So I’ve finally concluded that we’re terrible bloggers. As our brewery count continues to climb, we produce less and less reviews! Are we too busy? Nah, we’re just not really big into writing! Since I’m home early-ish from busy season tonight, I figure why not do a quick recap over a handful of the breweries we recently visited while traveling to the Finger Lakes (NY) back in July.
*Disclaimer – This is not a “Top” anything list for the area. This post is a short recap of favorites out of a batch of newly hit breweries in the region. The problem with being Beerventurers is that we often don’t get to revisit many breweries; even ones that we loved on our last trip to the area.
Naturally, we can’t hit the Finger lakes without first traveling to the old homestead in Binghamton, NY. But on the way to Binghamton, we always try and find new breweries to hit; as the years progress, these stops are a bit further off the beaten path every trip home. In the case of Wallenpaupack and Hopping Eagle Brewing in Hawley, PA – that detour took us nearly 30 minutes off of 380 but we think the two breweries are worth the stop if you’re passing through that part of PA.
Wallenpaupack is a surprisingly large brewpub, with several great lunch options, and a beer series called Logan’s Tears. We had both the Mango Passion and the Lemon Lavender Shandy variants of Logan’s Tears – which were delicious and highly recommended. After you wrap up at Wallenpaupack, be sure to visit Hopping Eagle Brewing. Hopping Eagle is just a short – hop – down the road, literally .7 miles away. Because this is Covid times, food was still required to be served with any beers in PA so we grabbed two of the worlds best sandwiches ever – Smucker’s Uncrustables – and ordered a flight of four. The PB&J sandwiches paired perfectly with their Phoenix Honey Beer, and the Talon of the Hawk barleywine; which coincidentally were our two favorite beers of the flight that became our to-go 4-pack.
After getting past Binghamton, we headed up to the Finger Lakes region. If you never had the pleasure of exploring the Finger Lakes of upstate NY, you’re in for a treat. You could spend months up in the region and not take in all the breathtaking sunset vistas, the historic sites, and seemingly endless supply of alcohol; breweries, distilleries and wineries are dotted all over this part of NY and it’s an amazing predicament to get yourself in when choosing which spots to hit.
If you head towards Auburn after getting off 81 near Cortland, be sure to take a pit stop at Summerhill Brewing. Summerhill isn’t a brewpub, but they sell a small selection of local meats and cheeses to create your own charcuterie board to pair with your flight. We really appreciated this stop because the brewery and outside seating is plopped right in the middle of a large field for maximum peace and quiet. The most interesting beer on tap that day was “Just the Tip Spruce IPA”, which was an amber, resin IPA that was a delightful ode to the northern temperate spruce tree. If that doesn’t sound appealing to you, try the Lemon Sunrise; a 3% lemongrass beer that can certainly be appreciated by anyone on a hot afternoon.
After reaching Auburn, we hit Shep’s Brewing Company (untappd: The Good Shepherds Brewing Company), Next Chapter Brewing Company and Prison City Pub & Brewery. Our two favorites of our Auburn excursion were Shep’s and Prison City. All three breweries are walking distance so if you’re staying the night you might as well hit all three.
Shep’s Brewing is a small family operation; the son being the head brewer and owner, and the mother out front tending bar telling us about her son’s life of crime as an underaged brewer before he finally grew up, turned 21 and turned into a legitimate brewer. We’re always happy to hear tales about the humble beginnings of passionate brewers. Shep’s has brewed over 200 beers at this point, but if you see Flashpoint on draft (or in a can) this will be your must try beer. The Scottish ale Flashpoint, while traditionally is not one of our favorite styles, was so incredibly smooth, sweet and rich you will forget to notice the peaty undertones that drive most people away from the style.
Prison City is just a short walk across the street and has a much more brewpub/chic feel. Because deserts count as meals for some reason in NY, we paired our flight with a rich and delicious peanut butter creampie; lunch of champions. Melissa and I are usually split when it comes to best beer on the flight, and that norm mostly holds true here as well. Passion Fruit Sour earned extremely high marks from both Melissa and I, but the one key difference between our two untappd scores was that my favorite was the Barrel Aged Wham Whams. Aged in Smith Bowman casks, Wham Whams is an 11% liquid coconut and vanilla bourbon facepunch of deliciousness.
If you’re looking for activities other than breweries in the region we highly recommend taking in the natural beauty of the area. Watkins Glen State Park in Watkins Glen is a must visit for any nature lover! The 3 mile nature hike really takes you out of New York state and into a world straight out of Middle Earth. We could go on and on about the natural pools and waterfalls but it is truly a sight that needs to be experienced in person to be appreciated. The hike itself was not very difficult but do yourself a favor and go during off-peak times to avoid large crowds. We also visited the Robert H. Treman State Park in Ithaca for a waterfall swimming hole experience. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to hike the trails but we did get a couple jumps off the diving board. It was definitely more crowded and the water was cold but worth it for the gram!
