Beer Travel: Rochester, New York

This post comes from Matt, the Beer Baron. Follow him at @geekcanuck

We were recently planning  a weekend getaway and mulling over our go-to list of favourite cities in driving distance, including Lexington, Chicago, Montreal, Detroit and Toronto. However, we’d recently been to most of them and were itching for a new adventure, so the Clockwatching Tart had the bright idea to visit the Finger Lakes region of New York state, specifically Rochester.

It didn’t take much online research for me to realize that Rochester has a very good craft beer scene and where there is craft beer, there is good food (as well as bearded dudes, pun-named beers, and sparsely decorated concrete tap rooms with friendly vibes). Just like that, we were off to Rochester!

The drive from London, Ontario to Rochester, New York is really only about three-and-a-half hours but with the border crossing, it was more like four hours -- which meant we were ready for lunch! Our first stop on the way in was the Rohrbach Brewing Co. Buffalo Road Brewpub.

The atmosphere inside was a bit of a throwback - less the aforementioned concrete tap room and more the wood-paneled, dimly lit and comforting bar you might remember from decades past. The service was friendly and the portion sizes were more than generous.

I tried their Space Kitty Citra Double IPA and found it a little underwhelming. The most interesting beer I tried at Rohrbach was definitely their Rainbow Street IPA, which was meant to evoke rainbow sorbet through the use of milk sugar, raspberry puree, lime concentrate as well as tangerine and vanilla extracts. There was a lot going on and it was only lightly carbonated but the raspberry and lime came through clearly and it was a nice way to start our adventures in Rochester.
Final score: 2.5/5

Our next stop was AJ’s Beer Warehouse, which was the mostly highly rated local bottle shop on ratebeer.com - and for good reason. The shop itself was spacious, which isn’t as common as you might expect - some stores make you feel like you are going to knock something over any time you turn around. The staff also took the time to show me around and point out a lot of the most popular options from local breweries, which was a nice touch. They also had a very good craft cider selection, much to the delight of the Clockwatching Tart.

I focused on choosing mostly local beer from New York State, which also meant I was able to stick to my guns and not buy any Founders KBS. While KBS (and especially CBS) stouts are lovely, there is enough great beer in the world not to have to buy beer from companies who might not treat their employees particularly well. Of interesting note to Ontario beer nerds, there was a really prominent display of Collective Arts gose with guava, which was further proof of their goal to expand into the U.S. market.

I was more than happy with the little collection of local cans we left with. The only exception to the local can rule was a bottle of B.O.R.I.S. the Crusher, an absolutely wonderful oatmeal imperial stout from Hoppin’ Frog in Akron, Ohio that I discovered back during our early trips to Chicago. Final score: 4/5

After we checked into our hotel (the Hilton Garden Inn, which we chose for its pool and downtown location, but also had inexpensive parking and brightly lit hallways thanks to a large atrium), we walked to Fifth Frame Brewing Co., which immediately made us feel at home. It is the type of taproom you’ve encountered countless times if you visit many newer craft breweries. You feel relaxed but also excited at the possibility of finding just the right thing from the draft list. Thankfully, Fifth Frame didn’t disappoint in that regard. There was cider for the Clockwatching Tart and I had Bounce House, a triple-fruited gose with guava, mango and pineapple that was just wonderfully aromatic and alluring.

I followed that up with Pull Out Couch, a petite pastry stout with cocoa nibs and coffee that was really nicely balanced with lots of coffee up front. The coffee aspect was an important part of Fifth Frame, as they have lovely coffee bar and breakfast menu that tempted us to go back for breakfast (and cans of Bounce House to take home with us) the morning after. My only tiny complaint about Fifth Frame was that I couldn’t really figure out what their evening food menu was without looking at their website but overall it was fantastic.
Final score: 4.5/5

Dinner was proof of why the Clockwatching Tart and I travel so well together. She loves to map out places on Google Maps and make spreadsheets and itineraries; I just tend to just check out Ratebeer and be more spontaneous about things - but you definitely need both mentalities to have success. In this case, I think I just Googled “unique dining Rochester” and stumbled upon Nosh. A quick Lyft ride later, we were seated and had (very good) cocktails on the way.

