Buffalo Brewfest
HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY 14203
Web: Buffalo Brewfest
See More Restaurant Reviews For:
Alcohol Beer Buffalo Drinks Festivals

"If it receives proper promotion, we could easily see Brewfest as a third pillar of the WNY food festival scene; if it doesn't, we'll attend anyway, as it's too much fun to pass up."

After drinking 60 ounces of beer - roughly four pints - you're not supposed to feel smarter than you were before you started; even standing up may be a challenge. Yet three hours after we paid our admission fee, received a three-ounce glass and 60 ounces worth of beer tickets, we truly understood the appeal of Buffalo Brewfest: it's a four-hour beer fiesta that might as well be all-you-can-drink, held at HSBC Arena, and attended by roughly 3,000 people and over 20 vendors. We were initially skeptical about the event, due to a web site that sounded downright defensive regarding key specifics - it was hard to miss its references to overcrowding, long lines, a need for a new venue, and a lack of previous food vendors - and didn't seem to answer certain questions up front: why schedule such a thing from 2pm to 6pm rather than at night? Would it be worth paying $30 to $40 for admission? And in a beer-loving town like Buffalo, why exactly hasn't every man, woman, and child heard about this event already?

After attending this year's Buffalo Brewfest, we think we understand. In some cities, an event like this would be organized by slick promoters; here, it's run by the Buffalo Hearing & Speech Center, a local organization that helps people with hearing and speech problems, and happens to have beer fans in its ranks. Perhaps as a consequence, Brewfest turned out to be a remarkably civilized and genuinely fun event for patrons of all legal drinking ages, without the sort of issues people might experience on a late night bar crawl. Within a minute of getting your glass, tickets, and a hand stamp, you can start to sample your choice of roughly 100 beers from local and regional breweries, each with tables, tapped coolers, and glass-washing stations. Go from one table to the next, trying a single drink at each, or keep going back through the line at your favorite brewery until you've tried everything they have on hand. Unless you cut yourself off, it's impossible to leave without finding something new and interesting: some breweries brought as many as seven different beers, and some offered only two; most were someplace in between.

The only thing that's not included in the ticket price is the food. Those who bought tickets at certain local restaurants before the event got in for $30, and it seemed like virtually everyone who showed up at Brewfest for its 2pm start time had pre-purchased admission. Tickets were $40 at the door, and those on line for tickets had to wait a little longer to get in. These prices were up from the prior year, but struck us as fair given the quantity of drink tickets patrons received. The first floor of the Arena's atrium was set up almost exclusively with brewery tables, while a small outdoor area included three more breweries, a concession stand, and a stage where local band Black Widow was playing live. Most of the food - notably, sausages coated in a beer reduction, beer-steamed hot dogs, beer-infused brownies, massive pretzels with beer-enhanced cheese, and beer-soaked brisket - was being offered for $3 to $7.50 at concession stands on the second floor. We tried them all, and none save the sausages was especially impressive, but we did like the sausages a lot.

Whatever might have happened at prior Brewfests, BHSC did a very good job of managing the 2009 event's brewery and food options. There were plenty of tables, a ton of standing room, and lines that moved reasonably to accommodate the thousands of patrons. A roped-off VIP area on the top floor offered special guests access to most of the foods, drinks, and even members of the Queen City Roller Girls roller derby league, who were on hand to promote their upcoming events; Buffalo Jills and Buffalo Bandettes cheerleaders were also walking around the Arena with photographers in tow. When they weren't playing on stage, members of Black Widow walked through the crowd to grab beers with everyone else, rather than hanging out in the VIP area - a cool little surprise.

That's probably because the band - and everyone else - felt safe at the event. Despite the steady four-hour flow of alcohol, the crowd at Buffalo Brewfest was remarkably well-behaved throughout, coming across as a legitimately cool crowd of beer fans rather than obnoxious drunkards. Men may have outnumbered women by roughly 70% to 30%, but the atmosphere was far less of a meat market than a social mixer. Rock tracks from the '80s and '90s (Bon Jovi, AC/DC, and the like) played live as covers outside, and from original recordings inside, letting those who wanted to risk a few raindrops smoke cigars with their beer, while keeping the air clean indoors.

