Back to Buffalo: Feb 2008

Day One

After a good attempt to start early we were on the QEW to Buffalo. We got a bit delayed at US Customs but the volume of travellers was very high due to Ontario's new statutory holiday, Family Day. The US Customs officials were very nice and they did the best they could to process the heavy volume of visitors as quickly as possible. We first met some other friends at the Fashion Outlet Mall, had lunch and did a bit of shopping. Afterwards we went to the hotel to check in and freshen up. Our group was looking forward to dinner at the Pizza Plant on Transit Road but they were on a long wait list so we went across the street to Appleby's. They were busy too but they accommodated the six of us fairly quickly and I have to say that not only did we have a great meal the service was outstanding.

After dinner we all headed back to the hotel for a night cap. Bier Guide & Andrew just made it to the store before closing to pick up a growler of Southern Tier Imperial Choclate Stout. This is what Bier Guide had to say about it: "Smooth,velvety and super chocolatey. It was rich but so easy to drink for an imperial."

Day Two

Andrew, Isako, me & Bier Guide in front of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (http://www.albrightknox.org/geninfo.html)

After breakfast and saying goodbye to Rick & Sabrina who were headed back to Toronto a day ahead of us, our happy foursome headed to the Albright-Knox. It is a great contempory art gallery in downtown Buffalo. On a grey, wet day like this one, it was the perfect place to be. There was a minimalist collection of pieces from various artists presented with colours being the primary criteria for groupings. They also had many of their permanent collection on display.

Coles Restaurant (http://www.meetmeatcoles.com/)

After the gallery, we were all pretty hungry so we decided to head over to Coles for a late lunch/early dinner. Bier Guide had been there in the past & this place came highly recommened by Eric of BierGotter.

The impressive Beer Menu - Bottles & Draught....drooling....mmmmm.





(click on the pictures to enlarge image)

Bier Goddess inspecting her taster very, very carefully.

















Premier Gourmet a must for all visitors to Buffalo who seek good beer & fine gourmet cooking ingredients.

Day Three

Bier Guide & Isako had a very bad night of food poisoning. We cannot be sure but the suspect food must have been the blue cheese on their Kobe Beef Burgers at Coles yesterday. It was the only thing that they ate that was in common and it was something that Bier Goddess & Andrew did not have. It was a bad turn of events but at least this happened near the end of our trip.

After a quiet morning of nursing very sore tummies we headed out to Consumer's Beverage - another must see for beer lovers visiting Upstate NY.

Andrew, Tom & Isako.

We made it through the stop at Consumer's Beverage although Bier Guide was struggling just to muster enough energy to pick out a few bottles. We had introduced Tom, who works at Consumber's, to Andrew & Isako to share his beer wisdom and help narrow down the selection. Thanks Tom!!

Sean M in England

Living vicariously through another is not always all it's cracked up to be. My friend and fellow aspiring Bier God, Sean M, was off again on yet another business trip but this time to England. I've never been to the UK. I knew that he was there for work, away from his family and probably tired from jetlag, travelling and strange surroundings. However it's difficult surpress a feeling of jealousy that was bubbling up in my beer sole. Didn't you just get back from Boston not too long ago?! Some people seem to have the jobs with the best fringe benefits. Anyhow, putting my petty feelings aside, this is what he had to say about the beer experiences he had:


Been in London since Monday and this is the second bar that is all Samuel Smith. Tried the Extra Stout and let me tell you is way better than the bottled stuff. Fresh light and creamy, it's where you want to be. Also had their Wheat Beer as well also very good. Other good beers included all of the Fullers stuff like London Pride, and Spitfire Ale. Even the Kronenberg 1664 tastes better over here! Cheers!


Had Steak and Kidney pie and the wheat Samuel Smith. Heated by coal fireplaces of course! Note the date of the renovations.


Had the London Pride pulled here, no carbonation for the ales of course!


As for the beers, although you don’t want to hear it, there are not a lot of “traditional” old school pubs in London specializing in big heavy ales and stouts. Don’t get me wrong there are more than enough but most Londoners have opted for lighter food and drink as they have a very modern outlook on things. E.g. I have the steak and kidney pie followed by heavy dessert, they would more often eat a salad or light café food (Scottish smoked salmon on rye bread with capers, salad with rocket) and maybe a lager. I did find another pub with all of the Samuel Smith offerings, mostly on tap which was great. I had the Extra Stout and it was so fresh, creamy and light, even though it was full bodied. We also had Fuller’s products here and there, and some other more commercial European brews. Other brews that you mentioned would more likely be found up north as England ’s pubs are very regionalized. May be next time!