I don’t normally show photos of myself in these posts, but this one is fitting as I feel the dish is absolutely perfect. As you might remember, I’ve become an absolute nut for sushi-grade tuna and especially poke bowls so it should come as no surprise that I ordered the Ahi Noshos, which were a take on nachos using wontons instead of tortillas and covered with ahi tuna, cucumber daikon, salsa, seaweed and tobiko (fish eggs). It was only $14 and it seems to me that it should be on every menu in North America (albeit in smaller portion sizes) in the coming years.
Final score: 4/5

A few years back, we discovered our first retro arcade / craft beer bar in Lexington, Kentucky and ever since then, I look for them whenever we travel. Thankfully, Rochester once again came through, this time with The Playhouse. There was a combination of older fare like Frogger and Donkey Kong and more modern titles. The place was swarming with kids but made up for it by having Caffe Americano, a double stout with coffee and vanilla from Cigar City Brewing, on tap.

We ended up spending most of our time at a sit-down racing game before retiring back to the hotel for a well-deserved swim.
Final score: 3/5

Before leaving Rochester, there was one last place I wanted to check out, the Genesee Brew House, which was equal parts museum, restaurant, pilot brewery, and tasting room. While not exactly a craft brewery, it was still an incredibly fun place to visit. We learned about the history of brewing in Rochester and checked out all the artwork on their cans and bottles over the years.

We also had a flight at the tasting room where we discovered something the locals clearly already knew: that the Genesee Ruby Red Kölsch is absolutely wonderful. The ruby red grapefruit was fresh and strong on the nose and the beer itself was just really light and balanced and approachable, earning it’s “beer of summer” moniker. They had only recently released it and we’d seen people with the little, yellow cans around town, but this was our first chance to grab some for ourselves.

The cans were sold out, but the next best thing was amazing deal on a filled growler along with two pint glasses for only $20, which I happily said yes to.

The Brew House itself is located right on the Genesee River and its High Falls, which made the stop all the more worthwhile.
Final score: 4/5

To cap off our trip, we were in a Wegman’s picking up a few things for friends and I stumbled upon 12-packs of the highly sought-after Ruby Red Kölsch. Given its close proximity to home, ease of getting around the city, emerging craft beer scene, good food, and location at the heart of the Finger Lakes region (spoiler alert: nearby Geneva, New York is adorable and awesome too), Rochester has now been added to my list of go-to cities.
Final score: 5/5  

  

  

Road Trip - Chicago Style!

I have been very lax in updating this blog recently, but now that the spring weather is here I will try to get back on track by talking about our trips so far this year.  We’ve been to Chicago, Las Vegas and Toronto in 2019 and we’re planning another short road trip soon!

Over the Christmas holidays we took a trip back to Chicago.  We like travelling over the Christmas holidays because we’re usually off work, and often lucky to have mild enough weather for a road trip.  

Chicago is a 6 hour drive for us, which is definitely manageable, but this time we decided to break up the trip with a stop in Kalamazoo, Michigan for a night to check out all the new craft beer places in the city since our last trip way back in 2013. There are a lot of changes!

We stayed at a hotel close to downtown and walked to the new HopCat Kalamazoo first.  HopCat has really expanded over the years from their first location in Grand Rapids, Michigan. If you see one on your travels, it’s an excellent place to try local craft beer.  The Kalamazoo location is huge and in an old train station. We made it in time for happy hour and had some delicious beer, cider and snacks.

Next we checked out Bell’s Eccentric Cafe.  Last time we were here, it was just a bar with a food counter, now they’ve expanded to a full service restaurant as well as the bar.  Their beer is some of the best in North America, and we featured it in the Beer Baron’s first post on this site!

We had some more snacks and beer and moved on to the Kalamazoo Beer Exchange where they have a stock ticker and beer prices rise and fall throughout the night.  It’s a cute concept.

The next morning, we decided to make one more detour before Chicago and visited the famous 3 Floyds Brewery in Munster, Indiana, about 45 minutes outside Chicago. We picked up some precious bottles and had a really spectacular lunch in their busy brewpub. The food was outstanding and the staff was super friendly.

Finally, on to Chicago!  On the way into town we stopped at Marz Brewing in the up-and-coming Bridgeport neighbourhood near White Sox stadium.  The brewery is gorgeous and the beer is fantastic. It’s a great community place.  

Our hotel on this trip was the brand new Aloft Chicago Mag Mile.  We like Aloft hotels - they’re a little bit modern and usually have a bar and live music in the lobby on weekends.  This one was perfectly located and an easy walk to Michigan Avenue and all Chicago attractions. One of the reasons we love Chicago, other than the amazing food, drinks and shopping, is that hotels can very cheap!  Our hotel was less than $90 USD per night in the perfect location. In the winter and spring on weekends, we’ve gotten some amazing hotel deals in the city.

