Last Updated on by Jeremy
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When it comes to drinking, we absolutely love going to breweries. There is something amazing about seeing how local grains, hops, and other ingredients can combine with a bit of ingenuity to create something delicious.
As such, when we travel we try and hit up as many breweries as possible. So when I took a road trip across upstate New York, it should be no surprise that I hit up as many New York breweries in Syracuse, Rochester, and everywhere in between.
While I certainly have not been to all of them (New York produces one of the largest volumes of beer per capita in the country), I have hit quite a few and wanted to share an assortment of them in this guide today.
So if an upstate New York road trip is in your future, give some of these breweries a try!
Genesee Brew House
Genesee is one of the most famous breweries in New York, and some would consider this one responsible for the popularity of Cream Ale in the US to begin with. This brewery was founded in 1878, and rose in popularity in 1960 after the addition of the Cream Ale- their answer to popular European Pilsners and Lagers.
Today the brewery focuses heavily on their core line, but the brewhouse also features an array of European style brews like Bock, Kolsch, and Oktoberfest, and other more unique creations to modernize to the country's changing beer palate.
Whether you visit for a Cream Ale or a more modern hazy New England IPA, a visit to the brewhouse is best served with an order of pretzels and a view of High Falls just across the way. No other brewery in this guide can feature a waterfall with your brew!
Genesse Brew House is located at 25 Cataract St in Rochester, NY.Roc Brewing
Of the new brewing scene in Rochester, Roc Brewing is one of the oldest. Founded in 2011, this brewery cranks out some novel creations including juicy New England IPAs, an Imperial IPA named Whoopass (and a sister Triple IPA named Kickass), sour ales, milkshake IPAs, and more.
My visit to this one was just on the heels of the Celebration of Cream Ale party, to celebrate the style that was invented by Genesee (above). For this event, nearly all of the local breweries came together with their own cream ale brews, and I was able to sample one of the remainders known as Roc Candy Watermelon- a cream ale that had a tart watermelon kick just like the namesake candy.
A true winner and one of my favorite beers from my entire road trip- don't miss this event if you are able to make it!
Summerhill Brewing
Roc Brewing is 56 S Union St in Rochester.
Summerhill Brewing is one of those brewery success stories we love to hear about. It started in the head brewer's garage, where patrons would swing by, park on their street, and have a beer on weekends (hooray no zoning restrictions!).
Since then Summerhill has expanded to a gorgeous barn on a hilltop with stunning views of the countryside, ample seating, a large production facility, and much more planned for the future for events, growing grains/hops, and more.
In being a smaller brewery that just underwent expansion, most of the beer styles here range among the traditional, with an interesting naming structure like Farmer's Tan (an American Ale), Summer Hillbilly (a fruited wheat series), Naked Neighbor (an Amber named for a nudist colony nearby), and more.
Sometimes simple, easy drinking beers with a great view is sometimes all you need, but I expect this one to have some more fun with the styles as they get the new brewery up to full capacity.
Willow Rock Brewing Company
Summerhill Brewing is located at 14408 NY-90 in Summerhill, NY.
Willow Rock Brewing Company is located just outside of Syracuse proper and features a mix of conventional brews as well as unique creations like Kakaw (a fruit beer made with cacao fruit juice), Sugar Smacks (a brown ale made after the breakfast cereal), Membeer Berries (a fruit hefeweizen), and more.
During my visit most of the unusual creations were only available in cans, so my flight included some of the more traditional brews that were clean iterations for their style, but did not pop as much as I suspect some of the unique options do. As such, I'm going to have to re-visit this one shortly for more!
Empire Brewing Company
Empire Brewing's draft house is located right in the heart of downtown Syracuse and serves up an array of beer styles ranging from their Skinny Atlas Light (four-time Great American Beer Festival winner), the White Aphro (Belgian Wit), Deep Purple (a Pilsner made with Concord grapes), Peach Buzz (peach wheat), and a whole lot more.
The basement taproom has an amazing ambiance of a historical cellar, which makes it a great spot for a beer or three!
Talking Cursive Brewing Company
Talking Cursive Brewing was one of those spots that surprised me during my exploration of breweries in New York. While many of the beers here follow the typical molds of Pilsner, Extra Special Bitter, IPAs, and more, the brewery also has some rather unique takes on these styles with an Orange Cream Pale Ale, a brown ale with sweet potato, and rye IPAs gracing the menu as well.
Empire Brewing Company is located at 120 Walton Street in Syracuse.Normally when a brewery just does the standards well, we call them clean, easy drinking beers. There is nothing wrong with that, and we mean it as a sign of respect. Talking Cursive is on the high end of this thought as, apart from a few variations mentioned above, the styles are simply exceptional iterations of popular brews. The fact that you can get them within a short walk of downtown Syracuse and we have a win in our books!
More Upstate New York Breweries Coming Soon!
We are frequent travelers in New York and planning on visiting more breweries soon. If your favorite hasn't made this list, it means we haven't visited yet, but would love to hear where to go next in the comments below!
For more brewery guides, check out our collection of Pittsburgh breweries, Cincinnati breweries, and Cleveland breweries! Or, if you fancy yourself a wine drinker, check out our guide to our favorite wineries in the Finger Lakes!
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Talking Cursive Brewing Company is located at 301 Erie Blvd in Syracuse. Some of the above breweries were visited as part of a media trip in the region. Others I visited on my own selection. As always, all opinions are my own.
