25 Best Breweries in Buffalo That You’ll Love

There are so many amazing things to do in Buffalo and one of those activities is craft brewery hopping. The craft brewery and microbrewery scene is flourishing in the city and we’re happy to have visited so many of them. As a craft beer lover, I had to create a list of the best breweries in Buffalo to check out when you’re in town.

While these Buffalo breweries craft pints of your favorite brews, some of them are also pretty innovative by creating rotating seasonal varieties in every flavor imaginable. Will you be adventurous to try some of them or will you stick with the classics? Why not try a beer flight to try a few different ones?

In this blog post, I’ll be showcasing the best breweries in Buffalo to add to your list. And if you love keeping track of the beer you drink, I’m pretty active on the Untappd app (the beer app!). Follow me on Untappd and we can virtually toast each other the next time we have a drink!

Map of the Best Breweries in Buffalo, New York

Here is a map of all of the best breweries in Buffalo NY, so you can see them in one place. Feel free to save this map to reference it at a later date. Click the little star at the top of the map (next to the map name) to save it to your own collection of Google Maps.

Best Breweries in Buffalo: Autark Brewhouse

Autark Brewhouse is a brewery and taproom where their website boasts, “It travels about 15 feet from where it’s made to your mouth”. The taproom has pretty limited hours (Thursday to Saturday evenings), so be sure to make room in your schedule to stop by.

There’s a solid lineup of beers that are highly drinkable with something for every taste. Try everything from the Czechy (Bohemian Pilsner) to the Feisty (American IPA) and the Comfy (Baltic Porter). The friendly bartender and welcoming space facilitates a comfortable atmosphere for a local community pub. It’s family friendly, too!

Best Breweries in Buffalo: Belt Line Brewery

Belt Line Brewery is one of the top Buffalo breweries and it’s also home to a great restaurant at their taproom. They’re serving up fresh craft beer brewed in Buffalo. Have a beer with a meal on site or take home one of their 4 packs or 32oz crowlers.

What’s on tap? It’s always being updated but at the time of writing this article, Belt Line Brewery offers a pilsner, fruited sour beer, grapefruit kolsch, oatmeal stout, hazy IPA, west coast IPA, wheat ale with orange peel, German lager, amber lager and others.

The menu has a wide selection of pub eats and it’s very vegan-friendly, too. There are small bites (fries, olives, cajun mixed nuts, hummus platter), burgers (including a vegan burger), sausages (including two vegan hotdogs), wings and sandwiches.

Best Breweries in Buffalo: Big Ditch Brewing Company

Big Ditch Brewing Company is one of the best breweries in Buffalo, hands down. First, there’s a gorgeous mural splashed across the side of their building, which instantly won me over before even trying the beer.

The name “Big Ditch” refers to the Erie Canal, back when the locals were skeptical that it would ever be constructed. However, this “Big Ditch” brought business and prosperity to Buffalo for decades. And just as the local residents have the ambition to reinvent Buffalo once again, this great brewery celebrates their pride and determination throughout the past and the future.

I sampled a flight of beers here, and they serve you five beers rather than the typical four (a nice bonus!). As usual, I tried quite a few seasonal ales as well as some of the classic favorites: the Berliner Weisse, Blonde Peach, Cinnamon Apple, FC (Fantastically Crushable), and Fresh Baked. My vote for the best beer goes to the Blonde Peach by far, where they use loads of real peaches in the brewing process.

Best Breweries in Buffalo: BriarBrothers Brewing Co

BriarBrothers Brewing is one of the newer breweries in Buffalo offering a full collection of Buffalo’s finest brews. The brewery is owned by two brothers, starting as a home brew hobby and growing into one of Buffalo’s best microbreweries.

This brewery is located at the Silos at Elk Street, just south of the heart of downtown Buffalo. These silos once served as a major producer of brewers malt that supplied barley to breweries across New York and Pennsylvania. BriarBrothers is pleased to continue the traditions of brewing beer at such a historic site.

