Annual Grapes & Hops Festival at Northwest Arena
This year’s Grapes & Hops Festival will take place on April 26 (2pm) at the Northwest Arena in Jamestown. The festival, which focuses on New York state craft beer, distillery, and wine, will feature Ellicottville Brewing, Southern Tier, Hamburg Brewing, Aurora Brew Works, Froth Brewing, Bee Spit Meadery and more. There will also be non-alcoholic options. VIP tickets ($50) include early entry, a VIP lounge, food and commemorative glass and General Admission tickets ($35) include a commemorative glass. Designated Driver tickets are also available. Purchase tickets here. For more information, visit https://northwestarena.com/grapes-and-hops-festival.
Cabin Fever, Beer & Wine Fest Returns to Buffalo Ski Center
The 8th annual Cabin Fever, Beer and Wine Festival returns to the Buffalo Ski Center/Tamarack Lodge in Colden on May 3. The event features tastings from breweries such as Big Ditch Brewing, 42 North Brewing, Southern Tier, New York Beer Project, Ellicottville Brewing, Rusty Nickel Brewing, Mystic Hills, First Line Brewing and more, wineries, distilleries, live music, raffles, giveaways, auctions, food and more. Tickets are $40 presale and $50 day of and include a commemorative tasting glass, access to all tastings and more. They can be purchased here. A list of participating craft vendors will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to https://www.buffaloskicenter.com for updates.
42 North, Delaware North launch Legendary Lager
42 North Brewing and Delaware North have teamed up to launch Legendary Lager, a beer brewed to benefit Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo named in honor of Jackie Robinson. Legendary Lager will be available at select Delaware North locations in the Buffalo area, including the Buffalo Niagara International Airport (June 1-Aug. 1), Top of the Falls Restaurant (June 30-July 27), Patina 250 (June 1-Aug. 1) and Hamburg Gaming (July 1-Aug. 31). It will also be available at 42 North’s taprooms in East Aurora and downtown Buffalo, as well as at Consumer’s Beverages, Tops, Wegmans and Sahlen Field. A portion of proceeds from each sale will support the Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo and its youth sports programs.
Woodcock Brothers XPA Makes A Comeback
Woodcock Brothers XPA is back, albeit in a limited capacity, in cans and on draft. This experimental IPA, which at one point was one of the most sought-after beers on the local scene, clocks in at 6.5% and features Azacca, Warrior, Mosaic, and Citra hops, as well as a dry-hop combo of Citra, Cascade, and Triumph. Expect tropical fruit, tangerine zest, and a clean, crisp and balanced bitter finish. XPA is on draft and in 4-pack cans at Woodcock’s North Tonawanda taproom.
Froth Brewing Creates New Sour Beer For Charity
Froth Brewing is utilizing one of its strongest assets – its Liquid Lollipop beer series – to give back. They have brewed a new 6.5% smoothie style fruited sour with concord grape, dark sweet cherry and vanilla ice cream in collaboration with the Western New York chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. A portion of proceeds from beer sales will go to benefit their work in the fight against Alzheimer’s. This Liquid Lollipop is available on draft and in crowlers at Froth’s taproom.
Celebrate Dyngus Day At A Brewery This Year
Several breweries are throwing Dyngus Day celebrations in honor of the special day. On April 19, Flying Bison will be serving Polonia Pils and authentic Polish food from Cousin’s Maine Lobster Food Truck, and live music by Those Idiots Polka Band. Tickets are $20. Hofbrauhaus is celebrating on April 21 with live music from The Polka Boyz (3-5 pm) and Nerds Gone Wild (6:30-9:30 pm), authentic Polish dancers, lagers, food and more. Admission is $15. Also on April 21, Buffalo Brewing is throwing a Dyngus Day Bash with Polish-style craft beers, live music by the Kaisertown Polka Band, homemade pierogi and Wardys Polish sausage. Tickets are $10 presale and $15 at the door (only available at the taproom). Na zdrowie!
Thin Man Brewery Drops New Fruited Sour
Thin Man is releasing a new fruited sour for the new baseball season – Strawberry Shortstop. This 6.2% fruited sour is brewed with strawberry and vanilla and was brewed with hundreds of pounds of strawberry and conditioned on vanilla. Strawberry Shortstop features notes of bright strawberry, rich vanilla, medium body and tartness. Look for Strawberry Shortstop wherever great craft beer is sold soon.
Go Off the Wall At Frequentem Brewing This Friday
This Friday (April 18), Frequentem Brewing is bringing back one of my favorite beers of last year, Do A Kickflip, a collaboration with Smoldered Society, a light lager with Yuzu. Smoldered Society is also taking over several taps with World Police Double IPA (fermented on over 90 lbs. of pink grapefruit), Simulated Reality Fruited Sour and Strike Anywhere Pilsner. DJ Mike West will be spinning pop punk tunes (7-10) and Half Luna Empanadas (5-9pm) will be on hand serving food. The event is free and open to the public.
Brian Campbell is the co-founder and Brand Manager of the Buffalo Beer League and writes the weekly Buffalo Beer Buzz column. If you have beer news that should be included in the Beer Buzz, Brian can be reached at brian@buffalobeerleague.com, on X (@buffbeerleague), Instagram, Threads and Untappd (@buffalobeerleague), and Facebook (@thebuffalobeerleague).