Great Divide, Denver, CO

Great Divide Brewing Company (2201 Arapahoe Street,Denver, CO 80205 telephone:(303) 296-9460 ext. 26) www.greatdivide.com

Part two of the last full day of my vacation was a trip to Great Divide. I was a bit tired and loosing my happy buzz from Avery. I was struggling in the late afternoon to muster up enough energy to enjoy one more brewery tour. My motivator was the memory of tasting the Oak Aged Yeti at the Montreal Beer Festival. It had left a lasting impression.

The taps in the tasting room.

Proudly displaying their awards.

The Tour:



Yazoo was recommended by the guys at the brewery. We walked half a block up the street to a small take out place that specializes in dry rub barbeque. We'd had a lot of delicious, slow-cooked meats and barbeque on this trip. The diet begins tomorrow. It was a totally unassuming place. A plain counter in a tiny building with no airconditioning. The food was not my favorite bbq of the trip but it was also bbq of very different style than I had had so far so it was worth trying.

Avery Brewing Company, Boulder, CO

When you're approaching the end of a your vacation, it's always kind of sad. Bier Guide and I wanted to get a lot done on the last full day of our road trip vacation. Our vacation started out with car trouble when we drove from Toronto to Buffalo, NY. The fan has to konk out now? We had to pull over to let the engine cool because every liquid in the car was boiling so violently that the car was rattling. Anyways from Buffalo we caught our flight to Seattle, WA where we picked up a rental car. Ocean, mountains, deserts, a lot of pulled pork, four thousand plus kilometers and 14 days later had brought us to Boulder, CO. We savoured our morning coffee as we planned out the itinerary of the last golden day.


After packing, visits to bike shops (see the next posting) and a quick lunch we headed over to Avery Brewing Company (5763 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, CO 80303 or call toll-free: 1-877-844-5679). Thank goodness that we had looked it up because it would be easy to miss. Tucked away in an industrial area of town, we found a cluster of buildings belonging to Avery. Their tasting room is small but very nicely designed in a European-style with a pour station in the back and plenty of seating to let visitors relax.










Greg Miller was manning the pour station. I defy anyone to find a friendlier, more welcoming embassador of beer. He immediately invited us to start tasting and made us feel at home with his easy going manner. The anticipation of so many legendary beers to try, I asked Greg to give me a tasting course from least hoppy to most hoppy. I wanted my palate to pick up on as much of the flavours as possible.


Peter Archer is a Sales, Marketing and Merchandise rep for Avery. There were quite a few of us in the tasting room interested in a tour so he offered to take us into the brewery itself for a bit of a peek. His jovial charm, Australian accent and casual personality made a great guide for the six of us who eagerly jumped up at his offer.

"Wait a minite. We can't go yet. I see someone without a full pint!! Unacceptable, go back to Greg and get a proper glass of beer or I'm not going to take you," declared Peter. So back I went.

The tour was thorough but to be honest, I had drank too much by then to remember the details.


On the tour with Peter.



























Bier Guide finally decided what to bring home...Avery delivers to Toronto, don't they?

Beer Has the Power to Unite

It's amazing how people who were complete strangers can connect quickly if given the right circumstances. I was at the end of a two week vacation in the United States. We had gone from Seattle, WA to Boulder, CO covering over 2575 miles (that's approximately 4120 kilometers for my metric friends). It's always sad when you know you're on the second last day of holidays. The last day is always spent travelling home so it feels even worse. This trip was going to end with a bang. The morning was spent at bike shops. One shop was called Vecchio's where we met a gentleman who used to race in southern Ontario. He was familiar with courses and riders that only a small group of people would know. Beer Guide, who also used to race was familiar with many of the same places and people. Small world, eh?

After noon, we went to Avery. This was a much anticipated visit as we had already sampled their Maharaja in the past. (See blog entry on May 1, 2007.) Having checked on when their tasting room was open, we knew that it was just a matter of finding them. If anyone plans on visiting, look up their website for a map to their brewery & tasting room. It is not the easiest place to find - located in the rear of an industrial area off the main road. The search was well worth it! We were not alone. Some were there already sampling and chatting around a table. Soon others arrived. I offered to take a picture of a nice bunch of guys as a momento of their visit. You see, it's becomes apparent to me the folks that are really into beer and those who are not. They seemed serious about their beer. I like the serious ones. I think it was Vincent who commented how that was a nice offer but they had their own digital camera. I took their picture and asked if they wanted to send me a copy, I would post it on my blog. To my delight, they did.


From left to right are James, Cibi, Jacob, Matt, and Vincent.

I hope you boys are well and enjoying some Avery beers for me. And if any of you are ever in Toronto, I would be happy to show you around our beer haunts. Cheers!!

