Didn’t really have a big day planned, but we knew we wanted to get out of the house and get into some trouble. My wife was talking about a new technology section that’s happening at the Buffalo central library, so we decided we were going to check that out. We had a nice late lunch over at Chris’s house, had an Anchor Steam beer, and headed out! We parked in a lot that cost $5 for a good amount of time, and headed in to see what was happening. Sure enough, there was a whole section kind of geared towards kids, but certainly entertaining to a crew like us, it was full of gear, robots, and little activities. We got there a little late, and unfortunately didn’t have time to really get into training activities and stuff with the staff. But it’s good to know that this exists!

The girl working the section said we had to get certified to use the 3d printers, but if we wanted to print stuff, they only charge 5 cents a gram – that’s actually pretty cheap all things considered. We checked out some of the other stuff they had, and decided to move along. The weather was nice – so we figured we could walk around – first stop: go see what kind of beer was on tap at Pan American Grill and Brewery – in Hotel Lafayette. They’re owned by Pearl Street, so they have all the standard brews that you can get there, but I have noticed a few times that there were things on the beer menu that seemed specific to PanAm, so it’s always worth a look when I’m in the neighborhood.

I love the woodwork in this place, There’s a fireplace room too if you’re looking to get cozy when you drink. They have food, and like I said, ambiance up the wazoo.

Sure enough, there was some stuff on tap that I did not recognize from the Pearl Street menu, and I was torn between the New England IPA and the New Zealand IPL – (IPL? India Pale Lager – yes)

I went with the New England IPA, because an NEIPA has a tendency to be really juicy and hoppy, and that’s what I was in the mood for. I will say – it was damn tasty!  But I was curious about the IPL. I knew I should have gotten that, considering it seemed like an attempt to do something different. Luckily the barman gave me a sample – I will admit, I should have gotten that instead. It was very good. super good. I don’t remember the hop variety, but it was gooooood.

From there, we decided to walk to another brewery – a 3 minute walk away? Big Ditch – one of my favorites in town. Great Beers coming out of that place.

It was a nice walk – being the end of January, usually we’re bundled up dealing with our huge outer wear and overheating while wearing it inside. It was 50 degrees out! gorgeous day! And to add to that – a gorgeous beer selection in Big Ditch!

Limited options o’plenty! I don’t usually have trouble picking a beer from a list of beers. I can usually narrow it down to a couple, then flip the imaginary coin in my head to make a selection. But there was so much I wanted to try on this list, I didn’t want to drink for the next 4 hours at Big Ditch then figure out how I was going to get home. So I did something I also usually don’t do – I did a flight.

Beautiful River, Last Blacksmith, Fresh Baked, Balnamoon, and The Tower.

Beautiful River was a drinkable Farm-house style, but when I hear the word ‘Farm House’ these days, I think I’m going to get a punch in the face with Tartness and/or Weirdness. Maybe that’s not true to style, but it’s what I think – this beer was drinkable, but nothing too crazy – more like a grassier Belgian.  Last Blacksmith is a work of art – Just the right amount of smoke – balances perfectly with the grain bill, I would bring this to a new girlfriend’s house to give to her dad if she was like “I don’t know, you don’t have to bring anything… I guess if you need to bring something, he likes beer – like, micro-brew.” I’d show up with a growler of this stuff and win. Fresh Baked bears an uncanny familiarity to that of Jingles christmas cookies. Doesn’t hit you over the head, but it’s uncanny – and delicious. Balnamoon is a delight if you’re looking for a perfect scotch ale. I would love to see this beer on Nitro – it’s so perfect to style, I need to bring Neal in there to see what he thinks. Lastly, The Tower was a barley wine, so you know what that means – alcohol and malty goodness. Again – very well balanced, I would love to see what 55 gallons of this would transform into if it spent 3 years in a lightly toasted oak barrel.

Wow Guys – are you proud of me? I actually gave you somewhat of a review of beer I was tasting! how about that?!

Then we ate some of Big Ditch’s food.

I always play it safe and get the Breuben or the pretzels, I have never been insanely thrilled with other options from the menu. My friend got a Beer Cheese soup, said it needed some help – and it should taste more like beer – I have to agree. (Don’t hate me Big Ditch! I love your beer.)

Breuben: So good!

So 2 breweries down – what now?  I guess the only logical thing to do would be to go to another brewery, right? Resurgence it was!

Not only did they have a wood fired pizza truck going, (I was full, but it was still cool to see) But there was a Lockhouse Takeover party going on! For those of you not in the know, Lockhouse is a local distillery, located walking distance from the Casino and Cobblestone district. They have a great product, and I love their Barrel Rested Gin – so good I could drink it straight. On par with the Tommy Rotter stuff.

Course, I didn’t realize this until after I had already purchased a beer.

Some really good options, we tried the Barrel-aged Fitzgerald and the Hop Tart – both really good. The Hop Tart had that Single-hop ‘spirit’ in it – and damn that’s a finely crafted spirit – I might have to look into getting a bottle of that action.

So What next? Well, we took it back to Chris’ house to check out some oldschool dance tracks he has on vinyl – some straight 90’s club bangers!

We did that for a bit, then I made up my mind that I needed to go see Star Wars: Rogue One in the theater in 3D.

And that’s what I did. It was a nice little Saturday!

So, in final,  I hate it when people say there’s nothing to do in Buffalo – Yes, we toured 3 breweries and spent money we probably shouldn’t have. But if you think of it, that’s why going out of town makes other towns seem more fun – you bring money to spend, and spend it! You eat good, you drink good, and you check shit out that’s new. If anything other than to expose my alcoholism and frivolous spending, I hope through this blog, I can show Buffalonians, and even people out of town, something they didn’t know existed in this city. Buffalo’s where this Buffalo Roams!