ELLICOTTVILLE, NEW YORK
Open since ’95 and visited July ’05 on the way home from Niagara Falls, ELLICOTTVILLE BREWING resides at a tiny prairie village 40 miles south of Buffalo. This violet-lavender-fronted colonial-styled Victorian brewery had right side brew tanks, gorgeous wood bar with marble columns, beautiful backside beer garden (with water fountain and tucked-in serving bar), tile floor, and second floor deck. Fine menu included seafood appetizers, soup, salad, and healthy-sized sandwiches.
Authentic Blues music played during lunch as I sucked down honey-sweet, curacao orange-soured, coriander-dabbed Ms. Wit Belgian Style Wit and dryly smoked pepper-spiced yellow-fruited almond-wisped Golden Hill Toasted Lager. Diacetyl chocolate-roasted nut-dried 9303 German Red, mouth-puckered fig-grape-soured honey-tinged Allegany Alers German Stein Beer, mildly hop-embittered, tangy orange-tangerine-doused Prince Of Pales, and fig-raisin-soured Scotch-licked celebrator True Bocka 10th Anniversary followed.
Unexpectedly, mildest tap brew was clearly Black Jack Dry Stout, a dry-bodied espresso alternative with pine tar, burnt wood, and chocolate bean illusions.
Best bet: lively citric-bitter quince-ripe Cascade-hopped Two Brothers Pale Ale. Note: head brewers’ initial recipes were maintained despite his move to fine Southern Tier microbrewery. During 2005, Ellicottville Brewing opened a second location in nearby Fredonia. There are at least a dozen more beers that have donned the menu since then.