This is a dog-friendly brewery in Buffalo, both on the patio and in the taproom. The Hen House food truck is also on site if you’re looking for eats, and you’re welcome to bring your own food as well. There are currently 13 beers on tap with many interesting varieties, like orange sherbet, lavender lemonade and cranberry mule.

Best Breweries in Buffalo: Buffalo Brewing Company

Buffalo Brewing Co is an excellent Buffalo craft brewery in the hydraulic district right outside of Larkinville. Their Myrtle Avenue tasting room offers traditional style beer made from high quality ingredients, as well as a knowledgeable bartender and a little window into the history of Buffalo’s beer scene.

Their brewery was once the home of Schreiber Brewing Company dating back to 1899. In addition to the beer, you can also gorge on some Buffalo deep dish pizza. In the summer months, savor a pint at their beer garden. Beer enthusiasts will love that they currently have 12 beers on tap, like lagers, IPAs, a porter, loganberry ale, pineapple cream ale and more.

Best Breweries in Buffalo: Buffalo Olde Brewery

Buffalo Olde Brewery is one of Buffalo’s newest breweries that strives to create some of the best beer in Buffalo. Using traditional brewing methods combined with modern methods, Buffalo Olde Brewery uses only locally sourced and carefully selected ingredients to make the best beer.

Their goal is to craft exceptional beer and foster a welcome gathering place for friends and beer lovers. Currently, there are 12 offerings on tap, including Helles lager, Vienna lager, doppelbock, hefeweizen, Belgian triple, oatmeal stout and a semi dry cider. There’s also a menu with good food and sometimes you can catch live music happening at B.O.B.

Best Buffalo Breweries: Buffalo RiverWorks

RiverWorks Brewing at the Buffalo Riverworks is the first brewery in the world to operate inside a former grain silo. As a part of the waterfront revitalization, these abandoned grain silos are given a new life as a brewery. Step right up to the Silo Bar at the base of the silo and order a pint.

Although they’re branded on the outside by Labatt, RiverWorks brews their own beer. It’s certainly one of the most innovative and interesting breweries I’ve ever seen. Justin and I both ordered a pint of the Wheeler Wheat (a traditional German Hefeweizen brewed with wheat and barley), and we loved it.

Take a seat on the patio around the grain silo, or take your beer indoors to watch TV and play arcade games. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can go rock climbing after you finish your drink (or maybe it’s better to go rock climbing before you drink?) on the rock climbing walls on the side of another set of abandoned silos.

Best Buffalo Breweries: Community Beer Works

Community Beer Works is a longstanding brewery in Buffalo since 2012. The brewery had humble roots starting in a local garage and has grown to have a full-sized production facility and taproom. The brewery has its own canning line, meaning that you’ll find it all over Western New York. There’s a full restaurant with front and back patios so you can enjoy a pint and stay a while.

All year long, you can sip a pint of their hazy IPA, brown ale, American pilsner, session IPA and American IPA. There are seasonals, like their Oktoberfest lager, hefeweizen, and tropical IPA. Other beers are available at different times of the year, such as their bourbon barrel aged imperial stout, German-style doppelbock, and sour varieties. In addition, some beer is only available to try at their taproom, so you’ll need to plan your visit soon.

Flying Bison Brew Company

Flying Bison Brewing Company is the first standalone brewery to operate in the city since the closure of Iroquois Brewing in 1972. The owner has over 20 years of brewing experience and was a pioneer in bringing the return of craft brewing to Buffalo. They operate out of the popular Larkin Square.

While you’re at the brewery, you can drink your beer while watching the process unfold before your eyes. The brewing equipment is visible through windows facing the taproom. There’s something for every beer drinker on tap, including the Larkin Lager, Aviator Red, Chocolate Cherry Porter or the Cherry Crusher Sour Ale.