Moab, Utah

The desert has always felt like a magical place for me. It's a place of such extreems. Exquisit beauty in one of the harshest environments on earth. Everything that lives there inspires amazement as they seem to survive on almost no water most of the time, under the unrelenting sun, cold to hot temperatures that can vary 40 to 50 degrees Farenheit in one day and has very little in the ways of protection. There are countless colours and shapes that can be seen in the many deserts of the southwest US. I have visited Grand Canyon, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Death Valley. This is Arches National Park which is approximately a 15 minute drive to Moab, the closest town.



I was there in early July this year so if you want to do any hiking at all, it's a good idea to start early because by noon the temperature rises to over 100 degrees. It's very dry and the sun is unforgiving. This is the view from Partition Arch.



In the tiny town of Moab is the Moab Brewery. I had the steak salad which was much more than I expected it to be. The steak was so tender that you hardly had to chew it and seasoned ever so lightly. The salad part was made up of mixed greens, roasted red peppers, Spanish onion and topped with a vinigrette.

Like other breweries I've visied blind, the best way to get a quick survery is to get the tasting tray. I took to the Scorpion Pale Ale and the Elephant Hill Hefeweizen. The one thing about finding your favourite in a tasting tray is that I usually don't have enough sobber left in me to order a pint.



For more information please see this link http://www.themoabbrewery.com/microbrews.html

Nederland, Colorado

The sky was gorgeous with moody clouds mixed in the late day sunshine.

Nederland is a tiny town south of Rocky Mountain National Park. It's easy to miss but well worth a stop. This out-of-the-way place has great beer, friendly people, happy dogs, the Frozen Dead Guy Festival - yes, you heard me correctly!(http://www.nederlandchamber.org/FrozenDeadGuyDays/)and mountains close by ... what else can you ask for?

Wild Mountain Smokehouse and Brewery (http://www.wildmountainsb.com/)

Wild Mountain is tucked in amongst the thirty or so modest buildings that make up town of Nederland. We did not expect to find a brew pub here. We stopped at the town's information centre to get some advice on the hiking & camping in the area so this discovery was a bit of a surprise. The draught pints are $4 and only $3.50 at their 5 pm happy hour. They also have a solid selection of import bottles at more than fair prices.


Bier Guide chose the Hopdiggity IPA. At 7.4% it had a floral, citrus aroma and a nice deep gold colour. This IPA was juicy and smooth with a citrus flavour. It had a medium finish. It was not oily in the mouth. I had the Otis Pale Ale (6.6%). With a light smell and crisp, light hop taste, it was easy to drink. The finish was short with lemony tones.


A reminder of Prohibition times makes me more appreciative of the beverages we enjoyed that lovely July afternoon.



The local liquor store houses an impressive collection of American and import beers. They have a clear payment policy delivered with a sense of humour.


I'm guessing that this structure is a prop for the Frozen Dead Guy Festival. Held in March for the last six years, it features all kinds of family friendly events including a casket race!

Rogue in Portland

Rogue Pub in Portland, OR (1339 NW Flanders, Portland 97209)

My love affair with Rogue started a couple of years ago when the LCBO got some of their products as seasonal features. From what I understand, Rogue will not be shipping to us in Ontario due to the mound of paperwork and labling required by the LCBO. Sad, but it does not surprise me. Who would want to deal with so much work for such a small market? The whole state of California has the same population as all of Canada. Rogue is in no short supply of clients so why would they want to jump through hoops for us? I don't really blame them. This means that I will have to make the occasional trip to Buffalo to get my Rogues.

This was the second Rogue Pub I've had the pleasure of visiting. (See previous posting on February 3, 2007 for the visit to Rogue in San Francisco.) But for Bier Guide, it was the first. We walked into a quiet bar during the after lunch but before dinner time of day. We had made the side trip to Portland for the specific purpose of visiting Rogue. The air was thick with anticipation. Okay, that's just our thirst talking.

The taps - aren't they beautiful?!! (Click on the photo for details of the draught list.)

Here, take a closer look.


My tasting tray.

It's a real treat to have so many of the Rogue as draughts. The Hazelnut Nectar truely shined. I've had it in bottles but the draught with it's freshness and subtle nutty, port-like, smokey flavours really cannot be put into words. A new one for me that day was the Honey Orange Wheat. I didn't expect much from it but it proved to be well executed. Plus, I hate missing an opportunity to try something new. As the afternoon worn on, I also tried a shot of their Spruce Gin. Rogue is also distilling three rums: Hazelnut Spice Rum, Dark Rum and White Rum. (http://www.roguespirits.com/spirits.html)

Delicious nibblies to compliment the beers. It doesn't hurt to have a bit to eat so I don't get too drunk, too fast.

The flags of Rogue Nation.