Watkins Glen, NY - Rooster Fish Brewery

This brewery was hard to find since we were looking for the 'Rooster Fish Brewing' and not the 'The Wildflower Cafe' or 'The Crooked Rooster Brewpub'. We were making our way through the Finger Lakes and were unable to hit this brewery at 11:30 as it was closed, but yet they served lunch... Not the brew's fault, but the location where we were trying to buy it.

After a day of hitting the wineries in the Finger Lakes (I'm a big enophile), we hit up the brewery we were not able to hit before hitting these wineries. They had a sampler of 8. I was surprised such a small/new brewery had an imperial IPA. I had over a 90+IBU which was pretty good. I'd put it up with a Ruination. Not near as hoppy as the Superfly at Greenwood's Oaken Barrel, but pretty damn hoppy. Loved it.

They had a Dunkelweizen which reminded me of college. It is like a dark version of a Hefeweizen which is a very approachable way of introducing people into dark beers who only like light or wheat beers. Their hefeweizen was bananas as that is exactly what it tasted like. Yes... Bananas.

They have Reason.tv behind them talking about how buying microbrews promotes choice in America. VIDEO I would totally agree. BUY LOCAL!!!! Reason.TV is awesome, btw. Go Drew Carey Project.

The atmosphere was pretty cool. It was in a small New Englandish town than seemed to be built in the 1900's. The beer was good. They were too small to bottle as they started in 2007 and they are woking to grow larger in the not so distant future so there was no artwork outside of the initial logo.

Artwork: NA
Beer: A-
Atmosphere: B
Food: B+

http://www.roosterfishbrewing.com/index.php
301 North Franklin Street
Watkins Glen, NY 14891
Ph: 607.535.9797

Buffalo, NY - Pearl Street Grill & Brewery

On my way to Ontario Canada, I had to make my way through Buffalo, NY. The Brewery was right by the highway so it was very convenient. One of the unique features of the brewery was the belt driven fans on the ceiling. There was a lot of history to the location and you could request to take a tour of the 4 different floors. If you are in Buffalo for the night, you can enjoy the multi-tiered patios from the 4 floors. Looked fun, but we weren't able to stay.

The beer was pretty good. I would give the brewery a B for the beer and an A- for location as it was a cool atmosphere. The labels had great artwork (A) and I am a sucker for people who pay attention to these kinds of details. I feel like the art gave me a feeling of what Buffalo was about in not only its history, but its attitude. Very cool.

Recommended Beers: Double Hopped Ale (Palatte killer) or the Cherry Wheat (a little thin, but good).

Images for this coming later.


http://www.pearlstreetgrill.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=117

Three Floyds Brewery - Munster, IN

Just to start out, nothing I can say can do this brewery justice. Not only do they have great beer, but they have the attitude that encompasses what beer is.

In going from Indianapolis to Chicago, the majority of people take I-65 North. There is a place where the highway construction crews could give less of a $h!+ that thousands of people rely on this road every day and decided to make it go from two lanes one-way, to one way. This sucks because it causes an inevitable 2 hour minimum backup 24/7.

You can avoid this and get off of I-65 onto highway 10 and then head up north to Chicago. The extra 15 minutes this detour takes can be justified by not waiting in traffic and spending an hour and 45 minutes at this awesome brewery.

I would start by drinking the infamous Dreadnaught IPA. This is a world-renowned beer and is highly regarded by many beer professionals as one of the best IPA's available. Challenge that statement? Try it and leave a post. It is a meaner version of their infamous Alpha King which is highly distributable.

My recommendation would be the Gumball Head. I LOVE this beer and would call it one of my favorite beers. It is a hoppy wheat beer, but not too hoppy and not too wheaty. It is a great introduction to either the hop or the wheat world.

They are a large distribution brewery so the restaurant/brewery is in a concrete park like area. Don't let it fool you because the inside is really chill. You can buy a lot of the beer nationwide, but there are quite a few beers you can only buy there.

They have a 1980's punk-pop art style to their labels. I like the art VERY much. They have the attitude that their un-oridinary beer exemplifies.

I will always stop by this brewery if I get the chance. I'd advise you to do the same.

Beer: A
Art: A
Atmosphere: B (they have couches so they make it hipper. I give them credit for that as it is pretty nice to have)

Three Floyds Brewery
9750 Indiana Parkway
Munster, Indiana 46321

New Albany, IN - New Albanian Brewing Company

The New Albanian Brewing Company was great! They had some stellar beer here. After a house warming party for two friends who are getting married, we went to this brewery. They had a wide selection of beer which included not only their own in house beers made locally, but beers produced from other breweries. I didn't try anything that wasn't local of course (but they did have a few Saison's in the selection...)

The best beer was the Hoptimus Prime. The beer was not only a palatte killer, but incredibly drinkable and approachable for someone who is not into super hoppy beers. My guess is that the IBU on this was over 100.

Good story to this beer: We ended up buying a growler of this to take back to our friends house and give them the growler as a house warming present. When my wife and everyone else went to bed, one of my best friends and I were playing Wii baseball. With a full pint glass in his path, he took a huge swing and pulled a Sammy Sosa homer on that glass. We cleaned up the mess, but he left some paper towels soaked with beer. Oops.

The artwork was incredible! Every beer seemed to have a story behind it. There is a beer that uses a sexy she-devil which is always good to see on beer. Our friends knew the guy who brews the B-52 beer. The artwork on this was 1940's WWII propaganda-ish style.

The location looked like a pizza hut (Grantline location). There are two brewery locations so I can only speak for this one as I never made it to the second. Nothing too awesome, but the brewing tanks were visible and the food was tasty. Get the pizza as I liked it a lot.

