentially stop at Frequentem nearby it sounds like, but will be a gametime decision.

Really appreciate all the thoughts and information, thanks all!

 

What a country!

Prison City at State Street is the OG location, and the menu is really diverse and excellent—even my vegetarian-leaning wife will take the hour ride to go eat. Check out the speakeasy downstairs—really cool vibe. North Street houses their massive new brewery, and it’s more of a food truck vibe.
The beer offerings are slightly different, so you may want to check the web site first.

Syracuse: here’s me making a plug for Dinosaur BBQ. Just do it.

 

Dinosaur BBQ would have been fantastic, but I don't think I'm going to be able to swing it while there sadly. If you had a breakfast recommendation, however, I'm in need of one of those...

 

Does anyone know whether OH Canandaigua has beverages beyond beer? Bloomfield has wine and cider, but I don’t see anything like that listed on the Canandaigua page.

 

Wine and some mixed drinks, usually a cider on tap.

 

What's the Uber/Lyft situation like around Canandaigua? Would be nice to avoid needing a DD for a couple spots, but also know some areas just don't have it and want to plan accordingly.

 

Guess I can follow-up with a little trip report.

Went first to Other Half in Canandaigua. Really great little spot with a beautiful view out front. Tried just a couple of small pours, the one was a really great OH Hazy but unfortunately they didn't have any of that one to go. And I wasn't interested in the other enough to grab anything, we get OH distributed locally so mostly just wanted to check out the spot, and I would absolutely check it out again and hang out on the water in that area.

Then i shot over to Prison City on State Street. Was a nice enough spot, and the bartenders were great, the crowd in there was very friendly and chatty in general. Can't say I was blown away by the food or beer however, was just fine. Not something I'd probably do again unless I was in Auburn for some reason, but seemed like an interesting town.

Some beautiful driving up there, saw some areas I'd love to explore more when I have more time. Will have to check out some other FLX spots in the near future.

I had to spend the night in Syracuse, which didn't do a lot for me just from driving downtown a bit, but admittedly, i didn't get to see much or have time to do anything here on my first visit to the area. I did try a breakfast spot on the way out of town that had a lot of recommendations, and I'll just say here that I would not recommend it, and that's "Nice Biscuit". I was assured by some folks that, despite it being vegan, it's the best breakfast sandwich in town. I hope that's not true. Seem like nice people however, and plenty of folks seem to like it so maybe just me.

The rest of the trip isn't really FLX related so I'll keep it brief, but I got to hit TH in Saratoga, Fidens, and Suarez and had a good dinner at Melzingah in Beacon. I'll add some more about my TH visit on the thread in the New England channel, but Fidens was still as great as when I visited last year, and Suarez was cute but felt very overblown by folks on here (or maybe I just don't get it).

Thanks again for all the tips, looking forward to exploring FLX more in the future, was a nice little road trip on the beer/food front.