Drinks At Bird In Westfield, N.Y.

Saturday was a gorgeous day in Western New York and I spent a portion of my afternoon at Bird in Westfield, N.Y.

Bird is located on the back porch at Five & 20 Spirits & Brewing in Westfield and has ties with 1201 Kitchen in Erie, Pa.

The venue itself is a walk-up, open-air kitchen & service counter/bar situated under the spacious pavilion on Five & 20’s back patio.

On Saturday there were two cocktails advertised at the back bar. I’m not sure whether drinks are limited to the daily specialty cocktails Bird creates or whether simple drinks like whiskey & ginger ale can be purchased, but I was there for their suggested beverages anyway and didn’t even think to inquire.

Saturday’s Cocktail Offerings

Buffalo Negra 

Gentleman Johnson

24 Hours In Buffalo —Resurgence Brewing

My wife and I went to Buffalo over the weekend for my birthday.

It was a whirlwind trip, and we managed to pack a ton of stuff in throughout the course of only 24 hours.

The first stop we made was a first-time destination for us. 

We were on the 90 approaching Buffalo and wanted an early afternoon snack, but had no particular place in mind. 

I’d seen friends post pictures of a place called Resurgence Brewing on Facebook so we dialed up OnStar on a whim and took a chance on it:

  

We had such a good time at Resurgence on Saturday that we decided we’d end our weekend there as well, and we did!

When we left Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, we stopped again so I could try the Sponge Candy Stout — and I ended up winning a beer stein as part of a fundraiser being held at the brewery.

  

I love that I’d never had this brewery’s beer before nor had I ever been to this brewery, yet it ended up being the beginning and end to my weekend — a sort of bookend for my birthday. And both visits were exceptional in their own unique ways:

SATURDAY

I had two beers on Saturday, the WNY Fest and the Oktoberfest.

We also had two snacks while at Resurgence on the first day, a chip-and-dip with a peppers-and-cheese sauce as well as an order of pretzels which came with its own trio of other dips.

Perfect food for a beer-drinking afternoon, but grab plenty of water — most of those dips were spicy.

Saturday was Halloween and we were too early for the brewery’s costume contest (and we weren’t in costume yet), but one of Resurgence’s staff members was an excellent Ace Ventura.

Before leaving, I bought a six-pack of Resurgence’s IPA (which I still have yet to try) — and on our way out we sat by the outdoor fireplace which the brewery has in its closed-off backyard. It was a great way to spend a beautiful October afternoon.

SUNDAY

After brunch at Cecelia’s and a quick beer at Blue Monk, we bought sponge candy at Watson’s and then headed back to Resurgence for the brewery’s Sponge Candy Stout (pictured at bottom):

 
Top left is the Oktoberfest and top right is the WNY Fest.

Both days had their own unique energies at the brewery — Saturday was all abuzz with holiday joy and twentysomethings playing brewery games (cornhole, Connect Four, Jenga). On Sunday there were people there for the football game and also to support the fundraiser happening. 

Morning Beer — Foothills Brewing’s Hoppyum IPA

Beer on the beach. Is there anything better?

  

My Favorite Southern Tier Beer

Today was quite warm and felt like an appropriate end to August here in Western New York.

Tonight though I’m sipping a fall beer and thinking of the coming season:

Harvest is easily my favorite beer by Southern Tier. Some people fiend for Pumking and others I know like to nurse Old Man Winter on long, cold, snowy nights. But for me, few of their beers taste better than a Harvest — especially outdoors as the summer weather cools and autumn arrives.

And what makes Harvest even better!? A shot of Jameson right in the glass:

  

More Shandy Love

I enjoy taking photos at work:

  
Read yesterday’s post here.

Read my Hop Sun Shandy post here.

A Limited-Edition Shandy

Today’s post is of another Southern Tier Shandy, but this one’s made with a one-off beer we scored from the brewery and Arthur R. Gren Distributing.

Curious about the Hop Sun Shandy? My initial post can be read by clicking here.

Today’s post though is about Southern Tier’s “Local Sour,” a kettle sour beer we were lucky enough to get a keg of this week at the restaurant where I work:

 

About This Drink:

Shandies and Radlers have become quite popular in the past few years. It seems like every summer there’s new flavors and brands on the market. With tart specialty beer on tap, we started adding in fresh-squeezed lemon juice and some liqueur for a basic and delicious house shandy.

Ingredients:

•.5 oz lemon juice
•.5 oz simple syrup
•.5 oz orange juice
•.5 oz Domaine de Canton
•10 oz Hop Sun
•4 oz Sierra Mist
•Citrus garnish

Preparation:

Add the citrus and simple syrup into an empty pint glass with the Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur. Next add 8 to 10 oz of “Local Sour” and then top with lemon-lime soda. Garnish with a lemon, lime or orange wedge — or all three.

Note: The above recipe is scaled to serve the drink in a pint glass, but we also cut the recipe in half to serve in a smaller glass, as pictured here:

  

A Sunday Tour At Southern Tier

Today is Cinco de Mayo.

I should be writing about tequila, but instead I’m going to recap my Sunday tour of the Southern Tier Brewing Company.

So crack open a bottle of Phin & Matt’s and pour a shot of Patron Silver!
 

The tour was an educational group outing for all the staff at the bar where I work. And it was appreciated by all of us at Forte!

It’s nice to have a world class, internationally-renowned brewery in our back yard.

The tour of Southern Tier’s facility really puts things in perspective, as you learn about exactly how much raw product it takes to make so much beer — grains, water, hops, malt and everything else.

And in this photo below? With the beer being aged in barrels!? It’s something dark and gingery we were told! Sounds like a cocktail I know!  
Southern Tier’s brewery at Stoneman Park in Lakewood is the only place in Chautauqua County you can stand underneath 22,000 gallons of IPA.

Or maybe the only place in Western New York? I don’t know of another regional brewery that makes beer in such bulk amounts.