Mid-Atlantic breweries in planning (2022)

Welcome back! Just gonna try and recap some shit from last year's thread that's still in the works:

1) Tin Barn is opening a taproom on Seneca Lake at the old Starkey's Lookout, per them probably a spring opening since the place was pretty much turnkey.

2) Atom Fermentation Farm in Fonda just started brewing, but no official word on when they may open their taproom.

3) Weaver Hollow's taproom slated to finally open this month, no word on the exact date.

4) Northern Barrell in Voorheesville opening pushed back to "sometime in the spring."

5) Radio silence on Port Schuyler in Watervliet.

6) I imagine we see spring openings from Upper Depot in Hudson and Okay Beer Co in Honeoye Falls but nothing concrete on either.

7) Return Brewing in Hudson continuing to make beers but no word on taproom, I would imagine we don't see anything here until summer.

8) Other One Brewing in Halfmoon/Clifton Park still being worked on, no dates.

9) Spotted Octopus in Buffalo says "soon" on an opening so call that one 'sometime in spring.'

10) Steel Leaf outside Buffalo shooting for an April 1 opening.

11) Nine Spot Brewing in Rochester is sometime in 2022.

12) Brazen Brewing outside of Buffalo you can probably pencil in for a Spring opening.

13) No news whatsoever on Minor Key in East Greenbush as they do next to nothing on social media.


Think that covers everything for now.

 

1) One-Eyed Cat Brewing opening a taproom in Williamsville (outside Buffalo) in March. Venue used to be a wine bar. It's an old house, so could be a cool venue for them. It's also super close to 12 Gates and Britesmith so the opportunities for traffic will be there.

2) Pressure Drop opening a second location on Elmwood Ave in Buffalo. I really dig their current spot but they share the building with a lot of other businesses so it's a cool chance for them to have their own digs.

3) Checked out Artisinal Brew Works' new spot last weekend and its rad. Plenty of space, gonna have a lot of outdoor seating when its nicer and they're working on a companion restaurant slated to open in spring.

 

I will never understand how in 2022 some breweries use social media so poorly.

So apparently DisBatch Brewing (east of Rochester, North of Canandaigua) opened... who knows when? They put up a post the other day about a new beer, come to the taproom, etc, but it read like any brewery posting about a new beer. Their last IG post before that was from July and they weren't close to open at that point. How do you not post one thing about your opening?

Place looks cool and I'll almost definitely check it out this summer, it's just confusing.

 

This place was never even on my radar but Autark Brewhouse opened in Buffalo, judging by reviews, sometime in November? Really love the vibe of the spot based on pictures and they have a dry Irish stout, a dark mild, an English bitter and (obviously) a few IPAs. Right near Thin Man too so I will 100% be checking these guys out next time I'm in Buffalo.

 

I mean, that does make sense, but the IG account was fairly active in the ramp-up to opening so just having... no posts for six months is super odd to me. That said, I do still think that in NY at least, 'if you build it they will come' still can apply. Especially with a place like this, where it's (somehow) the first brewery in the whole county.

 

I wouldn't say 'fakes' but there are breweries that do REALLY well based on location alone. Like Twisted Rail in Canandiagua. The beer's fine but unremarkable, the inside space is forgettable, but their outside porch is at the head of the lake and gives you the most idyllic summertime view imaginable so they do bonkers business every summer anyhow.

Two Goats on Seneca is similar. Beer is fine but you wouldn't travel for it, inside looks like any old townie bar, but their outside deck is the best and most expansive view in probably all of New York. So they do bonkers business every summer anyhow.

As far as overall quality, brewery-for-brewery, I think the Finger Lakes is as good as any region besides the Hudson Valley, but yeah, some spots succeed more on location than beer quality or indoor taproom experience.

 

Depends on what you mean by "location."

If you want very good beers and a beautiful, relaxing outdoor area without a lake view Other Half, Rising Storm, Ardennes and Fleur De Lis all hit. The latter two especially have very distinct and expansive outdoor areas.

If you want some of the best beers in the FLX, a beautiful relaxing outdoor area and "well, it's not the best lake view but you can see it" Aurora and Steuben fit that bill.

If you want "practically feel like you're on the water" and the beer is still very solid but for sure not on the level of OH/Aurora/Steuben you wanna go to Young Lion.

I personally would set up base in Canandaigua for a few days and hit Young Lion and Frequentum right in town, OH is <10 minutes away, Steuben is about 30, Ardennes and Big Alice only about 20. Rising Storm and Mortalis about 40.

 

Brewery in the tentative planning stages in Ballston Spa NY and its kind of an interesting situation. Local family bought an old dress-making factory and wanna turn it into a brewery, but specifically wanna have it be an incubator for the brewing sciences program at the local college.

I imagine they hire a regular, full-time brewer and then they wanna constantly rotate people in, give them their first industry experience, and then hire them permanently if its a good fit. That's what I took from the article.

No name for the brewery and I wouldn't expect to see anything before 2023 but something to keep watch on.