Fredonia, NY

I know, right? Who makes it a point to stay in Fredonia, NY, a small college town just off of I-90 next to Lake Erie? Well, work made it a point for me. This gave me the opportunity to visit Ellicottville Brewing Company's brewpub. Occupying an old clothing store in the historic downtown section, this brick-walled establishment boasts a rather thorough menu, and offers (usually) 10+ Ellicottville brews, mostly brewed at ECB's location in Ellicottville, NY. They do, however, house a small English-style brewery in Fredonia, where they do classic British styles using traditional open fermentation methods. Unfortunately, they were out of the most recent porter that was brewed there, along with all of their high gravity brews. This was extremely unfortunate, since that had both a barrel-aged Imperial Stout and Imperial IPA that recently kicked. They were also out of some of their other normal offerings, including their Imperial Pale Ale, all of which would have been nice to try, but, alas I had to settle for some of the other regular beers, including their Two Brother Pale Ale, Mow Master Summer IPA, and the Imperial Raspberry Beret, which was surprisingly tasty for a fruit beer. I must say, though, that the food was pretty stand-out, including the tomato-basil vinegarette and the Buffalo chicken pizza on flat bread. If you ever get to Fredonia, a definite stop, and if the E-ville location is anything close, hit it up the next time you're battling the slopes at Holiday Valley.

Cheers,

Dave