Sometimes you get lucky and your job that you don't normally travel for sends you on a trip to look at some equipment. This trip took me 4.5 hours east to Saratoga Spring, NY with my coworker and brewing mentor, Neal - ! I've never been, but a foodie group that I'm a part of has a lot of members that are in that area, and when I announced that I was heading that way, there were plenty of recommendations - it was very difficult to decide where to go!

I won't get into it, but our first stop was at a brewery outside of Amsterdam New York - a town about 30 minutes away from our destination. The brewery was Wolf Hollow Brewing Company, and it was hoppin! There was a special event happening!

Two members from the foodie group I'm a part of met us there! totally awesome!

There was a dog there! How fitting for a name like Wolf Hollow - I KNOW RIGHT?!

The beer was very good! Nothing super zany, but very tasty and well balanced! The black IPA that I had may have been my favorite beer the entire weekend.

Then it was time to check into our hotel -  We stayed at the Downtowner in downtown Saratoga Springs. It was affordable, and it was in very close proximity to a few places of interest! Look at this hip as fek room - with a fridge and everything. Yeah, that's a crocheted painting of a popsicle that says popsicle....  super ultra hip.

But what really made this hotel shine was the paved swimming pool common area.

What's that neon sign say?  and are those tap handles?

You probably can't read the taps, but the options are- cold brew nitro cold, cold brew nitro hot, tea, cold water, and cold sparkling water! I drank about 8 cups of cold brew while I was there - it was a dream! The water came in handy too, later.

So after checking in, it was time to check out another brewery! Artisanal Brewing just 6 minutes south west of town. One of the guys who posts a lot in the group is always drinking tall-boy cans from this brewery, and I was very excited to finally check it out for my damn self!

Only one server meant that patience was a virtue here, but we were in no rush with so many wild options on the menu.

Not knowing when I'd be back, I knew I had to get a flight - Nitro Raspberry Chocolate Lava Cake Pastry Stout?!  12.5%? Whaaat!?

I have never enjoyed so many wild and out of the box brews in one setting. The closest that I've come to this is Jester King Brewery in Texas, and that's only because they only do sour beers. These were flavors in beers I have no experienced to this degree - whoever is coming up with these recipes has to be a bio chem savant..  It was awesome. I had to take some beers home.

Neal on the other hand, being more of a traditionalist when it comes to beers was impressed, but couldn't see himself enjoying more than the sample sized serving of most of the beers he sampled. He was able to find one he did like though, and actually bought a barrel aged version of it for home. He also remarked that while the flight vessels were 'cute' they did not leave a large enough surface area to fully experience the aroma of the beers - something that is very important to a recognized beer judge, which he is. I wonder if anyone has ever called Artisanal out on their anti-nasal flight gear?

I was just happy to be trying crazy beers!

There was some noteworthy decor there as well. Here's some more pics.

After trying the beers, it was definitely time to ditch the vehicle - so we went back to the Hotel, and geared up for our 1.5 minute hike to Druthers Brewing. 

Pretty cool entrance - I am not going to lie though - google maps did not help us find the place - it had us walk around the back where there is not entrance, just the back of the building. Bummer! Darn Tourists!

Now, I've been to the one in Albany, but based on my findings online, this one is the original gangster Druthers, and the reason why it's kind of hidden is because of Saratoga being an older town with much of the main drag already developed, going back to the days of the prohibition - how do you sneak a brewery into a scene like that? hide it between some exisiting real estate I suppose!

The beer at Druthers was much more in sync with Neal's traditionalist mentality giving us super drinkable, delicious beer, with a couple 'out side the box' options tucked in there (like the sour plum saison - yummy!)

And it wouldn't be a trip to druthers without some food - check out this bounty!

Deep fried pretzel bites with beer cheese soup:

Smoked chicken wings:

Decadent as heck Pastrami on Rye:

And of course, more beer!

Look at the color on that plum saison:

And look who came to say what's up - my buddy from college - Chris!

His wife and her friend showed up later - didn't snag a shot with them in it - but it was great to see his wife and meet her friend as well!

Well, at a little after 10, the guy serving drinks had had enough and kicked us out.  Where to next?

My crew online highly suggested I check out 'Hamlet and Ghost' - and according to the pics on yelp, I thought I should as well! super high end looking stuff coming out of there. But alas, it was closed for a private party. Oh well - but in our wandering to that dud, we passed a ton of basement bars that smacked of 'speakeasy' flavor - including a place called 'The Bourbon Room' which was not playing around with their selection!

It was probably not smart to switch to liquor, but with those options, could you blame us?

After that night cap, it was time to head back to the hotel to gear up for our equipment demo the next day.  And yes, I kept all the alcohol expenses separate from the food expenses. I do not do my company dirty like that thank you very much.

But hey- the hotel looked sweet at night! I must have pounded 4-5 cups of water from the sweet tap setup. I didn't want to feel like poop the next day, and that's the first step to avoiding that issue.

We woke up, and just to play it safe, I smashed a few advil and some of that free coffee while I waited for Neal!

When he got up and moving, we checked out and had breakfast sandwiches at Uncommon Grounds - across the street .

That place is doing it proper I'll tell you that much! Great coffee - freshly roasted right in house! look at this big bastard that was sitting in the corner like it was no big deal.

Then it was time for our equipment demo..  too bad it was a bust..  but it was fun to make the guys cut liquor bottles out of 1/2" gator foam.

the demo went til 2pm or so, then it was time to head home. But not without having a burger first!

I sincerely had a great time in Saratoga Springs. I would absolutely go back to check out more of the number of things to do there. It is amazing how many shops and things there were - I would love to just walk around and take it all in. And I would absolutely check out some of the breweries that were closed or not close by. Saratoga Springs - I'll be BACK!