Middle Ages Brewing Co.

So I have had this post in my back pocket for a couple of weeks, but things didn’t work out the way I planned. Big surprise, right? But anyway, two weekends ago we went up to Syracuse to visit L Bird’s sister and her family. It’s always a good time to catch up and hang out while the kids play, plus I get to hang out with my brother in-law Chuck. So there is always a lot of good conversation about beer and plenty of good beer being drank as well. The past few times we have been up to visit, Chuck and I have talked about going to Middle Ages Brewing Co., but it has never worked out, normally because we go up to visit on Sundays and Middle Ages is closed on Sunday. But I got lucky this past visit, we ended up going on a Saturday. Awesome!

After some lunch and hanging out, Chuck and I ditched the wives and kids for an hour to head over to the brewery. I’ve had Middle Ages beer before, but any chance I can get to go to the tasting room, I am jumping on. Chuck winds his way through the city and we pull up in front of this old brick, industrial looking building with a small sign on the garage doors that said Middle Ages Brewing Co. Now I have been to plenty of breweries where the initial looks of the building were completely different from the quality of the beer. I have been to places where I drove by them a hundred times saying “There is no way that is a brewery it’s too small and looks like an old garage!” (Ithaca Beer) and had fantastic beer. Then I have been to places where the tasting room is as swanky as could be and the beer was definitely subpar (I’ll leave them nameless, as no one should drink “their” beer). So walking up to Middle Ages I was still completely unbiased.

We walked in and the tasting room was packed. I had a camera in my pocket to take a few pictures, but I completely forgot about it once the beer started pouring. Sorry! We made our way to the bar and found that they had 7 beers on tap for tasting and 3 other beers in the back that were for growler pours only. So 10 beers is a pretty healthy stable of beers, and Chuck and I made our way through 9 out of 10. We tasted the 7 they were pouring and a couple of them twice, then we each got a growler from out back. I liked one of their beers. They were all superb, but I especially liked the Old Marcus, it was slightly sweet with maybe some honey notes but it still had a nice maltiness to carry it through and make it a well rounded very easy drinking beer.

Middle Ages bar staff is also very good. They were very knowledgeable of the beers and very helpful, but also laid back. They were friendly and not pretentious beer snobs. They had a good time mixing with the crowd and still talking up good beer. I was very impressed with them to say the least.

I ended up getting a growler of the Black Heart Stout from their back room. I was going to do a beer review on it, but once I poured a pint I lost track of everything else and just enjoyed the simple pleasure of drinking and really enjoying a beer. I wasn’t worried about tasting notes or pictures; I just let myself be wrapped in the sensations of drinking it just for that enjoyment. I will say that it is an excellent stout and you should buy it if you ever happen upon it.

All in all it was a great trip to a great brewery and the beers are all fantastic. If you are in Syracuse, please find time to stop into Middle Ages and try their selections. You will not be disappointed. Until then, keep em’ tippin’!