Best Buffalo Breweries: Froth Brewing Co

Froth Brewing’s slogan is “quality over quantity”. They’re best known for their sour beers, fruit beers and IPAs. In fact, Froth Brewing is pretty experimental with their offerings as you’ll soon see. It’s possible to order a pint or a flight so you can sample four different kinds of beer. They also have some pub food and wings at the brewery, too.

At the time of writing this article, they have the following sour beers: Naked Lollipop Loganberry, Buffalo Liquid Lollipop, Liquid Lollipop Birthday Cake, Naked Lollipop Sherbet Punch, Sourbet, and others. For those not into sour or fruit beers, the classics are also readily available, like an Italian pilsner, Czech pale lager, amber lager, and more.

Gene McCarthy’s Old First Ward Brewing Company

Old First Ward Brewing Company started when two locals, Bill and Matt, purchased Gene McCarthy’s (an Irish pub) to establish a new brewery together. They started brewing three beers: Against the Grain (hefeweizen), This is Not A Pale Ale (pale ale), and H.O. Oats (oatmeal stout). While Matt manages the brewery, the business has a new brew master, Bryan, who has produced over 40 different kinds of beer.

Now on the menu, I counted 26 different beers, including those three original ones. They have some intriguing specialties and seasonal brews, like Wake the Dead (a collaboration with Undergrounds Coffee), Cremated Remains (a smoked lager) and Rosemary’s Snow Baby (a porter with rosemary and mint).

Gene McCarthy’s has trivia nights every Tuesday and live music every Saturday. They also have a full restaurant menu featuring pub fare, sandwiches and burgers, soups and salads, and I did notice that they have a meatless burger on the menu, too.

Hofbrauhaus Buffalo

Hofbrauhaus Buffalo is the first and only German micro brewery, beer hall, restaurant and beer garden to call Buffalo home. Experience Hofbrauhaus through craft beer, authentic Bavarian food and live entertainment. It feels like Oktoberfest has travelled across the pond to Buffalo! This is one of the best breweries in Buffalo for the beer and the fact that the venue is a destination in itself.

Sample the German beer, brewed according to the 500 year old Purity Law of 1516, true to all German beers. There’s a full menu of German specialties, including a vegan schnitzel, and there’s live entertainment almost every day of the week. You’ll truly feel like you’ve traveled to Germany without leaving Buffalo.

Mortalis Brewing

Mortalis Brewing is a local brewery in Avon, New York, but they have a taproom in Buffalo so I’ll include this brewery on the list of the best Buffalo breweries. They actually have three taprooms: Avon (in the Finger Lakes), Rochester and Buffalo. The Buffalo location is open from Thursday to Sunday.

There are 15 draft beers to sample at the Buffalo taproom for Mortalis Brewing. They have eight IPAs and four sour beers, as well as a lager, a stout and their winter warmer. For food, there are appetizers like soft pretzels and nachos, salads, and sandwiches/wraps. They often host special events and parties, so stay tuned to their Instagram account for more details.

Other Half Brewing

Other Half Brewing is a brewery founded in Brooklyn, New York. Since opening their first taproom in 2014, they’ve since expanded to New York City, Washington DC, Philadelphia, the Finger Lakes, and Buffalo. While this isn’t just a Buffalo brewery, they have their own taproom in the city so I’m including them in this brewery roundup.

Other Half Brewing is best known for their hazy IPAs and pastry stouts, but there is a little something for every taste. There’s also lagers, sours, stouts, and even mixed and spontaneous fermentation beers exclusively produced in the Finger Lakes. They’ve always got special events taking place at their various taprooms, like hosting food trucks and even taproom yoga.

Pearl Street Brewery

Pearl Street Grill & Brewery might just be the biggest brewpub in Buffalo. There are four floors and the basement with a grand total of 9 bars and countless tap handles serving house-made craft beer from holding tanks in the basement. In total right now, there are 16 different brews on tap.

Wheat beer lover? You need to order the cherry wheat, wild ox wheat, or you might even enjoy the blue-eyed blueberry blonde beer. They have a gingerbread cookie lager, a lager made out of Jasmine rice, and an oatmeal stout. I love how one of their lagers is called “@hopmail.com”, gotta love the cheeky name! The grill also has a big menu of pub food, so you’re bound to have a great evening out here.

