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Brewery Hopping in Buffalo

Recently I decided to take a short adventure with a girl friend to Buffalo, New York. We arrived late on Friday night and then left Saturday evening, so you can imagine that it was a quick trip. Since we had limited time, and gift certificates to spend (thanks to #TravelChatCA), we decided to make this a brewery, beer and food visit.

We visited three great breweries on our trip, each one with a unique atmosphere, story and a great range of tasty brews.

Resurgence 3

Resurgence Brewing Company

Resurgence Brewing Company and beer garden had a wide selection of craft beers to choose from at their Niagara Street location on the West Side of Buffalo. The first thing I noticed about Resurgence was the atmosphere. Although we arrived a few minutes after opening, the place filled up fast with locals. You have the choice between sitting inside, which is very industrial themed or outside in their beer garden which is complete with a game of corn-hole, the perfect beer drinking game.

REsurgence 2

Resurgence has seven year-round beers that they serve, which include three IPA’s, a fruity wit, a blood orange saison, and a stout that is inspired by sponge candy. They also serve a variety of seasonal beers which included a lot of fruity ones which I was excited about. I ordered a flight of beer which includes four types of samplers for $8 USD. I had the Lime Berliner Weiss, Strawberry IPA, Summer Road Trip IPA and Mangose. My favourite was probably the Summer Road Trip but all were unique and great summer beers.

Resurgence

Resurgence also serves tasty pub food and great snacks. We tried the pretzels which came with three delicious dipping sauces. Overall, this brewery definitely had one of the best atmospheres of the three we visited. I loved the industrial look of the place, and the casual atmosphere which made for the perfect drinking atmosphere that we didn’t want to leave.

Located at 1250 Niagara Street, open Tuesday-Thursday 4pm-10pm, Friday 1pm-11:30pm, Saturday 12pm-11:30pm and Sunday 12pm-7pm.Β 

Pearl Street 1

Pearl Street Grill & Brewery

Born in 1997, Pearl Street Grill & Brewery and is definitely an icon in Buffalo with it’s gorgeous historical venue that was built in 1870. The grill and brewery holds nine bars, event spaces, and a kick-ass patio.

Pearl Street 2

The pub serves up food, but we didn’t have the opportunity to try some when we were there as we were on a liquid diet. Their beers are a mix of seasonal creations and regular brews. Their regular menu includes some unique blends like Blue-Eyed Blueberry Blonde and a Don Cherry Cherry Wheat. Their seasonal beers were also quite unique with creations I’ve never seen before! I tried the Green Tea Beer which is brewed with Tazo Zen green tea. It had a unique taste but absolutely delicious! My friend tried the Blue-Eyed Blueberry Blonde which was also light with a blueberry after taste.

Pearl Street 3

While we were there, we also sampled a few others like the Watermelon Wheat and Gin Spice Saison. The saison was super spicy and made me cringe. The Watermelon Wheat was okay, but tasted sort of like the white part of the watermelon you don’t want to eat (perfectly described by our waiter). Overall this seemed like it would be a fun and busy place later on in the day (we went at opening) and I would definitely recommend a visit, even if it’s just for one beer.

Located at 76 Pearl Street, open Monday to Saturday 11am-close, and Sunday 12pm-close.Β 

Big Ditch 3

Big Ditch Brewing Company

We visited Big Ditch on Friday night and it was a happening place. Our waitress was awesome and since we were fresh off the bus, we were starving and in need of a drink. We ordered the flight of dips which had a buffalo chicken dip, a bean salsa, and a spinach and artichoke dip, served with homemade tortilla chips. We also shared the mac and cheese with bacon and both were delicious, and great beer drinking food.

Big Ditch 2

Big Ditch usually has 6-12 different beers on tap at a time. I tried the FC “Fantastically Crushable” as per our waitresses recommendation. This beer was light and the perfect summer beer. It had notes of pineapples and oranges, and for someone like me who likes light and not extremely hoppy beers, I could’ve drank this all night.

Big Ditch

Big Ditch has a great atmosphere too. They have plenty of seating so you don’t have to worry about getting a spot, fast service and overall the modern industrial brewery had a great vibe. One that you could stay at all night (or at least until they close). I had such a positive experience here, that alone makes me want to return!

Located at 55 East Huron Street, open Tuesday-Wednesday 3pm-10pm, Thursday-Friday 3pm-12am, Saturday 12pm-12am and Sunday 12pm-8pm.

Overall, I had a great time sampling some of the Buffalo beers and visiting the local breweries. There were so many other breweries in Buffalo too which I wish I could’ve visited, but with limited time, we didn’t want to rush through everywhere we visited. I definitely would recommend that if you’re in Buffalo to spend some time to stop at one or two of the breweries!

Cheers πŸ™‚

Other brewery tours:

Disclaimer: I received gift certificates from these venues through Visit Buffalo Niagara in hopes I’d visit and write about these breweries. I only recommend places that I enjoyed, and think other travelers would love. All opinions in this piece are my own and 110% honest.

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    Pauline
    August 4, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    I’ve always wanted to make a day trip to Buffalo but could never figure out what to do there – now I know! I’m going to bookmark this and get my brother to come along πŸ™‚ Thanks!

  • Reply
    segacs
    August 27, 2016 at 2:11 pm

    Brewery trip — sounds just about perfect.

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