On our first night we walked to Headquarters Beercade River North.  Matt loves an arcade bar and this is one of the best we’ve ever been to.  The games are FREE to play and they have a great beer and cocktail selection.  

Afterwards we tried Rick Bayless’s new speakeasy, Bar Sotano. We’ve enjoyed his Chicago restaurants, Frontera Grill and Xoco in the past, so as soon as we heard about this new addition we made a reservation!  We’re so glad we did. The entrance is in an alley behind the restaurants and you check in at the front desk before being led behind a curtain and down the stairs (sotano means basement in Spanish).

The drink menu was spectacular and we tried several cocktails, including this mango cocktail served in a plastic bag!

The food menu is mostly small plates but Matt had the burger, which we were shocked to find was one of the best we’d ever tasted!

The next day we did a little walking and shopping and stopped by Millennium Park to visit the bean.  Matt had a Chicago Dog in the park.

That evening we hadn’t made plans but wanted to try one of Top Chef Stephanie Izard’s restaurants.  We ended up at the Little Goat Diner, We sat at the counter and had some amazing food!  Matt had the tallest burger in history!

We also checked out the Chicago outlet of one of Matt’s favourite San Diego breweries, Ballast Point, and played some more video games at Emporium Fulton Market.   The perfect end to a fun and filling trip.

10 Craft Beer Questions with Storm Stayed’s Justin Bélanger

This post comes from Matt Brown, the Beer Baron. Follow him at @geekcanuck

Opened in late 2017, Storm Stayed Brewing Company has quickly become one of my favourite craft beer spots in the city thanks to its modern but welcoming beer hall vibe, friendly and knowledgeable staff, unique location (169 Wharncliffe Road South in London’s Old South, whereas all the other breweries in the city are currently in the east end) and, of course, great craft beer. Aside from their own broad selection of craft beer, they also have a couple of rotating guest taps and a selection of wine and cider, which makes it an ideal stop for the Clockwatching Tart too.

I’m proud to kick off my new 10 Craft Beer Questions feature with Justin Bélanger, brewer and co-owner of Storm Stayed Brewing Company.

1. What was the first beer you tried that really opened up your mind to the idea that beer could be special? When did you first have it and how did you discover it?

The first beer that really got me to enjoy beer as a drink was probably Tankhouse by Mill Street. It was the first flavourful beer that seemed like it was brewed to be enjoyed and not just consumed quickly while cold. I first had this beer while looking for something to drink while grading lab reports, a job that needed liquid support.


2. What was your go-to style of beer five years ago? And what is it now?

Five years ago, my go-to style would have been an IPA everyday. Hops and more of it! That was probably one the reasons that made me brew more often, so that I could get those great fresh hop aromatics. Today, my beer of choice would be an Irish Red or a Pilsner, great beers with subtle flavour that compliment food instead of overpowering it.

3. How did you get into brewing?

I got into brewing because I thought the science behind it was interesting, and I think that the science has been what has kept me interested in it as a hobby and now as a career. What I love about it is how small tweaks in the water chemistry or fermentation temperature can drastically change a recipe.


4. What was your most epic fail as you were learning to brew and what did you learn from it?

During my early homebrewing experiments, I thought it would be a great idea to use brown sugar (in large quantities) to help boost the alcohol content. Well, the brown sugar didn’t fully ferment out and had a sickly sweetness that stopped you from drinking more than a sip or two. I learned that if you want to brew good beer, you need healthy yeast.

5. When did you decide to open Storm Stayed and what made you decide to choose Old South as a location?

Back in 2010, I did a bike trip across Canada and I would visit pubs and breweries as I biked along. I just loved the atmosphere and camaraderie, and that has followed through to today. The beer scene is such a supportive environment, brewers helping others whether for ingredients or questions. Storm Stayed was my effort to join a great group of people (I was tired of the grind of working for a large organization). While planning our brewery, we wanted to have a community-oriented business and to do that, we needed to be in one of the neighbourhoods. We considered Old East, which already houses most of London’s beer scene, Old North, and Byron; but the location that really drew us was Wortley Village. Unfortunately, there weren’t any buildings available in the village that would have been suitable for a brewery but in the process, we found our great location (still in Old South, but now located in The Coves).