Pod City Beer Labs

Pod City Beer Labs is a local brewery in Buffalo that was born during the pandemic. Right now, they’re located inside Pizza Plant where you can order a pint of Patsy’s Pilsner (named after their grandfather, Pasquale Bucaria), Inferno Pod Ale and Lupulino New England IPA. They also do collaborations with other local breweries, too.

I’m also delighted to hear that Pizza Plant is vegan-friendly with several offerings on their vegan menu. They’re pretty gluten-free friendly, too (though no gluten-free beer, sorry!). Pod City Beer Labs brews out of their location in Canalside.

Pressure Drop Brewing

Pressure Drop Brewing is west coast inspired beer made right in Buffalo, New York. Their head brewer began his journey brewing beer in California over a decade ago. They brew their beer in Buffalo’s Old First Ward and you can always order a draft pint from their pub on Elmwood Ave.

They’ve divided their beer menu up into a few categories: “Light, crisp and bright”, “Hop forward”, “Sour, tart or funky”, and “Dark and roasty”. Take your pick. The pub sells sandwiches, tacos, soup, salads, wings, fries, shareables and desserts. They also host weekly happy hour specials, trivia nights, brunch on weekends, and special happy hour prices for teachers on Fridays.

Resurgence Brewing Company

Just as there’s a resurgence in Buffalo as a whole, Resurgence Brewing Company has brought life to its neighborhood and the local microbrewery scene. If you pay a visit to the brewery, taproom, and beer garden, you’ll notice the fun and energetic vibes. Chat around the fire pit with your friends or if you’re feeling competitive, challenge them to a game.

Resurgence Brewing Company is one of the most innovative breweries I’ve visited. They are always experimenting with new seasonal flavors, many of which you likely never expected would pair well with beer.

For instance, their Sponge Candy Stout uses clippings of Watson’s sponge candy with hints of caramel, dark malt, and toffee. The Loganberry Wit uses loganberry (for those not in the know, it’s a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry, sold as a beverage at the long closed Crystal Beach amusement park in southern Ontario) brewed with mild banana and light fruit esters, and it’s pink!

I tried these two beers, as well as their Blood Orange Saison and the Bridge Pilsner. They have a rotation of seasonal beers so you can try new beer every time you visit. You can also request a brewery tour if you’re interested in learning more about the brewing process.

Sad Boys Brewing

Sad Boys Brewing proudly calls themselves the “best and saddest brewery” as they believe that any day without beer is a sad day indeed. The owners have also joked that they are “sad boys working sad jobs” when they weren’t homebrewing. I’m glad to hear that they’ve been able to put their passions for brewing into their own local business, Sad Boys Brewing.

They have a wide variety of great beer for every taste, like a pilsner, winter ale, cream ale, NE IPA, imperial stout and sour beer. Sad Boys also sells seltzer in over a dozen flavors. You can sample their beer or seltzers in a flight of four, too.

Southern Tier Brewing Company

Southern Tier Brewing Company began its operations in the nearby town of Lakewood, New York. Since their humble beginnings, they’ve grown to become one of the top craft beer producers in the USA and one of the best breweries in Buffalo. You can find them at one of five locations on the east coast, including Buffalo, NY.

They have an impressive selection of beer at 30 taps where they feature their own beer and others by Victory Brewing Company, Bold Rock Hard Cider, and Sixpoint Brewery. Make sure you sample their highly rated pumpkin beer, scotch ale, or helles lager.

Spotted Octopus Brewing Company

Spotted Octopus Brewing Company is a local Buffalo brewery in a residential neighborhood with a fantastic and welcoming environment. It’s a smaller place with good beer and vibes that feel like home. They currently have eight of their own beers on tap and one hard seltzer.

