#buffalo drinking

Rochester tips their hat to Buffalo’s craft brewing scene commenting on how many new and substantial breweries are taking root in the Queen City. The Flour City focused mainly on four breweries - 12 Gates Brewery, Big Ditch Brewery, Community Beer Works and Resurgence Brewing while giving honorable mentions to Old First Ward Brewing and the highly anticipated up and coming Thin Man Brewery on Elmwood.

The Buffalo region brewing scene has been booming going from just a handful to nearly twenty in just a few short years. In addition, Buffalo’s distilling scene has seen its own awakening and both alcohols are being supplied from growers within New York State in a successful initiative to boost the state’s economy. This is in addition to the large cluster in the Finger Lakes region Ingraham was referring to in his article putting the Empire State on the map for a drinking destination.

Buffalo. For Real TV has now made a 3rd segment on Buffalo’s booming microbrewery scene (See Part 1 and Part 2). In this episode Nelson Star visits the Flying Bison Brewery, Big Ditch Brewery, and Hamburg Brewing Company.

Featured in the article is the Buffalo Brewing Company, Ellicottville Brewing Company, Pearl Street Brewery, Flying Bison Brewing Company, Southern Tier Brewing Company, Resurgence Brewing Company, Big Ditch Brewing Company, and Community Beer Works. Shoutouts to Buffalo’s throwback breweries - Iroquois Brewing Company and William Simon Pure Brewery - are also included.

Buffalo is home to another first - New York State's first rum distillery located on the corner of Elmwood and Amherst. Black Squirrel was able to produce the rum using a Class D Distillery license which requires a certain amount of products coming from New York farmers. While New York lacks the traditional sugarcane byproducts New York is a large producer of maple syrup, which then allowed Black Squirrel to overcome the sugar-byproduct problem. Black Squirrel is one of the myriad of disilleries popping up around the city.

Buffalo Distilling Co. and Tommyrotter Distillery are two more operations to add to the growing hydra of distilleries in Buffalo. Last year Lockhouse Distillery opened as the first distillery in Buffalo since prohibition and since then Buffalo has had distilleries pop up all over. New distilleries across the city include Bison Distillery, Queen City Malting, Niagara Distilling Co., and Black Squirrel Distillery.

Buffalo was once the world's largest grain port but today the silos stand mostly as an opportunity for creative solutions. Buffalo is also Labatt's strongest American market and in 2007 Canada's largest brewer moved its American headquarters to the Queen City in addition to providing the annual pond hockey tournament. And while Labatt Blue will be served to Riverworks patrons the silos themselves are going to be housing a brand new local brewery that can be added to the rapidly growing list.

Taptrails is another entrepreneurial idea based out of Buffalo but is quickly spreading across multiple states with local brewing cultures. For $10 beer connoisseurs can purchase a map that features discounts from local breweries as well as further information on the local brewing culture and soon will be available through app form.