These are just two of several amazing and non-alcoholic experiences dotting this region and unlike TLC, we do encourage chasing waterfalls.
After our afternoon in Auburn, we headed on over to Seneca Falls, which is on the north western tip of Cayuga Lake. In the downtown, you will find Fall Street and WT Brews, and just a few minutes down 414 is a real hidden gem called Fleur de Lis Brew Works. Fall Street Brewing is a small brewery, cidery, kombucha(ery?) and coffeehouse all in one little location. The brewery had literally just opened up and boom – Covid struck. The beers here were good, but the real show stealer was the Earl Grey Kombucha. At 1% it hardly qualifies as alcohol, but anything Earl Grey always earns high marks from me. While you’re in town drinking that 1% kombucha, run across the street and down an alley way towards the strait and you will find WT Brews right on the water. The four beers we had here all earned at least a 3.25/5 by me on Untappd, so I can safely say you will find something enjoyable here. Melissa sided with the Mango Sour (big surprise there), but I highly recommend the Smores Porter for those craving something darker.
Have you ever pulled into a brewery and said to yourself, this can’t be the place – it’s far too nice to be a brewery. Well, that was pretty much our reaction to Fleur de Lis Brew Works. Located in the middle of nothing-but-farmland is a brewery that you would think was a winery at first glance. After making it down the long fenced in driveway you will find grounds that can only exist in rural parts of the country and they look more like an estate than a production facility. Your beer choices will be hard here because not only does everything sound good, but they also taste good; everything we had was rated a 4/5 and higher by both myself and Melissa. We also grabbed several crowlers and bottles to go – a rarity because we acquire so much beer that we always have to pace ourselves in purchases. My favorite of the flight was the Peanut Butter Porter, and Melissa really enjoyed the Mango Guava Sour IPA (again, shocking).
If you’ve been wondering where the other half of Other Half Brewing Company is, well you’re in luck because we found it up in Bloomfield, NY. If you’re wondering where that is, well it’s just northwest of Lake Canadaigua or about 30 minutes south of Rochester. It’s not the easiest place to get to, but when you make it there I can guarantee you that it will be worth it. Because we’re still in Covid times, the inside of the brewery was closed but there is tons of space and tent seating outside. No flights were being poured, but half pours were close enough. If you’re reading this, I’m sure that you already know all about Other Half and don’t need further convincing.
If you’re in the market for lunch after wrapping up at Other Half, just venture across the street to The Irish Mafia Brewing Company. The brewery, despite the name, is certainly a family affair with large, delicious meals and friendly waitstaff. Out of the four beers we had, one was O.K., two were average and one was great. The Mafia Rules 101 Pilsner was clean, crisp and our favorite beer of the stop. However, the highlight here at Mafia was the Mafia Incider; a loganberry apple cider that was like drinking liquid jam. We haven’t had anything quite like Incider before so if you see this delicious cider, besure to get as many cans as you can – and ship some down to NJ for us.
The last two breweries we want to recap are Square Knot Brewing in Canadaigua and Laurentide Beer Company in Penn Yan.
Square Knot is a nano brewery with big things happening in the little brewhouse. All four of our flight beers earned at least a 4/5 on Untappd with Onnalinda Oatmeal being our favorite of the flight. The very close runner up is the Millsberry Blue Blueberry Wheat Ale (that’s not a typo). We can expect big things from this small brewery because since they opened, Square Knot has been focused on developing only 16 beers (according to Untappd) and if the other 12 beers were anything like the four we’ve already had, anyone who stops here is in for a treat. As of writing this, Square Knot has just won (seriously like four hours ago) two golds from the US Open Beer Championships for their Ramsay’s Scotch Ale and the Caiolann’s Irish Red; so congrats to Square Knot!
Laurentide Beer Company of Penn Yan is a quaint barn brewery behind the even more quaint Laurentide Inn. We didn’t get a chance to stay at the inn, but we did get a chance to sample four of the small breweries lineup. Our flight of four were all good beers, but the one I want to specifically highlight was the Hazy Pale Ale; a really well brewed tropical pale that was just hopped enough to satisfy the palate without destroying the taste buds. Maybe it’s upstate NY, or maybe Melissa was just on a bit of a cider kick this outing but her favorite beer from Laurentide was their cider; which does not appear to be made often. At 9%, the dry cider will certainly push you past tipsy if you’re not paying attention.
Upstate New York, and the Finger Lakes more specifically, is home to hundreds of delicious breweries, wineries, and distilleries. Since moving down to Jersey, we only get the occasional long weekend to travel back up that way to experience the much simpler, slower and more serene lifestyle that is upstate NY. If you were to spend a month up on the lakes, you would still only tap a fraction of the best the area has to offer so plan your trip(s) accordingly.