6. What Storm Stayed beer are you most proud of and why?

I’m really proud of Sunburst and Patina. Sunburst is our New England-style Pale Ale and it has a low bitterness which makes it smooth and easy to drink but also has nice grapefruit aromatics. Our Patina is my version of an Irish Red and it has a nice caramel and slight roast character -- it makes for a great campfire drink.


7. If you could have created any specific beer from the past 20 years, what would you choose and why?

Right now, I’m really digging pilsners and have been looking for them everytime I’m out. Both Vim and Vigor by Tooth and Nail and Bellweiser by Bellwoods are ones that if I see it on tap, it’ll be the first and last beers of the evening. Who knows, maybe we’ll see a pils on tap at Storm Stayed in the future.


8. Is there anything specific about Storm Stayed that you think makes it appealing to different demographics?

The great thing about Old South, Wortley, and The Coves area is the great diversity in our population. We want our space to feel safe and welcoming and we’ve tried to make an accommodating environment that everyone could enjoy.


9. What is your favourite thing about the London craft beer scene?

What I love most about the London craft beer scene is how close knit it is and how much everyone supports everyone. We’ve worked together on bulk-buys to help with costs, we’ve taken part in festivals together (Forked Fest, Anderson Anniversary, etc.), and we’ve even competed against each other (congratulations Equals on your bowling win, we’ll bring our A-game next time).


10. Do you have any special beers planned for the winter? Anything exciting craft beer lovers in London should be looking forward to from Storm Stayed?

If you look into the brewery the next time you’re visiting the taproom, you’ll notice a couple of stacked barrels off to the side. I am super excited about them! Experimentation was a key factor in wanting to open my own brewery and being able to use wood of different origins (red or white wine, bourbon, brandy, etc.) is a further extension of our experimental goals. Look forward to those releases around our anniversary (early January).

I’m also looking forward to doing small batch tinctures. This is something that you’ve already seen in the past (e.g. Coffeebreak), but we’ve now acquired some new equipment that’ll allow us to work on a larger scale than our pilot system.

Thanks, Justin!  

If you have any suggestions for who you’d like to see from the London craft beer scene in the next 10 Craft Beer Questions column, let us know @geekcanuck

Road Trip - Ottawa

We recently had a quick weekend away in Ottawa.  The main purpose of the trip was to see a concert, but we decided to make a weekend out of it! 

As we drove the 401 East of Toronto, I started looking for interesting craft beer and cider stops along the way.  We were lucky to find Empire Cider Co. just off the highway near Trenton. 

This is a tiny operation out of a garage, but they make lovely cider.  We tasted all the varieties and grabbed some bottles to take home.  

Next, we wanted to stop for lunch and found Signal Brewery near Belleville.  This is a brand new brewery in the old Corbyville Distillery, and it's gorgeous!  

They were out of a few of their beers, but the ones we tried were tasty.  They have a huge, beautiful patio overlooking the Moira river, and plenty of seating indoors.  

The food was great too! We had chicken and waffles and pork belly bao buns. 

Once we arrived in Ottawa we wanted to check out some more craft beer.  We headed to Tooth and Nail Brewing in the Hintonburg area of Ottawa. It's a great little brew pub in a fun neighbourhood.

They have their own beer on tap, which Matt really enjoyed, plus craft beer and cider from other breweries, and a nice menu of tasty sandwiches.   

We checked in to our hotel, the Andaz Ottawa Byward Market.  We really loved this hotel.  It is right in the centre of the best neighbourhood in Ottawa for restaurants and bars, and easy walking distance to Parliament and other attractions. 

We walked around Byward Market and took a tour of the Royal Canadian Mint, which was really interesting!  They don't produce currency at this location, but they do make collector coins out of gold and silver.  They have a great gift shop too!

For dinner, we headed to one of the top craft beer destinations in Ottawa, which also happened to be across the street from our hotel in Byward Market, Brothers Beer Bistro.   The beer selection, cocktails, food and service were awesome!

I had rainbow trout with Israeli couscous, romesco, rapini and preserved lemon. It was delicious!  Matt had pulled duck poutine and he loved it.  

The next morning we had brunch at the King Eddy in Byward Market. 

Matt had chicken & waffles and I had a great burger. 

Before heading home, we crossed the bridge to Gatineau, Quebec, where there is an amazing horticultural sculpture exhibit that's free to the public until October 15, 2017. 

Part of Canada150 celebrations, MosaiCanada fills a public park with huge plant sculptures depicting Canadian history and culture.  

It's really amazing! 

We had a wonderful time in the Ottawa region and it left us wondering why we don't visit more often.  We'll definitely be back!