Interesting times
(This post is Rochester-centric)
Last night’s official grand opening of the Rohrbach Brewing Company’s new downtown brewery was quite the success. Mayor Duffy came in on his Duffycopter, slid down a rope, tackled a perp, then delivered a charming, eloquent speech about how important it is that businesses move back to downtown Rochester. Unfortunately, before I could ask him any post-interview questions, the Duffysignal lit up the sky and the poor guy had to race out of there.
Anyway, I have a ton of pics, some of which I will post as soon as get of my butt and edit them.
Also, bars with the potential for coolness are going up all over the place. I intend to hit Abilene, on Liberty Pole Way, for the first time tonight. Owner Danny Deutsch has over 100 American micros in bottles. The place isn’t on the main strip, but I urge everyone to give it a try. This is a bar that will be shaped by the customers who choose it. let’s make sure it’s beer folks.
Meanwhile, The Magpie is opening soon on Park Avenue, in the spot formerly occupied by First Taste. I have no idea what to expect, but it sounds like a chill place and I don’t get that kiddie-bar/meat market vibe from the exterior.
-Mark
Funny, I was just getting ready to head over there myself (Abilene),I’ve been very curious about that place every since the blurb in the city paper, I can see it from the window of my office..
Cheers - Daron
Great time was had by all.
Kiernan
Mark,
Stopped into Abilene last Fri after work. Very cool spot for sure.
I posted a brief assessment today on BA:
http://beeradvocate.com/forum/read/1300572
Sorry about the link in my last post. Forgot that you have to be registered user and sign in to view forum threads.
Here’s the text:
OK I scoped out Abilene last Fri afternoon around 5.
I’ll start with the beers. One draft right now - it was Rohrbach McDermott’s Irish Ale. Had one of those to start.
Bottle/can list is extensive featuring American craft brews from Anderson Valley, Clipper City, Lost Coast, Dogfish Head, Victory, Flying Dog, Oskar Blues, Smuttynose, Ithaca, Butternuts and many more I’m forgetting. They also have cans of Butternuts Porkslap Pale for $2.00! Nice. Others prices ranged from $3.00 - $4.50.
The vibe was very cool. Half a beer in and I was chatting with people on boths sides of me at the bar (about beer!), and the bartender and owner had already introduced themselves. They said that the they hope to expand the draft lines and will be expanding the bottled/canned list.
Nice place inside too. Great tunes on the sound system. Should be a very cool place for for craft beer lovers and non-craft beer drinkers alike. I thnk this place will do well (especially during Jazzfest). I recommend it.
Mark,
Heading to Orlando, FL for Spring Break…happen to know any good microbreweries we could hit there, or on the way? Only thing in Orlando coming up is a brewery called HOPS, and Orlando Brewing Partners- Maybe you can help a girl out!
Aly, here’s the only link you need for Orlando beer stuff: http://beeradvocate.com/beerfly/list?city=Orlando&c_id=US&s_id=FL
-Mark