The Bar Towel

Quick night in Buffalo:

Thin Man: was super lively. Solid list of maybe 12-15 of their own beer and lots of guest taps. Cool spot.
Allen Burger Venture: another cool spot, lots of great taps to choose from. I didn't eat.

Went down to Buffalo for a beer trip. Lots of nice stuff happening there:

- Thin Man: Great spot already discussed. Did a podcast with Mike which I'll post up soon.
- ABV: Also mentioned, a great burger joint with about 20+ taps. Fun vibe, good neighbourhood spot.
- Colter Bay: Just down the street from ABV, a ski-themed bar with 40+ taps. Lots to try there.
- Resurgence Brewing: Off the 190 and near the water, this is a cool brewery with an impressive taproom & patio in a vintage old brick industrial building. There just aren't buildings like this in TO anymore. Great spot.
- Lockhouse Distillery: Near the hockey arena, this is a small-batch distillery with cocktail bar/taproom attached. Very cool spot.
- Big Ditch Brewing: Large brewery & brewpub located right in downtown. Your classic "American style" brewpub design, airy & spacious.

Buffalo also recently got UBER, so it's a bit easier to shuttle around from place to place nowadays.

It was great to hang with Mike & Rudy from Thin Man, Dave from Resurgence & Cory from Lockhouse while down there. Looking forward to heading back again soon!

Here's my podcast with Mike:

http://www.bartowel.com/chatting-buffal ... e-shatzel/

It was great to chat with him and learn about his own personal beer history and reminisce about the changing beer times both here and in Buffalo.

It's funny how times change - we don't really need to go to Buffalo for IPAs and the types of beers that we were dying for for so many years. But to visit a place like Colter Bay with 40+ taps and ABV with 20+ and all the interesting things available, it's still worthwhile to make a trip or two. It's just not for a specific style anymore. Even with the slightly expanded flexibility of keg importing that we're seeing at places like Volo, there still isn't the kind of multi-taps possible here like there. We've got great local beers & great places to go for them, but a scan of the list at a place like Colter Bay you realize we're still not there yet. Makes going to Buff still a special experience as it was 10 years ago.

Cass wrote:Here's my podcast with Mike:

http://www.bartowel.com/chatting-buffal ... e-shatzel/

It was great to chat with him and learn about his own personal beer history and reminisce about the changing beer times both here and in Buffalo.

It's funny how times change - we don't really need to go to Buffalo for IPAs and the types of beers that we were dying for for so many years. But to visit a place like Colter Bay with 40+ taps and ABV with 20+ and all the interesting things available, it's still worthwhile to make a trip or two. It's just not for a specific style anymore. Even with the slightly expanded flexibility of keg importing that we're seeing at places like Volo, there still isn't the kind of multi-taps possible here like there. We've got great local beers & great places to go for them, but a scan of the list at a place like Colter Bay you realize we're still not there yet. Makes going to Buff still a special experience as it was 10 years ago.

Thanks Cass, this is great content.

I can certainly relate to much of it so the perspective is interesting, all the added Shatzel history, etc. And I do want to go the The Buff / Elmwood someday soon to blow off some steam for a day or two; Buffalo isn't just beer shopping, it's also a place I really appreciate - a very American place, pretty easy to get to & people there are awesome.
And a couple of bars (Colter Bay and Moor Pat) I've never been! Cool.
The comment about the (formerly) great CAD>USD exchange is so spot on though, I do miss that. I recall that even pre-2009 eating and drinking at Coles seemed amazingly cheap and cheerful, as was shopping. Nowadays it feels like a LONG way to go to spend, say (with tax, tip and exchange) $12-15 bucks on each little pour of something especially good - which is why I will sometimes economize on food with a few Buffalo wing pizza slices, part of the local charm. It's still a great trip.
So yes of course we have to let go of what used to be, change is constant and that's not all bad - we have some great things going on here now a well. I'm so happy about what I can go out and just get from around Toronto these days, whether it's a killer Bourbon RIS from GLB or Cognac barrel sours from Burdock or some really fine fresh pales/IPAs of many kinds. Even the LC has picked up the slack with desirable imports like Rochefort, Oude Beersel and some outstanding Founders stuff. As you say the LCBO have gotten smarter about what to put on their shelves VS what our brewers can make well here.

Again, 'perspective'. Everything is constantly changing, even if we only note of how much it's changed in hindsight.

How things change. Years ago I was driving to Buffalo to buy Flying Dog, Stone, Great Lakes, etc. at consumers or Premier, Stop off at Coles, Pizza Plant or wherever for a drink regardless what's on and some food and head home

Nowadays it's Pick up packages from wherever, make trades with the locals for stuff they got from New England or wherever, Maybe a stop at Moor Pat or Aurora or Brewed and Bottled, depending whats on that I might not see again for a long time.... and head home.

Perhaps not a destination, but found myself in Hamburg for work and stopped by Hamburg Brewing Company at the suggestion of a local. Beautiful space with a massive fireplace and distinct ski lodge-like atmosphere; I'm a sucker for any place with a big roaring fire. Beers were quite good, along with the food. Made for a nice pitstop before the trek back to Toronto.

Going to Niagara Falls/Buffalo in a couple weeks. Looks like the place to get bottles to bring home is Premier?

Cshh wrote:Going to Niagara Falls/Buffalo in a couple weeks. Looks like the place to get bottles to bring home is Premier?

There is a Consumers Beverage in NF and in Buffalo that can be decent too but I haven't been to the Falls location.

Premier probably has the largest selection, but if you want a place you can go in and chat with the staff and whatnot, you might like Consumers or Village Beer Merchant.

If you make it over to Lewiston, Brewed & Bottled is well curated and very convivial. The Tops there has pretty decent selection for a grocery store with a walk-in fridge and crowler station.

Visited Resurgence brewery in Buffalo over the weekend. Very nice space, great beer.

Hi guys:

Going to a Bisons game in a couple of weeks with a fairly large group, not all of whom will be beer geeks. What do you recommend downtown / in the immediate vicinity of the stadium? Pearl Street? Pizza Plant? Anyone know if there is anything decent on tap at Anchor Bar?

As I said this will be a large-ish and possibly unruly group whose main motivation might not be the quality of the beer. Still, I want to make sure we end up somewhere with a few decent options. Any input welcome.

Pearl Street is probably your best bet.

I'd second Pearl street.....you can get a decent beer and they have stuff for the masses as well. Good is decent, crowd can get pretty rowdy and they have no issue with it, and it's walking distance to the stadium. That being said, I havnt been there in 4-5 ywars

Thanks guys. Anybody know if there is any craft beer in the stadium itself?

Yup! Craft beer corner I think they call it. About 8 taps that are all NY craft, last time I was there. I had about three 5$ pints of Flower Power when I was there, iirc.