It’s been a crazy 2015 so far! Buffalo seems to party like no one else in the winter months. There have been three beer festivals in the last month, with two more still to come. Here’s a quick recap of where we’ve been and where we’re going:
January 10th: Tap Takeover, Aurora Brew Works. Mike and Darryl put six of our beers on, including the last sixtel of our Imperial Smoked Porter. Despite some really poor weather, we had a great turnout. If you haven’t been to ABW yet, make it a priority. Great beer, great atmosphere, great people.
January 17th: Buffalo On Tap, Convention Center. We estimated that we served 4,000 samples at this event. The very first keg we kicked was our Vanilla Oatmeal Stout, perhaps due to the nice write up we received earlier that day courtesy of the Buffalo Brewhound (Matt Krescenko) via wnycraftbeer.com. A lot of positive vibes at this event. Check out what Corey had to say about the festival here.
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| This blurry picture from On Tap pretty much sums up our month. Courtesy of buffalo.com |
January 23rd: Betty Crockski food truck was at the brewery! This was our first beer and food pairing with a food truck. Their pierogies were absolutely to die for. Look forward to more of these over the next few months.
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| Betty Crockski brewery visit |
January 24th: Niagara Wine and Beer Festival, Kenan Center, Lockport. This was our first time at this festival. There were about 1,000 attendants, and we had a chance to interact with a crowd that hadn’t had much of our beer before. It’s always fun talking to new people about our beer. We brought our Cinnamon Apple Ale and our Vanilla Oatmeal Stout and we kicked both kegs. We also got to meet the owners of newly opened Barker Brewing.
January 26th: Better Beverage Society, Gene McCarthy’s. We’ve been going to Better Beverage at McCarthy’s and doing tastings for years now. This was the first time we brewed a beer in collaboration with Old First Ward however. High and Rye was a dry stout made with rye – it has a nice roast, is slightly spicy, and is very tasty. We absolutely LOVE going to McCarthy’s. We usually stay busy enough that it’s hard to find time to just go out and have a beer, but somehow we always find ourselves back here. It’s a combination of the beer, the food, and the laid back atmosphere. Highly recommend.
January 31st: Buffalo Winter Brewfest, Connecticut Street Armory. There are two good things about this event. First, the location. Just a beautiful and historic venue for any event, let alone a beer tasting. Second, there are some nice New York breweries that get to this event that are rarely seen around these parts. We got to try some beers from Upstate, Galaxy, Abandon, and Binghamton a bit. New York State is kicking out better and better beers all the time.
February 1st: Toast to the Big Game with Breadhive at the brewery! Breadhive pre-sold bread bowls, pretzels, mustards and dips to go with $10 growler fills from us all day. We stayed really busy and had a lot of fun.
February 4th: Caputi’s Sheridan Pub tasting with Buffalo Distilling. We had our tasting the same night as Caputi’s monthly whiskey tasting night. This was a really lively crowd with a lot of familiar faces that had tons of questions for us. Fairly small, intimate tastings where we get to interact with customers are my favorites. Serving beer alongside Buffalo Distilling was a nice surprise treat as well.
Coming up:
February 16th, Schnitzel & Co. Beer Pairing Dinner, 7:30-9:30pm. Enjoy fine German food with a few of our beers!
February 19th, Polar Bites, Convention Center, 6-9pm. Beer and wine tasting benefiting the Buffalo Zoo. Also, the picture of this polar bear is ridiculously awesome.
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| Do NOT mess with this bear. He is hungry. |
February 22nd, Kick the Casks tour, 2-7pm, various. You need to reserve tickets for this event. Participating breweries are Big Ditch at Blue Monk, CBW at Mister Goodbar, OFW at (of course) McCarthy’s, and Resurgence. A $40 ticket will get you a pint of cask beer at each location with bus transport from place to place. We’re planning on our oatmeal stout, minus the vanilla, plus a mystery ingredient. Stay tuned.
February 23rd, Armor Inn Beer Dinner, 7-10pm. You need to come to this. The menu is insane. Here’s the plan:
Soup: Low Bridge Cheddar Ale Soup with a warm baked homemade pretzel garnish
Salad: Salad with Hayburner IPA Vinaigrette dressing
Appetizer: Thin sliced smoked brisket with goat cheese wrapped in bacon skewers, served with Excavator Rye Brown Ale
Entrée: Pork Tenderloin with Cinnamon Apple Amber Ale demi glaze and grilled asparagus
Dessert: Beer a Misu, a fun twist on Tiramisu, made with Vanilla Oatmeal Stout
Reserve seats with The Armor Inn to attend!
February 27th, Jack Astor’s Tap Takeover, 7-9pm. We’ll be releasing our spring seasonal at Astor’s, which is based on a recent pilot batch we made. Like your beers dark and/or hoppy? You’ll like this beer for sure. We’ll release more information on it in the coming weeks. It will be served alongside several other of our beers for this event. Big Ditch is also “Beer of the Month” at Astor’s during the month of February. $3.50 pints of Hayburner for a whole month? Yeah, you should go.
February 27th, Art of Beer, Niagara Arts and Cultural Center, 6-9pm. We’ve been going to this event for years, but this will be our first time serving (instead of just drinking) beer. Really cozy event with lots of local focus and proceeds going towards a good cause.