June 12 - 19, 2011 The Ale Trail of the Finger Lakes

June 15, 2011 Wagner Winery & Brewery, Lodi, NY

We spent went to five breweries and brewpubs over our 6 full days in Ithaca together.  IPAs are big up there, and everyone had a seasonal summer wheat option.  All offer tastings or flights, and for beer-lovers like us, it was a great vacation activity.

June 13, 2011 Bandwagon Brewpub, Ithaca, NY

Our first night, we happened to pop in the Bandwagon Brewpub, just around the corner from his apartment, after taking a stroll around downtown Ithaca.  They had a few dozen beers on tap, so each had a flight--I sampled 5 of their home brews, and the Mister had a set of New York state beers.  He wasn't overly impressed with their beers, and I'll concede they weren't the most original or mature-flavored, but the sweetness overall appealed to me.

June 12, 2011 Bandwagon Brewpub, Ithaca, NY

June 15, 2011 Wagner Winery & Brewery, Lodi, NY

June 15, 2011 Wagner Winery & Brewery, Lodi, NY

We were just visiting brewering and cheeseries this beautiful day, and enjoyed the delicious sunshine with a medicore beer at Wagner Brewery & Winery--the Minister hated the IPA ("they just dumped a bunch of hopps in it), and the hefeweizen was sickly, but the maple porter was totally drinkable.  Their wines might be better, but really, the best reason to stop here is for the deck, overlooking Cayuga Lake

June 13, 2011 The Chapter House, Ithaca, NY

The Chapter House is up the hill in Collegtown, near the Cornell Campus.  No frills inside, it a slightly-surly but not unpleasant bartender served us each several local beers from the dozen or so they had on tap.  No food served, except for popcorn, it had a fab, college-y, dive-y feel without being pretentious, and the walls were covered with Cornell student memorabilia.

June 13, 2011 Commons Market, Ithaca, NY

June 16, 2011 Horseheads Brewery, Horseheads, NY

So, the terrible story of Horseheads, a tiny town south of Ithaca, is that some early American general drove his horses to exhaustion while on the trail to murder Indians, and put them down humanely, leaving the skulls for settlers to find later on.  Augh.  But the beer was decent--I got a bomber (22 oz bottle) of their Iriquois Wheat.  They also had a beer called Hot-Jala-Heim, which tasted like a nacho burp, and makes you real gassy.  The sample sizes were large, hence my goofy smile here.

June 16, 2011 Roosterfish Brewing, Watkins Glen, NY

The dude at Horseheads suggested we checkout Roosterfish Brewing about 30 miles away in Watkins Glen, at the bottom of next-door Seneca Lake.  We went, and each had a flight of 8 of their beers.  They only bottle one, and offer the rest in growlers-- 64-oz jugs of beer they bottle for you at the bar and you can drink it over a couple of days at home.  Growler culture is big in the Finger Lakes, it seems!  We really enjoyed their beers, and were sad they didn't bottle more, because it's hard to finish a growler when you've already had lots of tasty beer.  They also had a goat cheese pizza with cheese from goats we met earlier in the day, which is pretty sweet.

Rooserfish Flight (before)

Rooserfish Flight (during)

Rooserfish Flight (after)

June 18, 2011 Ithaca Brewing, Ithaca, NY

We saved Ithaca Brewing for last, so we could take one of their weekend tours, and I was a big fan of lots of their beers.  I'm not usually and IPA drinker, but they had one called HopStash, which has been brewed special for a big Phish concert later in the summer.  It tasted like marijuana. It was delicious. We got and finished a growler of it that night (my last night in Ithaca).  If they have it on tap still when I go to pick him up in 5 weeks, I'm bringing some home!