One of my hobbies is being a craft beer enthusiast. When people think beer your immediate thought is Budweiser, Coors, Miller, etc. Craft beer is a whole another animal.
Breweries like Budweiser, Coors, Miller and the most popular of the big Breweries in Western New York is Labatt Blue, a Canadian brew. No surprise the US head of Labatt Blue is in Buffalo. Another popular one growing among the hipster crowd is Genesee Brewing out of Rochester but that we'll be for another post. These beers are produced in huge numbers. The alcohol content is in the mid 4% alcohol by volume (abv) per beer. Many breweries make a light beer, essential less calories by adding more water, and a stronger beer such a "ice" beer, higher alcohol content around 6% like a Bud light platinum. I have no problem with drinking this or people who want to drink these. I was a college student, a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon pounders (16oz cans) for $5 was a steal and a great night. Beer can be divided into to major classes: Lagers and Ales. Most major beer companies make a lager style beer called Pilsner cause its easy to make and uses less materials to make.
These ideology of the Buds, Blues, PBR, etc is:
- quantity over quality
- don't mess with the recipe
Produce as much as possible for as cheap as possible and once you got a formula that people like don't mess it with or lose million of customers.
Craft Beer
Craft beer is a quickly growing industry in the US. Craft beer is a higher quality beer brewed in much smaller numbers. To sum it up craft beer is about taste and broadness of styles. Craft beer makers brew whatever type they feel comfortable and the amount of beer types is staggering. Craft beer delves into the lager as well as the lager side of beer. Ale style beers are incredibly complex ranging from a stout as dark as Guinness to a beer style called a blonde, which is very light and has high carbonation, and anything in between. In general the quality of beer is far higher then something made by the major breweries.
The alcohol content of craft beer can range vary widely between as low as 3% to upwards of 18% and even higher. Along with higher quality and higher alcohol percentage comes a higher price. Craft beer is the equivalent of being a foodie, its about trying the many styles and comparing them among the growing numbers of craft breweries to develop an idea of a style of beer and then determine where a new beer falls within this style. For example is this a good IPA(Indian Pale Ale) or bad one. Is it different more like British IPA or and American IPA (different countries have variations of styles of beer)? It's surprising intellectual hobby as well as a fun one. But how does this pertain to my blog?
A recent article in the Buffalo News business section discussed the growing craft beer industry in the US and how it help revitalize neighborhoods in cities across the country. A major craft brewery in Brooklyn, NY, called the Brooklyn Brewery, started in a old industrial area and help turn the area it started into a hip, new area where young professionals wants to moves surrounded by bars and restaurants. Great Lakes brewery in Cleveland, Ohio started in a run down area and as their brewery and brewpub grew in popularity the area revitalized and the neighborhood flourished.
Because of the growing number of breweries spread throughout the US, tourism has grown to become an important part of local economy as well as option for tourists. I myself try and travel around to various breweries big and small and tried there beer and hear their story. Buffalo and WNY is a little behind the craft brewery culture but is quickly catching up.
My first stop was a local brewery located south of the city of Buffalo near the city of Jamestown. By chance this is a fairly large craft brewery. It's was recently ranked number 37 largest craft brewery in the US and is available in many states in the US as well as internationally and I'm not just talking Canada.
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| Credit: Mike Jurnack |
Southern Tier is available in half to the United States. I remember finding it at a small beer store in Maine much to my astonishment. They have been in business since 2002. The name Southern Tier comes from the name given to the southern region of Western New York State.
Their 6 pack beer are very good beers. I won't say I like every beer they offer but almost no brewery can hit a home run with every beer but I still highly recommend trying these.
Like many craft breweries they offer seasonal craft beers producing at least one seasonal beer per season. All the beers to the left are available in 6 packs and a seasonal breakdown below:
Spring
- Eurotrash Pilz
- 2x Steam(Spring-summer)
Summer
Fall
Their 6 packs are good but the beer you should try are the bomber bottles, a single bottle around 22oz, these beers are far more high quality and would be to expensive to produce in larger quantities(for the brewery) and to buy(for the consumer) so they sell in bigger single bottles costing averaging at $9-10.
These beer are much higher alcohol content ranging 8-12+% compared to 4.2% for your standard bud light.
Year Round:
- Creme Brulee
- Choklat
- Plum Noir
- Unearthly
- Iniquity
- Backburner(retired but I see bottles still out there)
Seasonal:
- Compass(Spring)
- Pumking(fall)
- Warlock(Fall)
- Krampus(Winter)
If you like pumpkin beers the Pumking beer is a most. One, if not the best beer they make though Creme Brulee is also delicious.
They also have recently put out a series of Belgian styles in bombers and I recommend the Sonnet and the Buffalo local.
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They're located in the Lakewood, NY region; located west of Jamestown.
Open Thursday-Sunday.
Thurs & Fri 4-10
Saturday 12-10
Sunday 12-6
as well as 4-10 Thursday during the summer
They have a bar where you can get almost all Southern Tier beer available at the current time as well as merchandise a a small amount of food. Tour are only on Saturday the reason for my recent trip to them.
From the Buffalo metro area it's between 1-2 hours travel but well worth the drive with a few friends. On Saturday they offer tours of the brewery for $12 dollars. Tour times are 1 pm, 2:30pm and 4. For your $12 dollars you get a glass like the one below.
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| credit: Shannon Martha |
Each tour as a max of 20 people and they fill up quick so I recommend getting there early. We got there a few minutes after it opened and stood in line eventually getting a 2:30. The glasses are only 12 oz but for a mere $5 can get the best beer they have and they really know how to make a good beer. For between 10.50-11.50 you can get a pull pork sandwich, chips and a beer which is a good deal.
Located adjacent to the bar is the small store where you can Southern Tier merchandise including clothing and glasses as well as 6 packs and bomber bottles (22 oz bottles).
You can also com fill your growler up for a cheap price. For those who have never heard of a growler its is a reusable container to get filed with beer. Most cost a few dollars and can have their favorite breweries logo on them such as the photo below.
Growler follow various designs but the standard sizes are 32 oz and 64 oz. The purpose of a growler to fill with craft beer. Some beer stores will have various craft beers on tap. Breweries will often have a tap setup to come get your growler filled for cheaper then purchasing them retail. Breweries also use this setup to test beers they might want to start producing. Many small breweries don't have the money or the means to bottle their beer instead use growlers as the way to get sales of their beer.
Outside the bar is a great patio especially on a nice summer day. We had time to kill relaxing on the patio is the way to go. They even have a small bar with a few beers on tap outside.
The tour is quite informative and included generous sampling of of 4 different beers freshly off the line including one seasonal beer not available on tap at their bar.
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| Credit: Mike Jurnack |
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| Credit: Mike Jurnack |
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| Credit: Mike Jurnack |
Their 6 pack beers are great but the beer you must try is the seasonals and "blackwater series". Their "Pumking" beer is one of the best pumpkin beers as well as one of the best fall beers.
Southern Tier Brewing
2072 Stoneman Circle, Lakewood, NY
Website
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| Craft Beer Map of Western New York |
