Lavery Brewery Company - Erie, PA

 

On a Saturday afternoon we decided to take a day trip less than 2 hours away to Erie, PA.  We first hit up the zoo and then headed a few minutes away to Lavery Brewing which I had read about months earlier.  We just recently got their Dulachan IPA in stores around here and were big fans! Great IPA and the beeradvocate rating wasn't true to how we liked it.  

It is somewhat hidden on the side of a building in which a restaurant controls.  Upon entering you see giant tanks making the beer, follow the hallway pass the bathrooms to the entrance to the tasting room.  We were there around opening time so it was dead. A nice sized taproom with a good amount of space. Small, but interesting looking food menu. But we just were there to drink so we ordered a sampler that had all 6 beers they currently had on tap.

Madra Allta IPA was fantastic! Went home with a half growler of it.  The Devils Pumpkin was fantastic. The Strawberry Berliner Weisse had a lot of flavor. The Deth Lepard dark ale was really good. Liopard Farmhouse was our least favorite but was still not a bad beer. And the standout here is their Breakfast Stout. It is up there with Goose Island Coffee County Bourbon and Founders Breakfast Stout. Just a ton of coffee flavor and strong but didn't taste heavy.

I really liked this place a lot and they seem to be doing great things here. We just so happened to be there on the day they are having a big celebration for their 1 year anniversary.  Sadly we had other things to do, but I am glad a place can be so good after one year. Do yourself a favor and go check them out...www.laverybrewing.com/

CB Craft Brewers - Honeoye Falls, NY

 

Our third and final stop on the Finger Lakes Brewery Tour was to CB Craft Brewers.  Now, I didn't know much about this place except for the fact that they make Caged Alpha Monkey IPA.  Upon arriving we were amazed by the size of the place it was huge!

 

When you enter there is an actual bar to your left, a store with merchandise to your right and straight ahead is the tasting station. There is someone waiting for you at the front register if you want to taste.  You pay a few bucks, get a glass to keep, and go to the tasting station. Here, I found out CB brews beer for not only them, but Buffalo Tap Room, Three Heads, War Horse, and maybe 1 or 2 more. Needless to say they had A LOT of beer available for tasting but you're allowed to choose 6 to taste. I know we weren't too impressed with any that we tried, but I can't even recall which ones they were.

Great place to check out, with all the beer selections there must be some good ones we just didn't experience that. But the service was great, the place is really nice and if you can make it there I recommend doing so...www.cbcraftbrewers.com/

Twisted Rail Brewing Company - Canandaigua, NY

 

Our next stop on our last day was at Twisted Rail Brewing Company located right at..you guessed it..railroad tracks. It is right next door to a taproom with a long tap list.  The brewery itself is pretty small with a long bar and some seating.

We of course got a sampler which like other places just served you one by one. You can see the beers below, but none really did anything for me.  The woman working claimed their IPA would wow me..but they were out unfortunately I really would have liked to have tried it.  The service was nice, it looks like they brew right there next to the bar, and it wasn't the worst place I've ever been to by any means.

I recommend if you're in that area, go check them out hopefully they'll have the IPA! twistedrailbrewing.com/

Naked Dove Brewing Company - Canandaigua, NY

 

On our final day on our trip to the Finger Lakes our first stop was Naked Dove Brewing Company. This place was top 3 of the our trip.  From the outside it is nothing flashy. Located on a main road.

 

All of their beers were tasty.  For a small fee (I forget how much I think $3) you get to taste all the beers.  The guys working were super nice and we arrived around opening and the place got busy quick.  But we constantly were waited on.  The IPA and Double IPA were really good we got growlers of each. The porter was also really good AND we got to keep the glass of course.Plus the guy working gave me extra samples of the IPA and DIPA since I was getting growlers of them.

They also had a lot of merchandise.

This place is a must stop if you're doing a Finger Lakes Tour. Check them out..www.nakeddovebrewing.com/

Abandon Brewing Company - Penn Yan, NY

 

Our last stop on Day 2 of the Finger Lakes Brewery Tour was at Abandon Brewing. When you roll up, you just see a massive red barn-like building.  Lots of parking and even though the place closed in an hour it seemed like a lot of cars.

Once you enter you see some big brew tanks and an empty room..keep walking and you enter the taproom which has a U shaped bar, a few picnic tables and that's about it.  One bartender on a Thursday and the place was swamped. 

They offer samplers of 4 beers for $10...except their sampler holders hold 6 beers? May want to rethink that and make it 6 beers. But we got stuck behind a girl ordering what felt like 20 samplers. The bartender kept apologizing for the wait so I couldn't get too upset.  After about 15-20 minutes of waiting we got our beers and went outside to the patio where they have two giant round picnic tables overlooking a great view.

The beers weren't bad.  Nothing to write home about. The Farmhouse IPA was good...one of the better IPAs of the trip. The porter would have been my close second choice here.

All in all it was a nice place, but needs more tables, better service and compared to the other breweries we went to around them it was a little pricey. Worth checking out though if you're in the area...abandonbrewing.com/

Keuka Brewing Company - Hammondsport, NY

 Not too far from Finger Lakes Beer Company was our next stop, Keuka Brewing Company. Down a side road, tucked away this little place sneaks up on you quick. Another place with no big frills outside and a pretty chill look to it.

Unfortunately for us, we arrived as there was a 20 person bachlerotte party inside all talking at once. The inside isn't very big with really no seating and just a very long L shaped bar.  We did get waited on rather quickly.  We did a sampler of 4 beers, the blueberry wheat was probably the stand out.  They sell their IPA in bottles and the guy was nice enough to pop one open to let me try also.  The IPA wasn't bad at all, nothing shockingly good but not horrible. Had not been for the 20 nonstop talking drunk ladies, it may have been a better experience but we got out of there quick.

Good service, nice guys, and not bad beer..they also seem to make a lot of small batches so you never know what you'll see..check them out..www.keukabrewingcompany.com/

Finger Lakes Beer Company - Hammondsport, NY

Our 4th stop on Day 2 of the Finger Lakes Brewery Tour was the Finger Lakes Beer Company. We drove right past it, but there is a good sized sign out there not sure how we missed it.  Located not quite on the water, this place isn't a big frills type of place.  Very basic, upon entering you walk down a small hallway and enter the tasting room. 

For a small fee you got to taste all the beers.  Service was good. Unfortunately the beers were not.  This was also in my bottom 3 for all around beer taste on the trip along with Market Street and Wagner. The IPA had no hop taste to it at all and was one of the more unique tasting IPAs I've ever had...not in a good way.

The one thing I will give them is their watermelon beer was quite good.  We grabbed a 22oz on the way out of that.  Feel free the check them out, but for me it was a miss...fingerlakesbeercompany.com/ ‎