Upstate Brewing Co

It's really wonderful to live in Upstate New York.  I've mentioned before things like the weather, the diverse range of activities and culture which are available around here...what's also marvellous to see is a burgeoning microbrewing industry.  In the past few years, Upstate NY has brought us Custom Brewcrafters, Rohrbachs, Southern Tier, Horseheads Brewing, Ellicottville Brewing, Three Heads Brewing (can't find a website, but they're on Facebook), and countless others.  With the wide availability of hops and grain, it's no wonder that Upstate is becoming a mecca for craft beer.

One particularly exciting prospect is Upstate Brewing Company, a new venture based around the Horseheads area.  They're very, very new, and if you follow them on Facebook you'll see all that's involved in starting up a brewery.  Watching a new small business come together is really fun to watch, and I'll be keeping a close eye on these guys as they start a new venture in this lovely part of the world. 

Coming up: some thoughts on my first homebrew batch and a writeup of my second batch!

And like a revived corpse...

..the Upstate Brews guy emerges from the blogosphere's graveyard.


Over the past month or so, I've tried several Upstate wonders, including:

• CB's Jack (a CB Scotch Ale that's been aged in bourbon barrels, giving it a lovely, smokey, whisky-like flavour)

• War of 1812 Amber Ale (brewed by Sacketts Harbor Brewing Company; I've only been able to find this at Scotch & Sirloin and Beers of the World but it's well worth the effort to find it).

• Ithaca Beer Company's CascaZilla (lots of fresh hops in a light ale which reminds me of the springtime)

• CB's Christmas Ale (served way too cold at a sports bar; given the time to acclimatise, it was actually pretty nice, kind of like a Christmassy malt loaf in a glass)

• CB's Caged Alpha Monkey (CB's brand new IPA - I know I've gone on about hating hoppy IPAs on this blog, but the hops were so fresh-tasting in this one that it may have changed my mind.  I think they must have gone light on bittering hops and heavier on the finishing hops).

I've also been busily working on my first batch of homebrew, thanks to my wonderful in-laws (who bought me all the equipment as a Christmas present).  It'll be the subject of my next post, so for now all I'll reveal is that it's a dark ale named Code: Frankenstein.  Appropriate, don't you think, given my recent reanimation?

Custom Brewcrafters Canandaigua Lake Ale

I think I've said before that I appreciate ales which don't rely overmuch on extreme, bitter hopping.  There's a certain class of beer drinker, particularly in this country it seems, that believes that complex, highly hoppy beer is the only craft beer worth drinking.  Any other kind of craft beer is a bit of an anomaly to these people - they don't know what to make of it.  A sweet, malty brew with plenty of fruity or citrus notes?  Well, it's not Bud Light but it's not IPA either, and it's suspiciously easy to drink, so it can't be Good Beer.  Can it?

Needless to say, I don't subscribe to this view.  I have the utmost respect for brewers who make IPA, it's a craft which I hope one day I'll be able to emulate in my own small way with my homebrew kit (for which I'm saving my pennies).  However, as I've said before, some of my favourite ales are less bitter, and thus open themselves up to a whole range of other flavour profiles. 

CB's Canandaigua Lake Ale really did the trick for me.  The hops are evident, but used in such a way that the bitterness isn't overpowering; a lemon-citrus flavour pervades it, giving it a fresh springtime quality; and the overall feel was very much like an English Real Ale, which I really enjoyed. 

Aroma - This beer smells of springtime.  Citrus notes blend with a hop aroma which is fresh and not at all bitter. 


Appearance - Light golden colour, it poured with a modest head which dissipated fairly quickly.  This doesn't bother me too much as it's ale, not lager.  I did notice a significant amount of sediment floating around - as I've mentioned a few times before, this is due to bottle-conditioning and isn't anything to worry about.  It's just evidence of the freshness of the beer and a pleasant reminder that you're drinking a hand-made brew.  I'll happily admit to having a nostalgic moment on seeing the sediment; it's been a while since I saw a beer that could so easily be English Real Ale.  I mean that as a real compliment.


Taste - This really is a springtime beer!  I love how the hops are evident, but their character is much less bitter than with most American craft beer.  This is fruity, light, with a great citrus bite as it goes down.  It reminds me somewhat of the Witbiers the Belgians are known for.  Obviously it's rather out of season (as I write, there are at least 6 inches of snow outside, and more is probably on its way), but it can be nice to drink this kind of brew in the cold as a reminder that the thaw will come eventually. 


Mouthfeel - Very little carbonation is evident.  Although you see the sediment in your glass, you really don't feel it while you're drinking.  It's not entirely smooth, though - it does effervesce slightly in your mouth with a delightful lemony quality.


Finish - Definite citrus taste, with a lingering, slight bitterness which is just subtle enough to be pleasant.


I think this beer deserves a 4.5 out of 5 - clever and subtle use of hops created a nice, fresh ale which I'll be drinking plenty more of in the springtime.  And I really appreciated seeing the bottle-conditioning in evidence again.

Custom Brewcrafters English Pale Ale (EPA)

Fresh from my first foray into the world of Custom Brewcrafters beers, I decided to crack open the second variety in my sampler pack.  This one declares itself an 'English-style Pale Ale' - given the fact that I'm a limey myself, I had very high expectations for this one.

