Trip to Montreal Day 1

Today, Jeff and I set out for Montreal.  Well, today we headed to Buffalo via Niagara Falls, Ontario.  Naturally, we stopped at 2 breweries along the way. 

Pepperwood Bistro, Burlington, Ontario.
We each had one beer.  They had a pretty decent beer list - a variety of Canadian brews that weren't Molson or Labatt.  We had to try the home brew.  I had a Pale Ale (since my first choice, their monthly special, Maple Porter, was all out).  It was fine.  Not great.  A little hoppy.  Not overly so.  A little too sweet.  Jeff had the brown ale.  Again, a little too sweet.  Have you ever noticed that some breweries' beers have a similar flavor, even though they shouldn't?  I have a feeling that this was the case for Pepperwood Bistro.  I bet the food was pretty good, and it seemed they had a decent wine list as well.  And it was over-priced (even for Canada) as it was downtown, across from Lake Ontario. 

Buffalo Brewpub, Williamsville, NY
It dawned on us this afternoon that we could eat Buffalo wings in Buffalo, NY (well, next to Buffalo, NY).  So that's what we did.  We had already scoped out Buffalo Brewpub, and when we saw wings as a menu highlight, that sealed the deal.  The place was just what we expected - low key, home town, casual, and tasty (but nothing even remotely healthy on the menu).  The kind of place where you seat yourself and can grab popcorn and peanuts yourself.  They had just a few home brews, but all in all, there were about 20 beers (mostly from NY and surrounding area) on tap.  I had the Weisse.  It was good!  Not the BEST I've had, but very tasty.  Amber in color, some hints of banana and lemon.  Tasty!  Jeff had the Amber, which was good - pretty mild, lightly malty.  Then he had the Saranac Imperial IPA from Utica, NY and Southern Tier IPA from Lakewood, NY.  Oh yeah, and we had WINGS!!!!  They were big, meaty wings, with lots of butter and sauce.  They could have been hotter - they medium was NOT spicy.  But they were tasty.  And oh so filling. 

We're looking forward to what tomorrow brings as we make our way to Montreal!