I just moved from Philadelphia to Buffalo for graduate school and was hoping some of the local Buffalo BAs could provide me with info regarding craft beer in the area (bars, breweries, stores, etc). I am also a homebrewer and if there are any local tasting groups I would be interested in joining as well. Thanks, Teddy
We have a pretty active tasting group here, try to get together monthly. Bars: Blue Monk, Cole's, Mr. Goodbar are the top beer centric bars depending on where you'll be located there can be other options. Breweries: You can likely just not read this and save yourself some disappointment, Flying Bison (no longer Buffalo owned and pretty sad), Community Beer Works (new start up nano, beers are better than FB). Pearl Street is a cool location but the beers are very average to blah (they just started a second location at the Lafayette Hotel, haven't been and don't know if its the same brewer), Buffalo Brew Pub (haven't been in a few years) house brews we blah and tap list is never exciting. Can't think of any other "breweries". Stores: in order, Premier Gourmet, Village Beer Merchant (if they have beer in stock), Some Consumer's beverage locations are good some are little more than BMC warehouses, Wegman's has a nice selection. As with all places watch bottle dates (especially those last 2) Homebrew supplies: Niagara Tradition (anything & everything), select Consumer's (only in a emergency have I picked anything up). I'm sure the others in the group will pop in and add to this, and of course this is all just my opinion.
Well, Sliverx pretty much nailed it. So, I'll just add a few tidbits of info... First off, welcome! Bars: The two Pizza Plant locations (Main St. in Williamsville, and Transit Rd. in Williamsville) have solid tap lists and usually have a few good bottles as well. I also really appreciate that they always have a cask offering. Breweries: Community Beer Works is about the best we have, and they have only been open for about 6 months. Stores: The above mentioned is spot on. Premier is hands down the best store in the area. As for Consumers locations: my favorites are the East Amherst Store on Transit Rd., the Amherst store on Sheridan by Niagara Falls Blvd, and the Kenmore store on Elmwood Ave. Homebrew: I have nothing to add. Niagara pretty much does it all. I hope that helps. If you are interested in coming to our tastings, let one of us know (trxxpaxxs, sliverx, merc7186, metalgdog, etc.) and we will give you the details when we set up a date and time. Cheers! - T
I second the Pizza Plant locations...excellent beer selection with a huge variety and it is no where near as crowded as the Elmwood bars. As for breweries, Southern Tier is not too far away (about 75 miles) which is the only one worth noting.
Thanks and I would be interested in coming to one of the tastings. Just went to Premier and it is amazing.
I just read that Village Beer Merchant's North Buffalo location is set to open in a couple of weeks. Hopefully the set of of this store will be more like Premier and less like the current Village location. Either way, it is yet another option, especially for those of us who don't want to venture all the way in to downtown Buffalo on a beer run.