Artwork: A
Beer: A-
Atmosphere: B-
Food: B+

Overall: B+

New Albanian Brewing Company
3312 Plaza Drive
New Albany, IN 47150

Indianapolis, IN - Broad Ripple Brewpub

This award winning brewpub is located in the fun, young district of Indianapolis known as Broad Ripple. This pub has a lot going for them like the fact that most of the population in the area is in their target demographic. Founded in 1990, they were the first brewpub in Indiana. This is not to be confused with the first brewery in Indiana though.

This brewery has had many brewers who later went on to open great Indiana breweries. The first brewer, Greg Emig, founded the Lafayette Brewing Co and the second brewer, Ted Miller, founded the Brugge Brasserie¹. They have large vegetarian menu which is cool. To top it off, their phone number is (317)ALE-BREW!

Although they have good beer, the food that we tried was just alright. If you like beer cheese, avoid theirs! The best way to describe it is to say that it had strong hints of keystone light and velveta cheese... yeah...

Their beer at time of visit: (lots of English style)

• Lawn Mower Pale Ale- GRADE: B
5.0% ABV


• Violet's Strawberry Blonde Belgian- GRADE: B
5.2% ABV. This is a good beer for people who don't like beer. Like the name implies.


• I.P.A. India Pale Ale- GRADE: B+
6.2% ABV


• Kolsch- GRADE: B-
4.6% ABV. Its a crispy, hoppy beer.


• E.S.B Extra Special Bitter- GRADE: B+
5.6% ABV. They are known for this beer.


• Black Heart Lager- GRADE: B+
5.9% ABV


• Diving Duck American Brown- GRADE: B
4.7% ABV. English style cask ale.


• Dual Citizenship Ale- GRADE: B+
5.5% ABV. English style cask ale.

This brewery gets a B. If they look really busy outside on a nice day, still find a parking spot (can be very hard) and go since there are a lot of people who drink outside of the pub.

Broad Ripple Brewpub
842 E 65th Street
Indpls, IN 46220

Piece Brewery & Pizzeria - Chicago, IL

Went to Chicago to go visit some friends and had planned on going to Goose Island Brewery. When we were ready to get going, we hadn't eaten and one person had a great recommendation for a pizza place. He lives up in Chi-town so I'm willing to trust what he says is good. And what is better than a good Chicago pizza? Nothing.

They are a 7 barrel brewhouse so they are very craft and don't bottle anything. This made the decision to go here instead of Goose Island a no brainer. They also had karaoke with a live band starting at 11pm. As much as I wanted to sing Sublime's Santeria, I decided against it. I would have absolutely destroyed

Arrived at the bar and there was about a 40 minute wait at 8 o'clock on a Saturday night. The wait was fine because you can drink at the bar as time passes. The beer was awesome. One of the winner was the 'Camel Toe', which was an awesome 9.5% thicker beer that came in a snifter. Not a chugging beer.

For the pizza, there were two kinds: red (traditional with pizza sauce) and white style (no pizza sauce, olive oil, garlic). I love pizza sauce so I thought I would only like the red. The white is what they were known for so we got a white, pepperoni pizza. Another in our party got the white with clam and bacon, which sounded gross, but was AWESOME! I don't like clams, but this was good. I would recommend it because it is unique and memorable. This bar gets a B+.

Other beers enjoyed:

Golden Arm - A friend called this the quintessential lawn mower beer. Its a german style Kolsch beer that can be best described as smelling like coors light but has a full body and good floral notes.

Top Heavy Hefeweizen - Strong hints of orange and very smooth. Like a blue moon but much stronger orange. If you like oranges, but don't like the taste of 'peels' in the beer, this is the beer for you.

Not tasted:
Worryin Ale - Rye Beer
Wingnut - Imperial/Double IPA
Dysfunctionale - American-style Strong Pale Ale
Fornicator - Bock
Full Frontal Pale Ale - Ameican-style Pale Ale
Dark-n-Curvy Dunkelweizen - German-style Wheat Ale

Piece
1927 W. North Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

Boca Raton, FL - Brewzzi

Took a trip to Boca with the 'rents and was trying to get over to Brewzzi the entire time. We were finally able to make it on one of the last days. Sure enough someone clipped the back of the family van so it put a damper on the dinner. Worse, it was kindof a hit and run situation.

The people that clipped them said they didn't realize that they had done it, but I was in the seat where the car rammed backing up (in the middle of the street). I had a great view of it and I don't see how you could not know. They ran in the Brewzzi and we couldn't find them. We located them as they were leaving and worked it out. They were a nice couple with kids on their adults night out. I always give people the benefit of the doubt since they felt bad and seemed genuine. It could be buffed out, but its the concept of the hit and run that made me mad.

This is a great place to go with a group of people who may not normally like breweries. They have a great fruity beer called Tropical Madness ( a crisp, blonde lager with hints of apricot, blueberry, peach, and raspberry). My wife doesn't drink beer but she said she liked it when she tried it. The food is very good too which appeals to the people that don't like beer in general. My favorite was actually an IPA that is a rotating 'Brewzzi Reserve' out of the brewmaster's reserve. I can't remember the hops that were used, but it wasn't over 90 IBU's. My bro and sister-in-law are beer fans too and loved the brewery.

I'd give this brewery a B+. If I am ever in Boca, I would definitely head back there again. The staff was accomidating with the hit and run situation, the beer was great, and the food was stellar. I have no complaints. The '+' was because they have something for everyone which is a big factor for me since I visit some breweries with people who don't like beer.

Brewzzi
2222 Glades Rd
Boca Raton, FL 33431