As I've explained elsewhere, British ale is a different beast from American beer - it's not carbonated to the same extent, and it has to be pumped from the cask - in fact, if you go to an authentic British pub you'll see the bartender literally 'pulling pints' into your glass.  Ale also tends to be slightly sweet or malty, and in my favourite examples the hops are less prominent, giving way to a whole variety of fruity, spicy or otherwise unusual additions. 

Aroma - Fruit and hop aromas are prominent, but not overpowering like an IPA.  

Appearance - This ale has a deep amber colour, and a cloudy appearance, similarly to my previous encounter with Custom Brewcrafters.  I'm pretty sure now that this is due to bottle-conditioning, a process whereby a little yeast is retained in the bottled product to essentially keep the beer fresh.  As for the head, it was very modest, but it was there - slightly more present than it was with the Scotch Ale.

Taste - A delightful malty hit mellows into a mild hoppy bitterness.  There isn't as much 'oomph' in this beer but that's not a bad thing - a milder or more subtle taste makes for a great session beer, in my view.  These sorts of beers are also usually a better accompaniment to most food, as they won't crowd your palate when you're enjoying that amazing marinara sauce, or swordfish steak, or sushi, or...you get my point. 

Mouthfeel - Like CB's Scotch Ale, very little carbonation is evident.  This is a smooth English-style ale, true to its name. 

Finish - A bitterness lingers, reminding you of the malt in the aroma.  It's not a strong, toasted-barley taste, but a more pleasant, subtle flavour.  Very enjoyable.

I'll give this a 4 out of 5 - it's a very good, solid session beer, which satisfied this Englishman's high standards.  Like I said, I prefer less hopped English ales, which did affect my judgement a bit, but still - I can thoroughly recommend it.

Rohrbach Java's Stout release party!

Rohrbach Java's Stout is having its official release tomorrow at Good Luck in the center of Rochester.  According to the original tweet from the brewers, there's a pound of coffee in each barrel - sounds like an interesting brew!  I'll try to be there, and if you're in the area you should too.

Custom Brewcrafters' Scotch Ale

Custom Brewcrafters are based in Honeoye Falls, just south of Rochester.  They've developed a great reputation for themselves over the last 13 years as an 'offsite brewpub' for many of the restaurants and bars in Western New York - their business model is to develop specially customised, hand-crafted beers for their clients.  These include a lot of the best-known bars and restaurants in Rochester and Buffalo - for instance, The Old Toad Authentic British Pub on Alexander Street in Rochester now serves two custom-made CB ales, Nut Brown and OT20 - proudly continuing the British tradition of pubs supporting local micro-breweries.  They've got a fantastic-looking facility with a newly-opened tap room that also serves food - soon I'm hoping to make an Upstate Brews excursion to do a tour of the place.

In addition to their custom brews, Custom Brewcrafters make their own range of beers and ales which they sell on site, in grocery stores and in bars and restaurants.  The other day I picked up their Brewer's Sampler & Seasonal Brew - featuring 6 of their Scotch Ale, plus 2 each of Canandaigua Lake Ale, Cream Porter and English Pale Ale.  I'm guessing this is their winter edition so the Scotch Ale might get changed out for something else in the summer.  As this seems to be the 'winter brew', let's start with this one.

Aroma - My first impression was of a fresh-baked malt loaf - fruity, bready and very rich.  There's a hint of bitterness lurking in the background but it doesn't intrude on the malty goodness.


Appearance - This brew has a deep copper colour, with amber hues.  It's cloudy, with very little head - very little carbonation is evident.  This isn't a bad thing - a lot of the English ales I had in the UK were similar, because they brew using different methods.  Carbonation is de-emphasised, creating a less prominent head, and the cloudiness could either be chill haze or naturally-occurring sediment that is included in bottle-conditioned ale.  Either way, it's nothing to worry about and it was actually a pleasant trip down Memory Lane.


Taste - Very malty, rich, raisin notes in there too.  Bursting with malty goodness.  Kind of like a Christmas spice cake.  Bitterness slightly evident, but this is a very pleasant tasting beer indeed.  You really wouldn't think of this as a 6.5% ABV beer, because the flavours are so rich.  Tastes of a perfect winter evening.


Mouthfeel - This is a very smooth drink, the carbonation is very light indeed and the mouthfeel is closer to uncarbonated Real Ale than most of the beers I've tried (Rohrbachs being a notable exception - the carbonation in their brews is also pretty light).

Aftertaste - This has a rich buttery finish, the hint of bitterness from the aroma is evident but, again, not overpowering.  The overall impression is of a sweet, rich winter treat that keeps you warm on the cold Upstate NY nights.

This was an absolutely fantastic beer, and I think it'd be churlish to give it anything less than 5 out of 5.  Partly because its style is closer to the English ales I first fell in love with; but also because it's an extremely high-quality product with some subtle undertones, which is very drinkable and well-suited to the season.

Rohrbachs to be stocked in Wegmans!

Just got word from Rohrbachs (via Twitter) that selected Wegmans stores will soon be stocking Next Door Ale, Rohrbachs' custom beer for the Next Door Bar & Grill (a classy restaurant owned and operated by Wegmans).  I'm really excited about this!  I haven't been able to find Rohrbachs in any Wegmans until now - I've only found it on tap at local restaurants and in growlers at Aman's Farm and Market in Irondequoit. 

From the looks of things on Twitter, Pittsford will be the first store to carry the Rohrbachs growlers, from Wednesday.  You can bet I'll be there.