Three Brothers Wineries & Estates - Geneva, NY

Day 2 of our Finger Lakes brewery trip we stopped at Three Bros Wineries first. We arrived just moments after opening at 10 am.  I didn't know TOO much about this place except that it has beer and wine.  Little did I know it is like an adult Disney Land.

When you first walk in you're greeted by a giant arch with the name and a post with signs pointing to each location.  We first went into the brewery, War Horse.  Our waitress/bartender not sure what to call her but she was excellent.  She easily talked us into getting the passport which for 10$ gave you samples at the brewery, 3 wineries and keep the glass...sold! So we first tasted the beers which were pretty good. There was a greatly named Lieutenant Dan IPA.  They also made the first Riesling beer I have ever tasted..it wasn't bad! The others were good too including their ciders.  They had lots of merchandise and 22oz bottles for sale of certain beers.

Next stop was the 3 wineries.  I enjoy some red wine but I am no way a wine specialist so I can't really rate the wineries.  But take a look at the pictures and check out how unique each one is.  The first was very basic and dare I say boring.  The second was the other extreme.  Lots of rustic items all built around a giant pond and felt very Louisiana bayou-esque. The wines there were sweeter. The last stop seemed like the ultimate girls winery with wine slushies and lots of sweeter wines.  Each place had a gift shop with lots for sale..hence why it reminded me of an adult Disney Land.

If you're in the area go check them out and spend a couple hours, it's a blast! www.3brotherswinery.com/

Starkey's Lookout - Dundee, NY

Our second last stop of the day and WOW this place is great.  It is located on a main road along the water and the building itself is just MASSIVE. Now it is a brewery, winery, and event place.

Upon entering you there is the beer room with a bar and lots of merchandise. Then a wine merchandise room for things to purchase. Then you walk through a beautiful main room with a fireplace that overlooks the water. And finally the back room which also serves beer and wine.

We got a sampler and went out to the patio.  The service was great, place was completely dead we were the only two there. We enjoyed our beers with a beautiful view and relaxed.  None of the beers really blew me away, but the location, the view, the service and the experience are highly worth stopping in for wine OR beer!

 Do yourself a favor and check them out...www.starkeyslookout.com/

Finger Lakes Beer Tasting

Shortly I will be reviewing the 16 breweries we checked out along the Finger Lakes. But first I want to discuss the fun tasting we had the day I returned. We traveled from Buffalo down to Horseheads, to Seneca Lake, to Keuka Lake and lastly through Canandaguia. The scenery is fantastic and some breweries were a hit while others were a miss. I grabbed the beers I thought best impressed us. You can see them all below including 4 growlers:

First off the growlers were all IPAs.  The lightest was Two Goats Session IPA. It was the winner of the night! Citra and Amarillo hops, was very drinkable and a great beer.  The next was Naked Doves IPA.  Unfortunately it was better at the brewery for me.  It had an amber color and was a little thick, but it was still a nice IPA.  Third growler was Horseheads IPA. Another darker colored IPA but it was better than the previous. Last growler was another Naked Dove beer but this time a Double IPA. At 9.2% it was better than their IPA but again was an amber color, thick and drank like a stronger beer but had a good hop flavor.
Onto the bottles.  Peace Bomber by War Horse is a Riesling Ale made with Riesling..hence the name. Very unique beer and really tasted like a glass of Riesling with the carbonation of a beer.  Next up was Lieutenant Dan IPA from War Horse also.  Solid IPA, nothing jaw dropped but great name, great label, decent beer.  Next up was a black IPA by Horseheads called Black Horse. Great black IPA, and one of the drinkers who is a big black IPA fan even said it was their favorite they've ever had.
Next up was Three Heads Tropical Kind. We like their other beers, The Kind, Too King and Tres Kind so I assumed we would like this. And we did, excellent beer! Probably the #2 beer of the night.
Upstate Brewing's LPW was next.  This was a mix of an IPA and a wheat beer. It is smooth and easy to drink. No overpowering hop flavor but an all around good beer.
Keuka Brewing IPA was next. Not much to say here..decent beer but basically forgettable.
Gunny Mac was up next which is made by War Horse and is a Black Lager. It drank like a light stout or porter type beer. It was good but didn't blow our minds.
Last is the Watermelon Wheat by Finger Lakes Brewing.  I couldn't drink a lot of this, but for a watermelon beer it's top in it's class!