And what about the beers? We drank a lot, sampling one or two types from almost all of the vendors. There were so many types from so many places that we literally lost count; we found a very good Oktoberfest and an unpleasantly bitter Commodore Perry at Cleveland, Ohio's Great Lakes Brewing, a memorably spicy and fun Hot-Jala-Heim jalapeno-enhanced beer from Horseheads, NY's Horseheads Brewing, and a very clean-tasting, good Honey Brown Lager from Buffalo-based North American Breweries' Dundee brand; Austria's Zipfer, one of several beers imported from Europe by Chicago's Stawski Distributing, was also a popular pick. With the exception of Ellicottville, NY's Ellicottville Brewing Company's perenially great Blueberry Wheat, fruit beers we tasted were mostly a bust: a very light, boring golden Apricot Wheat from Ithaca, NY's Ithaca Beer, a Watermelon Wheat from Rochester, NY's Rohrbach Brewing that had more watermelon scent than flavor, and "Blackbeary Wheat" and Peach Wheat Beers from Bridgewater Corners, Vermont's Long Trail Brewing and Horseheads tasted of blackberries and peaches, respectively, but lacked depth and sweetness. Other beers, including Silver Spring, Maryland's Hook and Ladder Brewing's Golden and Buffalo-based Flying Bison Brewing's Rusty Chain, were light and did nothing for us; Buffalo's Pearl Street Grill & Brewery's Sabre's Edge was a very strong double IPA that would entice some people, but not us.

One big surprise was outside near the stage: Honeyoye Falls, New York's Custom Brew Crafters came with five different beers, and really won us over with its rich "Hefe" Hefeweizen, though we weren't as impressed by its mildly raspberry "Razz" flavor - perhaps it would have made more of an impact had we not been ten or more beers in at the point when we tried it. Another surprise of sorts was that the brewers hadn't always brought their most impressive stuff; we'd really enjoyed beer at Williamsville's Buffalo Brewpub only days before that was nowhere to be found here, and others - including Williamsville's Pizza Plant, for instance, which came only with a potent Inferno Pod Ale - arrived ready to make statements that were either love 'em or hate 'em. Our sense was that on a different day, with different choices, the brewers here could have had completely different results with the crowds; an obvious "next step" for the Brewfest would be to offer a staffed educational area where beer novices could learn a little about different offerings before diving in, plus some coordination with the vendors to color-code their selections, helping people to self-steer towards picks they might enjoy. Similarly, while we were lucky enough to have our own designated driver on hand, the event could really benefit from a prepaid pick-up and drop-off car service next year.

The other brewers in attendance included Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn, NY), Cole's Restaurant (Buffalo), Empire Brewing (Syracuse), Erie Brewing (Erie, PA), Harpoon Brewery (Boston, MA), Middle Ages Brewing (Syracuse), Southern Tier Brewing (Lakewood, NY), and Yuengling (Pottsville, NY). Our small group sampled picks from some of these places, as well, but didn't find them memorable enough to write about.

After nearly three and a half hours of fairly steady drinking and snacking, we left with the impression that people who attended the Brewfest genuinely enjoyed it - we know that we were very impressed by how well it all came off, and really felt great about the experience of sampling different beers while talking with friends about picks they'd enjoyed. Though the event's focus was highly regional and relaxed, rather than offering a more detailed, sophisticated, or formal opportunity to sample or learn about world beers, it was just plain fun, and despite initial misgivings, Brewfest is well positioned as a daylight-only 2pm to 6pm event to avoid becoming dangerously long, running into the night, or attracting the wrong type of crowd. Next year, should Brewfest receive the type of promotion it deserves, we could easily see it becoming a third pillar of the Western New York food festival scene; if it doesn't, we're planning to attend anyway, as it's too much fun to pass up. Regardless of any issues that may have surrounded earlier Brewfests, this is now one of Western New York's best eating and drinking events, and well worth attending.