Beer advice- Buffalo

I just hit up Buffalo to meet up with the tasting group out there for the Gang Bang BIF. Hit up J. Ryan's, Cole's, and Mr. Goodbar all in one night. Ethan at Premiere should be able to hook you up with recommendations of what bottles to bring home. merc7186, trxxpaxxs, silverX, ThePorterSorter, dogfishandi, metaldog, and pdiddey3d would all be my go to BAs on this subject.

 

One big one we get that I do not beleive you get is Firestone Walker

 

J. Ryans is in Syracuse, Fuj likely meant Blue Monk though. Premier Gourmet is the best option for bottles, Village Beer Merchant can be good but seems to have less and less beer Everytime I stop in. Some Consumers Beverage locations are better than others so it depends where in the area you'll be in. A warning with consumers is to check date codes if available, they often have lots of out of date beer. Wegmans can also be a good option in a pinch.
Depending on where you'll be we can get you more bar options.

 

I did an IP with a guy from holland, MI a few months back and ended up trading for some ithaca beer co. We also get weyerbacher, troegs, middle ages, FW, sixpoint, southern tier, Cisco, clownshoes, pretty things, hoppin frog, Brooklyn, DFH... I would not recommend any of the available local beer unless you see a community beer works tap handle (frank or the whale) @ the local bars you end up visiting.

Go to premier gourmet and bring a growler, your wallet, and change of underwear.

beer bars/pubs: blue monk $$, Coles $, mr. Goodbar $, macgregors $
If you're going into cuse/Rochester there is a whole list of great options as well.

On the way to buffalo stop and grab some brew kettle, fat heads (headhunter IPA in bottles now), and Jackie o's if possible. I'm not an expert on where to stop to get those items though.

 

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/buffalo-beer-new-york-state.18763/

 

No Terrapin in NY.

Some decent advice on this thread, but on the whole, be prepared to realize that you've got some beer there that blows away most of what WNY has to offer. Firestone Walker (Union and Double Jack) is worth seeking out though, for sure.

 

For Bars I would check out Blue Monk, Coles and Pizza Plant. They have the best beer selection in my opinion. For a bottle shop, I would just go to Premiere Gourmet on Maple Road will have any beer that is available in any other store around plus many more. Ethan and everyone else that works there do a good job making sure there is a nice selection plus they take good care of the bottles.

 

Depending on what route you are taking to get to Buffalo, whether be through OH,PA,NY or through Canada via Detroit... If you are passing through OH and are passing near the Cleveland airport, Fat Heads is about 5 minutes before it. I just stopped there yesterday afternoon on my way back from Cincy for lunch...food is decent, they had 10 in house taps and another 30+ guest taps (including 3 Floyds Gumballhead, which I was stoked to try)...but no bottled Head Hunter at the moment.

Another decent stop is just past Cleveland called Willougby Brewing...their food is decent, solid pizza and fish sandwich and a really nice Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter. When you get to Erie PA, a nice stop is the Brewerie. Its located at their central terminal, food is average, beers are hit or miss but also have a small bottle shop where you can get some good local flavors from Voodoo and Lavery.

If you are driving through Detriot, into Ontario to Buffalo...just gun it for 4 hours, you won't miss much.
Have a safe trip.

 

Heading to Buffalo next week for the Bills/Pats game. Anything released recently (or next week) that I should be looking for?

Also, I was lucky enough to score a decent amount of BCBS here if anyone wants to meet up for an IP trade. Don't know how much you guys will be getting.

 

Can't think of any "special" releases lately, hopefully we see more BCS than last year but I'm not holding my breath. I will say that if you brought along some Zes Zes Zes you'd make a few of us very happy.