Stout Tasting

My second big tasting at my place was Stout night.  I had seen so many stouts from all over and wanted an opportunity to not only try each one but share them with others since it is hard to drink a lot of stouts completely on your own.  You will see below there is a massive number of stouts compared to my other tastings and I can say we did not make it through more than 60-70% of them.  This tasting had a very good turnout with about 10 people tasting. Stouts have such a good variety.  In our tastings we had Milk Stouts, Bourbon Aged Stouts, Chocolate Stouts, Russian Imperial Stouts, Imperial Stouts, Coffee Stouts and a few other random kinds.

Since it has been over 8 months and I didn't use a rating system for this night, I am strictly going off a shady memory.  I do recall that the Yeti's were popular from Great Divide...that included the Oatmeal, the Chocolate and the Espresso.  I also recall my shock when Butternut's Beer & Ale's Moo Thunder Milk Stout was adored by many of the girls at the tasting.  A few other stand outs were Alesmith Speedway Stout, Founders Breakfast Stout, Full Pint's Night of the Living Stout, and Southern Tier Choklat.  Lastly, Sam Adams Gingerbread Stout from what I can remember may have been the nights winner with a strong but not overpowering taste of gingerbread and smooth backbone. This beer night was very filling to say the least, but introduced people to a lot of new stouts and weeks following a lot of the tasters would tell me they went out and bought so and so beer since they loved it at the tasting...so I did the job right and created new fans of the delicious stouts!

Gritty McDuff's Brewpub - Portland, ME

While wandering around downtown Portland we tried the last brewery we hadn't tried yet...Gritty McDuff's.  It was the USA World Cup game and the place was SLAMMED.  I barely could get a tiny spot at the bar but we ordered a sampler and found a seat at a picnic table next to a man reading a book drinking out of his Gritty Mug Club mug. 

I can't even discuss this place, the beer was horrible. Like top 3 WORST brewery visits..it brought me back to Schmoz brewing from the summer past (check out that review).  So I will keep this short..skip it! If you just want some lunch, maybe go check it out.  But all the beers were kinda warm and lacked flavor.  How this place has a mug club blows my mind..although I have realized most breweries with mug clubs typically aren't very good (Schmoz had a mug club). 
But if you did insist here is their website, don't say I didn't warn you...grittys.com/

Salem Beer Works - Salem, MA

Salem was a great little town to visit with lots of historical places to see, restaurants, museums, and most importantly a brewery. It is located right in the heart of the city with lots of other little fun things to do, including what I recommend for ANY horror movie lover...a wax museum directly across the street it is a MUST see.

As for the brewery..it is just massive. I know it is part of a chain of other "Beer Works" places. Lots of outdoor seating and at least 40 tables in side with an extremely long stretching bar.  We were here early so it was completely dead. We sat at the beautiful bar and each ordered a 4 beer sampler.

My girlfriend got the fruit sampler which had a blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and watermelon beer.  All were pretty good, but only having 3 watermelon beers in my life this one was absolutely the best..a giant kick of watermelon in each sip.

I had the ESB, IPA, Pale Ale, and the Red.  They were all okay, nothing really blew me away.

I had the haddock sandwich which was fantastic.

I wouldn't go out of my way to come here, but I would recommend if you're in the Boston area and have time to kill take the short ride to Salem and enjoy an afternoon here and stop here for lunch and a beer you won't regret it! Check them out..www.beerworks.net/

Pizza Port - Carlsbad, CA & Solana Beach, CA

My last trip we hit up Pizza Port in Solana Beach and I was a big fan so this time we returned AND hit up the Carlsbad location also. 

