Shuffle Off to Buffalo
Our colder and darker future, and a visit to Western New York before the snow starts
On a soon-to-drop episode of Beer Sessions Radio, I appear with writer Courtney Iseman and the Spring Lounge’s Jen Maslanka to talk with host Jimmy Carbone about New York’s incredible lineup of beer bars (inspired by Courtney’s piece in Good Beer Hunting earlier this year). Naturally, Brooklyn’s 4th Avenue Pub came up in the conversation, and this is as good a time as any to remind you that they’re celebrating their 17th (!) anniversary tonight with an all-night happy hour, free pizza, and a lineup of collaboration beers to mark the occasion.
Remember that our great beer bars are what made New York’s beer scene as strong as it is today. Some of today’s New York City brewery owners and brewers were beer bartenders or found their interest in beer from sitting at those great beer bars. Celebrate them every so often.
Stout Season is coming — and Other Half is celebrating
The days are getting darker (don’t forget to set your clocks back this weekend), and so is the beer. Other Half is celebrating the arrival of Stout Season with second annual event by the same name on Saturday, December 2nd from noon to 4pm. The event, at their Centre Street brewery in Brooklyn, will bring together stouts from some of their favorite breweries around the country in an all-you-care-to-drink ticketed event. Stout Season also marks the annual release of Other Half’s Snowbirds series — their stout collaborations with Miami’s J. Wakefield Brewing, along with a special “Methods of Excavation” release that is available for pre-order when you purchase a ticket. The indoor/outdoor event will also have food available for purchase, which is much needed with all the boozy stouts you’d expect to see at an event like this.
Among the breweries slated to be in attendance for the event: Tripping Animals, Equilibrium, Vitamin Sea, Southern Grist, Perennial, Bottle Logic, and Angry Chair, with more to come. Tickets for Stout Season start at $65 and are available online now.
Brewery Tracker
Total brewery count: 3,214
Total breweries visited in 2023: 319
Total breweries visited in New York: 286
Brewery Visit of the Week
Brewery #3208, Wayland Brewing Company, Orchard Park, New York (Visited 28-Oct-2023)
It’s been a while since I’ve heard people in Western New York get excited about a brewery the way they get excited about the Sabres’ early-season prospects or a Bills playoff run, but that’s just what happened when Wayland opened this spring. The beer has no business being this good, they told me on opening weekend. It’s an amazing space, they told me all summer. Josh Allen is repping them, they said, excitedly! And when I landed in Buffalo for a quick 26-hour trip this weekend, my friend picked me up from the airport and drove us straight there so I could see what the fuss is about.
All those beer fans were right. Wayland feels like a bit of a campus as you pull up, with multiple buildings housing their brewery, event space, taproom, and retail space. The glassy, leafy, airy indoor space will brighten spirits on even the darkest of winter days. The passive patio with a bocce court and plenty of outdoor seating will pass the time on those warmer summer days. And all year-round, the beer and food will be the star of the show. The crackery House Lager, bright and citrusy Future Ghost blonde ale, and crispy Good Clean Fun West Coast IPA were absolute joys to drink. While my friend and I only had a snack here, the smoked cashew dip had a great depth of flavor and made me want to try the whole brunch menu.
Wayland really nailed the “third space” concept — a space outside home or work where you can hang outside with friends, grab a meal, bring the kids for an afternoon, sit at the bar and watch a game… it manages to strike a balance of being a space for all those things at once without being too overwhelming or fussy. They’ve barely been open for six months and I’m already excited for their future.
The Weekly Reader
Tree House is coming to New York State, with a brewery to open in Saratoga Springs [Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge, The Gazette]
Long Ireland Beer Co. in Riverhead is up for sale [Lisa Irizarry, Newsday]
Bathroom amenities at breweries are different (and better!) these days [Samer Khudairi, VinePair]
Are beer festivals a waste of time and money? [Doug Veliky and Chris McClellan, Beer Crunchers]
One Last Thing
Speaking of beer festivals, I’m heading to the Festival of Barrel-Aged Beers (FoBAB) for the first time ever this weekend, twenty years after its inception and at least half as many years after friends in Chicagoland first tried to convince me that a festival full of big, boozy beers is a good idea. I’m thankful in advance for both a Lager Lounge and an N/A lounge, which will be much-needed breaks.
If you’re looking for a beer event closer to home this weekend, the Staten Island Ferryhawks are hosting their first-ever beer fest on Saturday at SIUH Community Park, just steps from the Staten Island ferry terminal. You can grab a last-minute ticket if you’re looking for a beery way to spend the last day that the sun sets after 5pm in New York until January 22nd (sorry).
Cheers,
Chris
What FoBAB session are you at? I'm attending Saturday afternoon. Team Substack beer writer meetup in the Lager Lounge? :)