There are also some “coming soon” on their website, so they do change it up now and again offering seasonal rotating options. Stop by for trivia nights on Wednesdays from 6 to 8pm. You can also purchase cans of their beer to-go.

Thin Man Brewery

Thin Man Brewing is a longtime craft brewery in Buffalo that used to have a taproom and restaurant in Elmwood Village. Sadly, this has since closed and now the brewery operates out of their brew facility on Chandler Street. They are currently shipping beer but they don’t have their own taproom anymore.

As of right now, the brewery is closed but we’re awaiting news on whether or not it will reopen. Will we be able to purchase beer to take home, or will there be another taproom? Only time will tell. It’s a shame if it closes. We really loved the Pills Mafia (German pilsner) and the Sunseeker Gose when we visited their old location in Elmwood.

Honourable Mentions Just Outside of Buffalo

There are two breweries that I wanted to shine a spotlight on that are located near Buffalo. These breweries are only a short distance away from Buffalo and they deserve a worthy spot on this list of the best breweries in Buffalo. Close enough!

42 North Brewing Company (East Aurora)

42 North Brewing Company is a craft brewery named after the 42nd parallel where it’s located. When we visited East Aurora, not only did we drink here, but we also spent the night in their lofts above the brewery. They source the finest New York hops locally and their attention to detail crafts some of the best beer.

There’s a diverse mix of lagers and artisan ales for every taste. In addition to their signature brews, they offer seasonal and limited release beer, so there’s always something new to try. Sample the 42 North Wallonia Wit if you’re a fan of Blue Moon, or the seasonal Oatmeal Cookie stout if you’re here in the fall or winter.

Ellicottville Brewing Company

Ellicottville Brewing Company is continually rated as one of the top brewpubs in New York State and they’re located on the New York State beer trail. There are two locations in Ellicottville where you can drink their beer. One is the main taproom for the Ellicottville Brewing Company and the other is their Tap&Bottle and Taqueria around the corner.

We actually visited both spots on our trip to Ellicottville since the beer was just that good! There are 27 different brews on tap. I sampled their popular Blueberry Wheat beer at the Taqueira (with real blueberries on top) and the Blood Orange Hefe at the main Ellicottville Brewing Company location, thoroughly enjoying both varieties.

Britesmith Brewing (Williamsville)

We recently spent a day in Williamsville, New York, which is a fantastic day trip destination near Buffalo. There are quite a few craft breweries in Williamsville for it being such a small space, but Britesmith Brewing was one we visited and loved.

Britesmith Brewing is located inside an 1800s blacksmith shop on the main street of Williamsville. This is a brewpub and beer garden, so you can enjoy your favorite pint combined with a meal and a view of Elliott Creek. There are flagship beers and rotating seasonal offerings, as well as wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and both Saturday brunch and Sunday brunch.

Where To Stay in Buffalo

After sampling a number of refreshing local brews, you might want to spend the night in Buffalo. We highly recommend staying at InnBuffalo in Elmwood Village. Not only is it a fabulous historic hotel, but it’s in a central location.

There’s even a pool table / games room in the basement for guests to enjoy. The owners are kind enough to leave some beer in the fridge if you’d like to keep sampling local Buffalo beer. Check out our full review of InnBuffalo, and find out why it’s the #1 rated hotel on TripAdvisor.

BOOK YOUR STAY | READ MORE REVIEWS

More Things to Do in Western New York

There are so many fun things to do in Western New York. We visit all the time as we live only a short distance away in the Toronto area. These spots make a really excellent day trip from Toronto, day trip from Buffalo or road trip from elsewhere in the USA and Canada.

• Best Things to Do in East Aurora, NY
• Things to Do in Williamsville, NY
• Fun Things to Do in Buffalo, NY
• Vegan Guide to Buffalo, NY
• Where to Find Street Art in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY
• InnBuffalo Off Elmwood: Our Full Review
• Best Breweries in Buffalo
• Eternal Flame Falls in Orchard Park, NY
• Griffis Sculpture Park: One of the Largest Sculpture Parks in the USA

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