Solana Beach was basically my same feelings as years ago.  Great location basically on the beach, good amount of space, great beer list. 

Carlsbad we spent much more time at.  We ordered two different pizzas..a ham/pineapple and a pepperoni.  Both were fantastic! Really fluffy and lots of flavor.  Was a big fan!

My one complaint about this place though is how crazy crowded it gets which I know isn't their fault! But lots of kids and arcade games.  Plus I wish they would have a better way of serving a sampler tray...it's literally a tray with 4 small glasses so it is very awkward to move through a bunch of kids.  Plus the ordering beer and ordering food stations bleed into each other, so that causes issues.

As for the beer, between both locations we had the following:
Poor Mans IPA
Raceway IPA
Pants Optional Pale
Grapefruit Puncher
Night Rider Stout
Z-Man Stout
Sippy Cup DIPA
Citra-R-Ama



The standout here was Citra-R-Ama, we went home with three growlers for the night and enjoyed every last sip! Lots of citrus taste and one of the best citra based IPAs I have ever had, highly recommend this beer if you can get your hands on it! The rest of the IPAs were all good, but none touched this one.  The stouts also were pretty good, but nothing too different then what I have had in the past.





This is a must see place when in San Diego. Any location will really do, but each has a different tap list which is updated online almost daily so be sure to check ahead of time! www.pizzaport.com

Hoppin Frog Brewery - Akron, OH

Our last stop in Akron was to the Hoppin Frog Brewery.  I have seen their beers all over, with tons of variety.  Their Christmas beer was one of my favorites I have ever had, but at 8-12$ a bottle I rarely buy their stuff because I just don't know if it's good or not.  So I was excited to finally visit the brewery.

We drove by it our first time, it is on the right side of the road right as the thruway ends, which is confusing.  Once we found it, we realized it a giant strip of offices all dedicated to Hoppin Frog.  Once inside the tasting room, we saw a nice big open room with tables and a double sided bar.  It was roughly 9pm and we were seated immediately.

We got a 5 beer sampler which included:
Fresh Frog Raw Hop Imperial Pale Ale which was excellent, really nice and hoppy and bitter..unfortunately this isn't released in bottles.
Gangster Frog IPA which was real good.
Hoppin To Heaven Double IPA was eh.
Mean Manalishi Double IPA was too strong for my taste, but good for what it is.
Hop Dam Triple IPA was very bitter but smooth.
I was happy with the beers, except that the sampler isn't a flat price and the last 2 beers were 3.50$ and 4.50$.

We got the 18$ cheese board which was worth it! Came with meats, olives, bread, and more! I enjoyed it very much.

Very easy decision..if you're in Akron, GO here! They also have a fun selection of merchandise including all different types of glasses, a Frog cutting board and the same beer sampler they serve theirs in (it was 50$ though). It is really good, service was top notch and beers while they can be pricey are good and there are LOTS of choices.  Stop by Trailhead, then Hoppin Frog and top it off with Thirsty Dog if you have time.  But for now, check them out! www.hoppinfrog.com/‎

Elevator Brewing - Columbus, OH

Our last brewery stop in Columbus was Elevator Brewing.  I knew this was the most tourist of them all, plus it is located right downtown.  Real nice from the outside and the inside has plenty of space and a very giant bar area.

For happy hour many apps were only 5$ so we ordered pot stickers and calamari to snack on. Both were very tasty, good quantity and only 5$!

As for the beer, you can order samples so we got 3 each.  The Bear Ass Pale was kinda hoppy but smooth, Xtra was just okay, Mojabi Double was really nice and real hoppy, Flying Hydrant was light and crisp, Heiferweizen was good for a Hefe, and the Three Frogs IPA was good but nothing special.

As I expected the beer didn't blow me away, food was good, service was very good the guy working the bar was excellent and very nice.  If you visit Columbus it is highly worth stopping in, but I wouldn't expect greatness from the beer but for a place to enjoy a good beer and good food hell yeah! Check them out www.elevatorbrewing.com/‎