10 favorites from the Flour City Brewers Fest

Annual beer festival held at the Rochester Public Market showcases the best in New York state beer

Note: This newsletter is supported by Donnelly’s Public House, a wonderful canal-side establishment in the village of Fairport.

We enjoyed ourselves (maybe a bit too much) on a perfect summer evening at the annual Flour City Brewers Fest at the Rochester Public Market.

Because of both the venue (the Public Market really is the perfect spot for a beer festival) and the participants (brewers are pouring their beers, not volunteers or beer reps), Flour City has become one of my two or three favorite events of the year.

This year felt like a return to normal. It was our first visit to the festival since 2019. Featuring more than 70 breweries and other beverage producers, the event is designed to showcase the best in New York state offerings. And it does. I thought it would be fun and constructive to highlight some of my festival favorites.

Special kudos to festival organizer Brittany Statt for putting on such a wonderful event. With so many happy brewers and brewery owners in attendance, it really does speak to the quality of the festival and how well people are treated. And we wouldn’t even be here without the stewardship of John Urlaub and his pioneering Rorhbach Brewing. The Rochester scene is so much richer because of the hard work of folks like Brittany and John.

Here are some of my favorites (or at least what I can remember):

Frequentem Italian Pilsner: Because brewery owners David and Meagan D'Allesandro are awesome, Frequentem brought a side-pull tap to properly dispense its Italian Pilsner with the right amount of foam (or even as a milk pour if requested). Its latest lager, a dry-hopped Pilsner, further cements this Canandaigua brewery as one of the finest lager producers in the state.

Abandon Peppercorn Saison: This yeast-driven beauty has been a staple for the Penn Yan brewery for as long as I can remember. And drinking it at Flour City was a good reminder that I’ve been guilty of overlooking it for way too long. The use of different peppercorn varieties and other spices make for a multi-layered drinking experience. Of note, this was my wife’s favorite beer of the entire festival.

Advertisement: Drink NY Craft is a wonderful service that makes it super easy to have some of the best beer in the state delivered right to your front door. Details here.

Stoneyard Chasing the Sun IPA: While it has recently released a slew of food-inspired beers through partnerships with Zweigle’s and Abbott’s, Stoneyard head brewer Jeff “Oz” Osborne has always, always excelled with hoppy beers. His latest, called Chasing the Sun, is just a beautiful Citra-hopped hazy IPA. It’s easily one of the best IPAs I’ve had recently.

Strange Design Raspberry Creme Kolsch: Because fatherhood comes with a 6:30 p.m. curfew most nights to line up with baby bedtime, I’ve yet to visit Geneseo’s Strange Design Public House. It’s something I need to remedy ASAP. I’ve heard great reports about the food and the beer coming from this Livingston County brewery. I really enjoyed this raspberry vanilla Kolsch at the festival. It was subtle and balanced. The adjuncts didn’t overpower. (And I won’t hold it against owners Tommy and Kristi Streamer, two of the nicest people in craft beer, for naming their brewery after a Phish song, lol)

Eli Fish Barrel-Aged Heavy Maple: Brewer Adam Burnett is one of the most talented people you’ll meet in the regional beer scene. He tackles so many styles and does so exceedingly well. His inventive Heavy Maple, a strong ale made only with maple sap instead of water, was named the best beer in the state at the 2021 New York State Craft Beer Competition. So it should come as no surprise that the bourbon barrel-aged version would be just as decadent and memorable.

Lucky Hare Wild Hare Flanders: Seneca Lake’s Lucky Hare is one of the best breweries in the Finger Lakes regions. Like Eli Fish mentioned above, brewer Tony Cordova is adept at so many styles. Cordova’s foray into wild ales is another arrow in the brewery’s quiver. (Not sure why I just used that goofy analogy.) His take on a traditional Flanders red ale featured mild acidity, ample fruitiness from the local tart cherries he used, and enough malt character to balance it all out.

Sager Indie’s Black IPA: If you’re looking for balance and tradition, Rochester’s Sager should be at the top of your list of places to visit. Brewer Paul Guarracini loves to recreate traditional styles. Not that a black IPA is a traditional style, but in the modern craft beer world it feels like it is virtually extinct. I loved the balance in this one between the citrusy hop character and the roast-driven malt backbone.

Faircraft Devil’s Treasure Hefeweizen: Like Sager, Fairport’s Faircraft Brauhaus focuses on traditional beer styles, especially German-influenced classics. I love Faircraft’s Hefeweizen, because it has those trademark banana and clove notes you want in the style. It was a great beer for a warm summer evening.

Naples NYIPA #16: Again, gonna blame fatherhood here. But I’ve yet to visit Naples’ two breweries — Engine 14 and Naples Brewing. I plan to fix that very, very soon. I love how brewers Dan diGiovanna and Trevor Andrews utilize local ingredients to tackle different styles. For its latest hazy IPA, diGiovanna and Andrew employ New York-grown hops to demonstrate the capability of ingredients grown here.

ONCO Schwarzbier: This Onondaga County brewery remains high on my list of central New York spots to check out. As my first beer of the fest, I really enjoyed ONCO’s take on a black lager, which is one of my favorite styles. Properly lagered and featuring a beautifully crisp place, it was a nice blend of roast, smoke, and chocolate malt character.

Title sponsor: Donnelly’s Public House

This work is made possible through support from Donnelly’s Public House, 1 Water St. in Fairport. So make sure to get out to Fairport and support one of the best establishments in our area.

I remain open to sponsorships, sponsored content, and advertisements, especially if it’ll keep the newsletter free for readers. And if you have information about upcoming releases, events, or happenings, don’t hesitate to reach out. For more information, feel free to drop me a line at clevelandprost@gmail.com.

And if you enjoyed this edition of the Cleveland Prost, please subscribe and share! See you again soon.