So yeah, a bit of a dry spell as of late. Fortunately,
bierkultur is as dense and enticing as ever. Today's post is long overdue: a record of/tribute to a recent* trip to Rochester, on search of things fermented.
James and I tend to focus on the beer of Gainesville, FL and Buffalo, NY, our respective homes. But from time to time we do manage to get out and about to take in the beer magic
of somewhere else. Even less frequently we manage to write about it. Rochester, NY is only about 70 miles from Buffalo, comparable in population size, and, our reason for making it beer destination, home to a respectable number of breweries, brewpubs, and beer bars. As the trip was only a day trip, and my salary is not quite in the chauffeur range, we couldn't do it all. But we tried our best. Here are some highlights:
FOOD (with beer): The best food we had was at
Dinosaur BBQ, a local chain of big roadhouse style bbq restaurant that just happens to have a great bar and beer selection (
BA, or 'beer nerd friendly,' reviews). Sure, we're not talking fine dining here, but from the great sauces, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and damned good collard greens, Dino BBQ hit the spot. Beers from
Middle Ages (Syracuse) and
Rohrbach (Rochester's brewpub) were prominent, which was nice to see/drink. Even though Buffalo is only about an hour farther west, neither of these two breweries get much tap representation in Erie county (correct me if I'm wrong). I find the
ImPaled Ale from MA slightly odd (probably because I'm so American IPA saturated) but really enjoyable. From Rohrbach, the
Scotch Ale is by far my favorite though I also tried the
Vanilla Porter. I'm giving Rohrbach some love here because, the ultimate tragedy of the trip, we did not get to visit either the pub or the brewery. We're coming back, we promise.
BEER SERVED AT A BAR: Two bars we had to hit up were
The Old Toad and
Tap and Mallet. Both of these well-known and well-respected bars are frequently putting on beer events and serve as sort of central hubs for Rochester's beerfolk. But they are oh so very different. The Old Toad is an English pub. And not like the kitschy touristy/collegey crap that so often comes to our American minds when you hear 'English' or 'Irish' pub. The Old Toad is a legitimate, authentic, bloody public house opened in part by a real live Englishman. The Toad has everything charming that a pub has to offer: traditional welcoming decor; beautiful wooden bar, stools and booths; a real 'pub food' menu; and even down to a less-than-comfortable-almost-scary-but-in-a-strange-way-reassuring washroom. Oh yeah, they have beer (or should I say ale?). With 15 taps (9 rotating) and 4 hand-pumps, not to mention a sizable bottle menu, the Old Toad goes way beyond your Fullers and Guinness. The real ale is, for me, the big draw: not only will you see rare casks from breweries across the US, but even more exciting are the limited-release/one-off beers from local breweries. Really looking forward to a return trip: give me something called pudding for dinner (with lots of meat and gravy) and a pint of something malty any day. And we're talking real pints here, not the wimpy American version. Stop by on Sundays or Mondays for trivia!

Tap and Mallet, on the other hand, is a more contemporary beer bar. From their very own iPhone app that keeps you updated on their rotating 30 tap selection, to their active Twitter, and occasional blog post from the owner, Tap and Mallet aims to serve the 'modern American beer drinker' in full 21st century capacity. The only thing they leave out is the pretension. We were only there the one time, but even so we had really good service. I mean
really good. When we first came in, I walked up to their bar decked with abundant taps and polished steel and started to check out the menu. It was a semi-busy night, but the bartender was on his game and within 30 seconds was saying hello and reassuring me I could try a sample before committing. It was just a nice customer/bartender interaction. We ended up setting up in a booth and ordering some food (our server was very attentive as well). The tap list was impressive and extensive enough that it really included something for anyone and everyone: local offerings, the 'big name' craft stuff (Stone, DFH, etc), some of the smaller guys, and a good deal of Belgian/imported. Tap and Mallet is hosting five beer related events in March and April, so I hope to come back in the near future.

NEW BEER BEING MADE: You can't go on a beer-driven trip without visiting a brewery. This trip, we visited
Roc Brewing Company, a new brewery as of 2010. Roc was like many of the new start-up breweries around the country, trying to define itself through its local ties and identity, when all of a sudden... at GABF 2011, Jim Koch of Boston Beer announces Roc Brewing Company as one of the two recipients of the newly founded 'Experienceship' Program. This program aims to help new breweries develop and mature into real-deal industry players by not only providing some dough but opening up the vast business/marketing and brewing knowledge of Sam Adams to the new company (read more
here). This is obviously an amazing opportunity for the guys at Roc but also a solid confirmation that they had been doing the right stuff in the first place. And now to some of those right things: first of all, the brewery and taproom are beautiful. I mean really beautiful in the cool, modern, architectural kind of way. Check the
pics for yourself. Second: oh my god are these people so freaking nice. We parked it at the bar and quickly ordered a flight sample. The bartenders (the owners) were incredibly talkative and welcoming, about beer, food, and anything else. My nerdy friend decided at one point it would be a good idea to pull out her German language flashcards, only to quickly be picked up by Jon (one of the owners, who knows German pretty damn well btw). Enter the next couple of hours: goofing off with doing our best at German vocab, talking about beer, forgetting how pathetic graduate student life can be, and oh yeah, drinking some awesome beer. From the refreshing Golden Ale to our favorite of the night, the Chicory Cherry Porter, I was really impressed with their work. We left only because our DD was getting all whiny about having to drive back to Buffalo. But not without a filled growler and a new t-shirt! I can't wait to see Roc beer in some bars around town. I also can't wait to go back and visit the taproom, but I'm going to work on my German first.

Rochester was great. I'm sure it still is. One day anywhere is never enough to pass final judgement, but I can say I do want to go back as soon as possible. Rochester felt like a beer city. Sure, I only went to beer-focused places, but I got that feeling that there was something unified about the beer and the people who enjoy it in each place we visited. The sort of hard to define quality that makes something good into something great, that makes a bar with lots of beer into a beer bar. Yeah, that stuff.
-Aaron
*This is a lie: we went in November.